Anti-abortion ads on city buses to debut on April 1

Anti-abortion ads will appear on two public transit buses on April 1 and will remain there for three months, says the city solicitor – even though some citizens and city councillors won’t be happy about it.

A new report from city solicitor Patricia Lester says there’s nothing city council can do – it’s a done deal.

The ads will be placed on the back ends of two buses, which will travel various routes through the city.

A national pro-life group called the Canadian Centre for BioEthical Reform (CCRB) is placing the ads.

They are expected to show pictures of fetuses and the words “Abortion kills children. End the killing.”

In February, Coun. Diane Therrien asked for a city staff report on whether council could stop the use of these images on buses.

That appears unlikely, although councillors will discuss the report at a meeting at City Hall on Monday.

Last year, the CCRB asked to place the ads on buses in Peterborough. Although the city initially refused to use the ads, it later relented and said the ads couldn’t be banned after all.

CCBR then obtained a court order to ensure the city would stick to its promise to use the advertisements.

Lester writes in her report that there’s no getting around it: The ads are coming.

She outlines a couple of reasons for that: First, the time period for the city to appeal the Ontario court ruling has expired.

She also says the city would have difficulty appealing since it didn’t send a lawyer when the case was heard in Divisional Court in Hamilton in February 2016.

That’s because the city had decided that in refusing the ad, it was violating the CCRB’s freedom of expression (which is protected by the Supreme Court).

So the city decided not to oppose the CCRB – the ads wouldn’t be banned, and the city of Peterborough wouldn’t argue about it in court.

Yet there was a similar case in Grande Prairie, Alta., where the courts recently upheld the city’s refusal to run ads from the CCRB.

But in that case, Lester writes, there was a key difference: When the city of Grande Prairie turned down the ad, it said the reason for refusal was that the image would likely disturb many citizens.

The courts thought that was a strong enough reason to justify curbing CCRB’s free speech, in that case.

ButwhentheCityofPeterborough refused the same ad, it told CCRB that Peterborough Transit is in the business of attracting riders - and a graphic anti-abortion ad would deter people from taking the bus.

That wasn’t a good enough reason to violate the pro-life group’s Charter-protected rights, the courts determined.

There’s nothing wrong with the city’s advertising policy, Lester writes – it does allow the city to turn away certain ads.

But next time the city wants to refuse an ad, she writes, it could supply some reasons that are “more justified” than the one given in this case. NOTES: Don’t forget to check

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