Mayor seeks to implement ‘bubble zone’ bylaw despite concerns over legal challenges

Ottawa’s mayor is seeking to implement a bylaw that could restrict demonstrations near certain community spaces, including schools and places of worship.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says he will support moving forward with a “bubble bylaw” to restrict demonstrations near certain community spaces, including schools, hospitals and places of worship despite staff previously expressing concerns the measure could open up the city to legal challenges.

In a post to X, formerly Twitter, Tuesday afternoon, Sutcliffe says he has been consulting with community representatives, politicians, faith leaders and members of the LGBT community over how to implement a bylaw that would protect vulnerable spaces from harassment and intimidation.

“The message I’ve heard is that we need to take a very careful, balanced, and strategic approach to this issue. The community expects us to defend the right to protest while protecting vulnerable institutions and individuals from threats and intimidation,” Sutcliffe said.

Council directed staff to explore the feasibility of a “vulnerable social infrastructure” bylaw to address possible harassment and hate speech during demonstrations last year.

A similar measure in the City of Vaughan restricts demonstrations within 100 metres or a “reasonable distance” from a religious institution, school, childcare centre, hospital, or congregate care facility.” Protesters who violate the bylaw face fines of up to $100,000.

In a memo to councillors last month, staff proposed taking a “cautious approach” to the measure and recommended a comprehensive bylaw review before moving forward. A review would likely take around nine months and probably require a budget to facilitate consultations, staff said.

“The feasibility assessment indicates that while the development and implementation of a ‘bubble zone by-law’ is feasible, this approach should be informed by research, engagement, and consultation,” said the memo from Ryan Perrault, general manager of Emergency and Protective Services.

Perrault said the measure risks being challenged in court as it restricts individuals from protesting or demonstrating within certain areas in the city. The Vaughan bylaw for protests near social infrastructure has not yet been tested in court, he said.

“The constitutionality of each approach remains unsettled. While safe access laws for abortion services have established a foundation for potential regulations, the Court has set a very high bar for justifying such limits and determining their scope,” Perrault said.

Barrhaven West Coun. David Hill said he would be tabling a motion at Thursday’s Joint Emergency and Protective Services and Public Works Infrastructure Committee that would direct staff to prepare a bubble zone bylaw.

Sutcliffe says any proposed bylaw has to go through a “careful” public consultation process.

“The goal must be to have very clearly and narrowly defined situations when a bylaw would apply, minimal distance restrictions, and clarity that traditional demonstrations and political protests must be allowed to continue where they do not directly intimidate or impact the safety and freedom of movement of residents, children, and seniors,” he said.

“I will support what the community is asking for: an approach that allows safe access to schools, places of worship, hospitals, and care homes, while preserving our Charter-protected rights to free speech and protest, an approach that enhances safety, fosters community trust through fair enforcement, an approach that continues to explicitly allow labour demonstrations at workplaces as well as protests outside City Hall, Parliament, embassies, and other important democratic institutions.”

Some councillors, including Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper, say police already have the tools to combat protests without curtailing the right to free expression. He adds the city should wait and see what happens with a similar bylaw in Calgary, which is currently being challenged in court.

“The motion, in my view, would send us into Constitutionally-fraught space that is before the courts,” Leiper wrote on social media site Bluesky.

“Police have tools today to address intimidation and harassment at protests without municipalities curtailing fundamental freedoms of assembly and expression. We should let the courts, provincial and federal governments expertly navigate the protection of our Charter rights.”

Horizon Ottawa, a local advocacy group, sees the bylaw as an infringement on the freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate.

“We’re firmly against this kind of, legislation,” said Horizon Ottawa spokesperson Tom Ledgley in an interview with CTV News.

“It’s really a fundamental attack on freedom of expression, the right to dissent, which when we’re talking about the capital city of the country, that’s especially important.”

Both the Jewish Federation of Ottawa and the National Council of Canadian Muslims have supported implementing a bubble bylaw zone near religious institutions, with both groups seeing a rise in hate crimes since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and Israel’s subsequent offensive in Gaza.

Rabbi Idan Scher says the bylaw would be an improvement for safety and security.

“In my synagogue every single week, there is a sense of nervousness,” he told CTV.

“People have a right to feel good and safe and comfortable and secure, as they’re attending school or as they are attending some sort of cultural event”

Brampton has passed a bylaw that would ban “nuisance demonstrations” outside religious institutions in response to protests, and Toronto recently held public consultations to develop a vulnerable social infrastructure bylaw.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Josh Pringle and Peter Szperling