Nearly 50 Toronto Community Groups Oppose Bubble Zone Legislation

City of Toronto efforts to protect schools, seniors’ homes and places-of-worship from disruptive protests opposed by city activists

Israt Ahmed of Social Planning Toronto wrote a letter to Mayor Olivia Chow, expressing opposition for the city’s bubble zone legislation, which would protect schools, seniors’ homes, and places of worship from upsetting and disturbing protests. Forty-nine community organizations signed the letter, claiming their right to protest is currently under threat.

Yes, reader, because protecting vulnerable institutions from disturbing and upsetting protests is a threat to freedom of expression. Sarcasm alert. Reader, those familiar with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms know that Section 1 contains a caveat: such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. Key words being reasonable limits, reader. Protecting schools, care homes, and places of worship from disruptive protests seems like a reasonable limit, doesn’t it?

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Preface

Protect the right to protest in Toronto - Joint letter from community-based organizations

Instructions for all organizations signing on:

Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are fundamental rights protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They allow for public demonstrations such as protests against institutions and government actions. However, the right to protest is currently under threat.

At its May Council meeting, the City of Toronto will consider a bylaw to restrict demonstrations outside of what they call "vulnerable institutions," which can include places of worship, faith-based schools, cultural institutions, child care centres, and congregate settings like seniors* homes. If passed, the "bubble zone" bylaw could limit our Charter-protected rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

If you are a senior leader in a community-based organization, we encourage you to sign on to the letter below to call on City Council to uphold our Charter Rights.

Below is the letter that will be sent to members of City Council and the City Clerk to be included on the public record for this Council agenda item. Your name and organization will be included in the final letter. Please sign on by Thursday, May 15th at 1 pm by completing the form below.

The text of the letter

Dear Mayor Olivia Chow and Members of City Council,

We are a group of nonpartisan community groups and non-profit organizations across Toronto with deep concerns about a new bylaw that will be considered at the City Council meeting in May 2025. We believe that the proposed Demonstrations Bylaw to Protect Vulnerable Institutions could restrict our right to protest within the city and limit our Charter-protected rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Many of us have also expressed concerns about the consultation process, as outlined in a joint letter to the City Manager.

Marginalized groups have used these fundamental freedoms to advocate for the many social and policy changes that we now as a society can enjoy. From strikes and picket lines to vigils and rallies, public demonstrations have been used to help win rights for workers and tenants, Indigenous, racialized and 2SLGBTQIA + community members, as well as protections for the environment, and for families fleeing violence.

However, the City of Toronto is considering a bylaw to restrict certain kinds of peaceful demonstrations outside of what they call “vulnerable institutions”, which in other jurisdictions have included places of worship, faith-based schools, cultural institutions, child care centres, and congregate settings like seniors homes. If passed, we are concerned that the “bubble zone” bylaw could limit our Charter-protected rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, silence marginalized communities voices in particular, lead to police overreach, and inadequately respond to hate. The passing of a bylaw in Toronto may also have implications for other jurisdictions in Ontario and would restrict groups outside of Toronto from protesting within Toronto's boundaries, including Queen's Park.

The City's policy framework claims that it is designed to keep Torontonians safe from hate, and that it is not intended to prohibit “lawful” demonstrations. Yet the police already have extensive powers to address a range of conduct that is not physically violent during protests. Broad rules enabling government censorship is not the answer here. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has expressed concerns that broad rules may unfairly restrict Charter-protected peaceful demonstrations and free speech, and that such laws often harm marginalized groups who rely on protest to advocate for social change.

Many of us represent marginalized communities that the bylaw is purporting to protect. We deliver services for seniors, children and youth (including chidcare centres), newcomers, and women and 2SLGBTQIA + people fleeing violence, as well as health care services. This is an issue of protecting free expression, a crucial cornerstone of a free and fair democracy. For all of us, and particularly given the alarming suppression of rights and freedoms we are witnessing in the U.S., we urge you to remember your legal obligations to uphold Charter rights and freedoms and protect our democracy.

Reader, below I’ve listed the organizations which think banning protests outside vulnerable institutions like schools, senior's homes and places-of-worship would violate “Charter-protected rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly” and “would silence marginalized communities’ voices in particular”.

Churches, legal services, abused women’s groups, some public sector unions, are signatories of this letter opposing a bubble zone.

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Video: pro-Hamas protest in Ottawa outside a Jewish senior home, via Melissa Lantsman, on X. Date: September 27, 2024.

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Apparently these Jew-haters and terrorist groupies don’t think of places of worship, schools, and seniors homes as locations associated with “marginalised communities voices”. In her letter, Ahmed claims (about bubble zone legislation) that such laws often harm marginalized groups who rely on protest to advocate for social change. Reader, since when do activists need to harass seniors living in seniors’ care homes to advocate for social change? Since when do activists need to protest outside places of worship to advocate for social change? Does Ahmed think it would be appropriate for pro Jewish and pro Israel and pro Christian activists to protest outside mosques and Muslim schools and community centres? Of course not, Ahmed would invoke “Islamophobia” in such a case to shut those protests down! Freedom of expression though, right, reader? Sure sure, *rolls eyes*.

1. Jennifer Chambers, Executive Director, Empowerment Council

2. Dawn Sutherland, Executive Director, Anduhyaun Inc.

3. Lee Soda, Executive Director, ACSA Community Services

4. Sahar, Vermezyari, Director, East Scarborough Storefront - MakeWay Charitable Society

5. Harmy Mendoza, Executive Director, WomanACT

6. Hunain Sindhu, President, Scarborough Campus Students Union (SCSU)

7. Trevor Manson, Co-Chair, ODSP Action Coalition

8. Paul Shepherd, Minister, Chapel in the Park United Church

9. Debbie Douglas, Executive Director, OCAS/ - Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants

10. Revd Canon Andrea Budgey, Priest-in-charge, Saint Theodore of Canterbury

11. Donna Spreitzer, Executive Director, Toronto Community for Better Child Care

12. Bill Worrell, Board Chairperson, Oakwood Vaughan Community Organization

13. Khan, Research and Policy Analyst, Income Security Advocacy Centre

14. Elin Goulden, Social Justice & Advocacy Consultant, Anglican Diocese of Toronto

15. Rene Adams, Member CLELN-Canadian Lived Experience Leadership Network

16. Adolpho West, Senior Policy Advisor, Centre for Lasting Solutions

17. Matt Johnstone, Executive Director, FoodShare Toronto

18. Rejwan Karim, Acting Associate Executive Director, Access Alliance MHCS

19. Cameron Watts, Minister, Fairlawn Avenue United Church

20. Nasima Akter, Executive Director, Bangladeshi-Canadian Community Services

21. Heather McGregor, Chief Executive Officer, YWCA Toronto

22. Christie McQuarrie, Executive Director, West Scarborough Community Legal Services

23. Elene Lam & Soyoung Lee, Co-Executive Directors, Butterfly Asian and Migrant Sex Worker Support Network

24. Chiara Padovani, Co-Chair, York South-Weston Tenant Union

25. Maria Christina Conlon, Community Minister, Davenport Perth Community Ministry

26. Andrea Vásquez Jiménez, Director & Principal Consultant, Policing-Free Schools

27. Nas Yadollahi, President, CUPE Local 79

28. Fred Hahn, President, CUPE Ontario

29. Lidia Monaco, CEO, Operation Springboard

30. Chris Brillinger, Executive Director, Family Service Toronto

31. Alejandra Ruiz-Vargas, Marva Burnett, Rama Fayaz, Marcia Stone, Jacquie Mitchell, & Monique Gordon, Board Members, Toronto ACORN

32. Reverend Canon Maggie Helwig, Rector, Church of St Stephen-in-the-Fields

33. Andrew Pulsifer, Executive Director, TTCriders

34. Sultana Jahangir, Executive Director, South Asian Women's & Immigrants Services

35. Ahmed Hussein, CEO, TNO - The Neighbourhood Group

36. John Stapleton, Policy Analyst, Open Policy

37. Brandon Haynes, President, Toronto Public Library Workers Union - Local 4948 (CUPE)

38. Guled Arale, Program Coordinator, Scarborough Civic Action Network

39. Patti Pettigrew, Executive Director, Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society

40. Jin Huh, Executive Director, Social Planning Toronto

41. Michelle Dagnino, Executive Director, Jane Finch Community and Family Centre

42. Keddone Dias, Executive Director, LAMP Community Health Centre

43. Bonnie Hunter, Executive Director, North York Community House

44. Pamela Uppal-Sandhu, Interim Co-Executive Director & Director of Policy, Ontario Nonprofit Network

45. Bill Sinclair, Executive Director, The Neighbourhood Group Community Services

46. Sree Nallomoth & Rob Howarth, Co-Executive Directors, Toronto Neighbourhood Centres

47. Jehad Aliweiwi, Executive Director, Laidlaw Foundation

48. Maritza Sanchez, Executive Director, Red Door Family Shelter

49. Saman Tabasinejad, Executive Director, Progress Toronto

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Note: the internet is forever, screen shots are a thing: apparently the Social Planning Toronto group removed the letter from its website, but not before the Toronto Sun grabbed a copy. Credit to Brian Passifiume and the Toronto Sun for the scoop.