Ottawa to mull restricting protests outside 'vulnerable' institutions

UPDATE: City councillors agreed on Oct. 30, 2024, to direct staff to assess the feasibility of a bylaw providing restrictions on public protests, with councillors Shawn Menard, Sean Devine and Jessica Bradley voting against it. Staff are set to come back with information in the first three months of 2025. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said there would be community consultation if councillors opt to move forward with creating the new bylaw. 

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe is proposing a new bylaw to regulate protests near schools, churches and other "vulnerable" sites as the city seeks to strike a balance between public safety and the right to free expression. 

The "vulnerable social infrastructure bylaw" is being introduced in response to a rise in hate crimes and would create a buffer zone around places of worship, schools and long-term care homes, Sutcliffe said Wednesday.

"We want to make sure that every resident of Ottawa feels safe. We want to protect the right for people to protest as well and demonstrate. That's an essential part of being the capital of Canada," he said. 

"But at the same time, we want to make sure that that's not taking place within a certain distance of religious institutions, community centres, schools, places where people gather and want to feel safe."

According to the notice of motion introduced Wednesday, city staff would be tasked with studying the option of creating what's colloquially known as "bubble zones" around specific locations. As part of the study, staff would consult with Ottawa police about the feasibility of such an approach.

Their findings would be presented as part of a broad review of special events bylaws in early 2025. A new bylaw could be in place soon after.

Hate on the rise

According to Ottawa police statistics, hate crimes in Ottawa against members of the city's Muslim, Jewish, 2SLGBTQ+ and other minority communities increased by 19 per cent in 2023. 

The proposal follows a similar measure enacted by Vaughan city council in June, which defined "vulnerable social infrastructure" as religious institutions, schools, child-care centres, hospitals and congregate care facilities. 

Some Ottawa city councillors back a similar approach here.

"We've seen ... over the last several years protest activity, which is fine, and it's encouraged in the community," said Barrhaven West councillor David Hill. "However, we need to make sure that that doesn't creep into harassment, intimidation and violence."

Hill said the city's goal is to ensure protesters target the appropriate institutions without making residents feel unsafe.

"If you want to protest the federal government about a concern on a policy, come to Parliament Hill," he said. "But what we don't want is for senior citizens and long-term care homes to feel harassed, intimidated and unsafe."

In June 2023, five people were arrested when protesters and counter-protesters squared off over gender issues near Broadview Public School.

'It feels like it's necessary'

The proposed bylaw also has support from community leaders including Adam Silver, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa.

Silver pointed to recent protests outside a long-term care facility that's home to Holocaust survivors, describing those events as "traumatizing" and "intimidating."

"Keeping our places of worship, our community centres, our long-term care facilities, our daycares, our schools ... safe from harm and from intimidation and vitriol is certainly a good step, and a leadership step by the mayor and the city," said Silver. 

Silver acknowledged the right to protest, but said there should be boundaries.

"Sadly, it feels like it's necessary. If people can't ... you use their common sense and their shared Canadian values of respect and ... cohabitation, then something like this is important."

Support for the proposal is not universal, however. Jim Turk, director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University, called it "over the top and inappropriate." 

"We already have provisions in the Criminal Code and other laws that deal with what the mayor would like to achieve," he said, questioning whether such a bylaw would violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 

Turk said the city should instead work on ensuring adequate law enforcement to apply existing laws in instances of hate speech.