Ontario Superior Court of Justice
Summary:
A pro-life charity sued the City of Guelph after the City removed the charity’s bus ads, which it had already posted on buses. The City removed the ads after Advertising Standards Canada, a non-government organization, issued an opinion that the ads violated its advertising code. Guelph Right to Life sought an application for judicial review, and ARPA intervened. ARPA argued that the City was wrong to defer to the decision of non-government body, which carries no authority and does not have to account for freedom of expression, since the Charter only applies to government bodies. The Court largely agreed, concluding that the City failed to consider freedom of expression, as the constitution requires, because it wholly deferred to Advertising Standards’ opinion on the ad. The Court ordered the City to reconsider its decision.
ARPA Canada’s submissions to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
