Michael Higgins: Hamilton's ban of a 'Woman: An Adult Female' billboard is irrational

National Post

5 hours ago

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However, an Ontario divisional court agreed that in rejecting the ad, Hamilton had followed proper procedure and been reasonable. The CHP is now raising funds to challenge the ruling, and the Appeal Court has agreed to hear the case.
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The City of Hamilton did not answer a request for comment by press time.
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A central issue, of course, is whether freedom of expression, as enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, is as sacrosanct as many believe it to be. Too often, our expected right to freedom of speech is being overthrown by courts or institutions because of someone's 'superior' right not to be harmed or offended.
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The City of Hamilton didn't even wait for a complaint. The city, so sensitive to our cultural times, actively sought out people who might be offended and then based their rejection on the feedback.
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When you are in a position of power, it is easier to censor the side you disagree with.
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'This is not a case where this was hate speech, or calling for violence, or causing any kind of danger,' says Milousis in an interview with the National Post. 'There is no reason why having this advertisement would make the transit system unsafe or unwelcoming.'
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She argues that the divisional court judgement appears to suggest that there is a right not to be offended or at least shielded from views that you disagree with. 'And that's not a constitutionally protected right.'
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'The expectation is that people in a democracy will be capable of handling robust discussion even on issues that they have strong opinions about,' says Milousis.
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'To be clear, this is not a debate about the existence of transgender people. It's just about how we define woman and how we define man and that is a very live political discussion,' she says.
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Another concern is that if Hamilton bans a political message on an important public issue because it's too conservative, why can't another city ban something because it's too Liberal? We could have a patchwork of different political bans all over the country.
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'It raises deep concern about the democratic freedom of Canada,' she says.
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Milousis also sees, 'a level of intolerance at the institutional and particularly the administrative level that is concerning.'
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She cites the Saskatchewan student who faced a misconduct hearing for questioning diversity, equity and inclusion provisions. As well as the Manitoba medical student who was suspended for making pro-life comments.
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