By: Ola Malik, Sasha Best and Jeff Watson

PDF Version: The Shrinking Space for Hateful Speech in the Public Square – The Alberta Court of Appeal’s Decision in Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform v The City of Grande Prairie (City), 2018 ABCA 154

Case Commented On: Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform v The City of Grande Prairie (City), 2018 ABCA 154 (CanLII)

Introduction

Determining what limits apply to an advertiser’s freedom of expression as it pertains to the advertising of offensive messaging on the sides of municipal buses has been the subject of considerable judicial commentary both at the Supreme Court of Canada level and recently by the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench and the Alberta Court of Appeal – see for example: the Supreme Court of Canada, in Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority v. Canadian Federation of Students, [2009] 2 SCR 295, 2009 SCC 31 (CanLII) (GVTA); the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench decisions in American Freedom Defence Initiative v Edmonton (City), 2016 ABQB 555 (CanLII ) (AFDI), blogged about here and Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform v The City of Grande Prairie (City), 2016 ABQB 734 (CanLII) (CCBR QB) (which is the subject of this appeal) which we have previously commented upon here.  (See also a decision of the B.C. Supreme Court in The Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform v. South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority, 2017 BCSC 1388 (CanLII)).

In CCBR and AFDI, the courts examined the hateful nature of the advertising messages, their harmful impact, and the challenges which this type of messaging poses for municipalities.  In many ways, both these decisions addressed novel questions of law that hadn’t been extensively canvassed elsewhere.  The Alberta Court of Appeal’s decision in Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform v The City of Grande Prairie (City), 2018 ABCA 154 (CanLII) (CCBR CA) helpfully settles some of these questions and provides municipalities with useful guidance regarding the limits of freedom to advertise in municipal spaces.

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By: Drew Yewchuk

PDF Version: A Religious Belief in Inequality: No Injunction Against Bill 24

Case Commented On: PT v Alberta, 2018 ABQB 496

PT v Alberta, is the decision of Justice Johnna Kubik on the interlocutory application by several parents and various private schools for an injunction against two provisions in Bill-24: An Act to Support Gay Straight Alliances (Bill 24). Their application to delay the legal effect of the challenged provisions until their constitutional challenge could be heard was denied.

Although PT v Alberta is a fairly brief decision determining an interlocutory application, it is interesting for several reasons: (1) counsel for the applicants was a non-profit entity, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, who describes their mission as defending “the constitutional freedoms of Canadians through litigation and education” (JCCF); (2) the applicants brought experts whose evidence was in direct conflict with the legislated legal protections for sexuality and gender identity in Alberta; and (3) one of the religious beliefs that the applicants sought protection for was “that all sexual orientations are not equal” (at para 46). I begin with a summary of a decision, and then discuss these three issues in turn.

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