Pro-Palestine demonstrators rally at the University of Toronto on May 27, 2024.Sammy Kogan/The Globe and Mail
Toronto will soon be able to restrict protests near schools, daycares and places of worship after city council voted to pass a controversial “bubble zone” bylaw on Thursday.
The bylaw, which takes effect July 2, will allow institutions to request 50-metre buffer zones prohibiting demonstrations around their properties. The measure was approved 16-9 after hours of debate.
“This bylaw is a step toward a safer city where all Torontonians can access critical social infrastructure,” said Councillor Rachel Chernos Lin. “This bylaw protects all of us.”
Toronto is the latest Canadian city to wrestle with the thorny issue of regulating protests in response to demonstrations against Israel’s war in Gaza in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.
Calgary and the Ontario cities of Brampton and Vaughan have adopted bylaws prohibiting protests within 100 metres of certain locations. Other cities, including Ottawa, are considering creating similar safe-access zones.
In addition, Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised legislation that would make it a criminal offence to intentionally block access to places of worship, schools and community centres.
Supporters of bubble zones say they are a necessary restriction to protect the right to worship without threats or intimidation, pointing to an increase in attacks on synagogues and Jewish schools.
Critics say safe-access zones place unreasonable limits on people’s freedom of expression and right to peacefully protest. As well, they say police and municipal bylaw-enforcement officers already have adequate tools to manage protests.
James Turk, director of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Centre for Free Expression, called the city’s new bylaw “absolutely terrible” and said it would likely be found unconstitutional in a court challenge.
“It’s very restrictive and attempts to exclude speech that is central in a democratic society,” he said.
Prof. Turk said the fact that Canada’s largest city has adopted such a bylaw will encourage groups to push for similar measures in smaller cities and towns across Canada.
“It’s just a very sad day for Toronto and for freedom of expression, freedom of assembly in Canada,” he said.
However, religious communities welcomed the bylaw. The move is a “meaningful step” in protecting children, seniors and families across the city, said Josh Landau, director of government relations for Ontario at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
“There is broad support for safe access zones from diverse religious and ethnocultural leaders who recognize that freedom of expression does not include a right to intimidate, bully, and harass communities,” he said in a statement.
Under Toronto’s new bylaw, protesters will be prohibited from performing “an act of discouragement” within 50 metres of places of worship, schools and daycare centres that are granted buffer zones, which the city calls an “access area.”
The city will create such zones after receiving requests from owners of the facilities, including an attestation that they believe that protesters will interfere with people’s attendance at their facilities. Such zones will remain in place for one year.
The city says bylaw-enforcement officers will educate protesters before taking further action. The maximum penalty is $5,000.
Ms. Chernos Lin moved several amendments to a proposed bylaw that was drafted by city staff, including scrapping an initial requirement that places of worship, schools and daycares had to have been targeted within the past 90 days to qualify for a buffer zone.
The history of bubble-zone regulations in Canada dates back to 1995, when British Columbia passed the country’s first law prohibiting protests around abortion clinics.