Wolf Ruck is a Mississauga based gardener, and he is fighting the city as a self-represented litigant over his naturalized garden on his private property. Mr. Ruck’s naturalized garden features native plants arranged to mimic a naturally occurring meadow and forest. The garden is an expression of Mr. Ruck’s environmental and ecological beliefs, and his belief in emphasizing the value of Canadian native plants over imported cultivars.
The City of Mississauga is seeking to enforce a “tall grass and weed bylaw” by entering Mr. Ruck’s private property without his consent and mowing down his garden. The Canadian Constitution Foundation intervened in Mr. Ruck’s case to support the right to freedom of expression and Mr. Ruck’s right to express himself and his beliefs on his private property without government interference. The violation of Mr. Ruck’s right to free expression cannot be justified. The primary effect of the Mississauga tall grass and weeds bylaw is to impose the city’s own subjective standards of aesthetic beauty on private property owners.
WIN: After our intervention, the Ontario Court of Appeal set aside a lower court’s decision that upheld the City of Mississauga’s enforcement. While the Court of Appeal did not decide whether the bylaw or its enforcement violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Mr. Ruck will now have another opportunity to argue that this bylaw apparently aimed at enforcing subjective aesthetic standards is unconstitutional, and that the actions taken against his naturalized garden violated his Charter rights.
Natural gardens case (Wolf Ruck v. Mississauga)
CCF Launch: January 27, 2025
Jurisdiction: Ontario
Status: Ongoing
Next Key Date: TBD
Donate
Related Press Releases:
