An Ontario municipality that blocked a group of women from presenting to its council is facing a second legal action over that decision and the arrest of three advocates which followed.
The two legal threats stem from a June meeting in the city of Niagara Falls, where advocates from the Women of Ontario Say No were arrested by police for holding signs inside the council chambers.
The dramatic meeting followed the city’s decision not to allow the advocacy group to make a presentation about changes to municipal conduct laws in Ontario, which city staff said could interfere with an ongoing legal case.
Banned from presenting, the group sat in council chambers with signs on their lap. They were told to remove them and ultimately arrested by police, who were called to the chamber by city officials.
Now, the Canadian Constitution Foundation is backing a lawsuit directed at Niagara Falls from one of the advocates to declare its bylaw banning any signs unconstitutional.
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A notice of application lodged by Lauren O’Connor, one of the advocates arrested in June, asks a court to rule Niagara Falls’ decorum policy — which bans the display of all symbols and signs — unconstitutional.
The constitutional advocacy group has agreed to work with O’Connor and the Women of Ontario Say No to take legal action to force Niagara Falls to change its policy, after twice writing to the city and receiving no reply.
“We were deeply disturbed by this completely disproportionate and heavy-handed reaction to people peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression,” Christine Van Geyn, the litigation director for the Canadian Constitution Foundation, told Global News.
She said the fact the signs sat in the women’s laps while they caused no disruption shows the policy goes further than managing decorum.
“This involved people silently holding signs in their laps,” she said. “There’s already case law that says a total ban on signs inside council chambers is an unjustified violation of the right to freedom of expression.”
The tension around the June meeting, which led to arrests, came at least partly from the topic on which the group wanted to present.
The Women of Ontario Say No initially contacted Niagara Falls council, hoping to present about municipal conduct, specifically advocating for the province to create a rule where municipal councillors charged with a criminal offence should be put on paid leave.
In Niagara Falls, Coun. Mike Strange was charged with domestic assault at the end of May. He says he is innocent of the alleged crime, which has not been proven in court.
With Strange’s charge before the courts, staff at Niagara Falls told the Women of Ontario Say No that they could not present on the topic because it could interfere with an ongoing legal matter.
A few weeks later, Strange himself was allowed to address the charge during a council meeting, where the women were again told they could not speak.
Separate from the constitutional challenge, the Women of Ontario Say No is pursuing its own legal action against Niagara Falls, looking to be allowed to make its presentation and demanding an apology.
The group told Global News it will be moving ahead with its own litigation.
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