City’s removal of Falun Gong building doesn’t violate right to free expression, judge rules
A B. C. Supreme Court judge has sided with the city of Vancouver in its dispute with Falun Gong protesters, ruling that amended city bylaws prohibiting permanent structures are constitutional and place a “reasonable” limit their right to freedom of expression.
The bylaw requires groups who want to erect structures for political protests on city streets to first obtain a permit. The city will not grant permits if the structure is too large or interferes with other uses of the street. It must also be attended at least six hours per day and taken down at night.
“The Amended By- laws provide guidelines for obtaining a permit to use a structure that conveys political expression,” Justice Gregory Bowden wrote in the ruling.
At issue is a protest vigil first erected in 2001 near the Chinese Consulate-General in the 3300- block of Granville Street. It included a large sign on the sidewalk supported by scaffolding and a one- by- two- metre meditation hut on the boulevard.
The protest was maintained 24- 7 until the city of Vancouver requested and received a court injunction to remove the structures. The protesters challenged that decision and the Court of Appeal agreed the city’s bylaws were unconstitutional, but suspended the effect of its decision for six months “in order to prevent the unregulated and haphazard proliferation of structures of a political nature on city streets.”
“While the Amended By- laws will preclude the petitioners and others from permanently erecting politically expressive structures on City streets, they remain free to convey their message at any location they choose and in a manner that does not involve the use of a permanent structure,” Bowden wrote.
“Accordingly, I am of the view that the inconvenience of the petitioners, resulting from not being able to use a permanent structure as part of their expressive activity, is outweighed by the benefits to the public, resulting from the requirements in the Amended By- laws. In the end result, I find the Amended By- laws to be constitutional and the petition is dismissed.”
Calls to Falun Gong protest organizers were not returned by deadline.
Grace Pastine, litigation director for the B. C. Civil Liberties Association, which was an intervener in the case, said the bylaw does pose an unreasonable limit on freedom of expression.
“By virtue of the bylaws, not only do citizens have to jump through a bunch of bureaucratic hurdles to get a permit for a structure such as a tent or a large sign in the first place, they’re also subject to a lot of absolute prohibitions,” she said.
“One of the city’s key claims is that the bylaws are meant to protect public safety, but these concerns seem to be purely hypothetical.”