Anti-Abortion/Pro-Life bus advertisement running on the side of Hamilton buses – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

April 23, 2024
The City of Hamilton has conceded it lacked legal grounds to reject an advertising purchase by the Association for Reformed Political Action Canada (APRA) to run a pro-life/anti-abortion ad on the side of the city’s public transit buses.
The advertisement includes an ultrasound image of a late-term fetus in the womb alongside three images: a young woman and two girls. The City of Hamilton initially banned the ad, stating it was misleading because the use of the “her” pronoun implied the fetus was a person under the law.
Hamilton was the only municipality to refuse the advertisement.
The ARPA challenge the City’s decision in court. One week before scheduled arguments at Ontario’s Divisional Court, the City of Hamilton conceded it failed to consider the Charter of Rights and Freedoms when it rejected the ad.
“In light of the Respondent City’s concession that it did not provide adequate reasons … the Court granted the application for judicial review, quashed the decision of the City, and remitted the matter back for proper consideration by the City,” wrote Justice Paul B. Schabas for a three-judge panel.
The Court also ordered the City to pay the ARPA $20,000 in legal costs.
ARPA resubmitted its ad purchase to the City.
The City determined it lacks legal grounds to prohibit the ad.