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WHITEHORSE – The Canadian Constitution Foundation has sent a letter to Whitehorse City Council urging Council to amend its recently passed civility policy, which violates the right to freedom of expression guaranteed under section 2(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The CCF acknowledges that municipal councils can create rules to maintain order at council meetings but the recently-enacted policy includes unreasonable limits on expression that are likely to prevent citizens from exercising their rights to participate in local democracy.

These limits include:

• a rule allowing a presiding officer at a meeting to require a participant to remove or cover up any attire “including buttons, non-religious headwear, pins, or other item” that the presiding officer decides are “disrespectful” including any attire “with language, statements, or imagery that is detrimental, discriminatory, offensive, profane, racial, sexist, violent, or vulgar”;
• a ban on bringing signs of any kind into the venue where Council is meeting;
• a rule allowing a presiding officer or a city administrator to discard or refuse to distribute any document from a member of the public that he or she deems “inappropriate” including documents that are “insulting” to Council members; and
• a ban on “microaggressions,” which are defined in the policy as “a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude towards a member of a marginalized group.”

CCF Counsel Josh Dehaas said that the policy is far too restrictive of people’s constitutional rights.

“Canadians have a right to express themselves at city council meetings regardless of whether council members believe that what they’re saying is disrespectful, offensive or insulting,” Dehaas said. “Whitehorse should amend their policy to ensure that everyone’s voices can heard.”

In a letter sent Friday by Whitehorse lawyer Vincent Larochelle, the CCF has urged Whitehorse to amend the policy no later than September 16. You can read the full letter online here.

The Canadian Constitution Foundation is a non-profit that defends the constitutional rights and freedoms of Canadians through communications, public education and litigation.