Source: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms
Lawyers funded by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms have sent a warning letter to Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath and Police Chief Frank Bergen over their campaign against DomCon, a conference organized by the Dominion Society of Canada. The group describes itself as a nationalist organization focused on Canadian identity, immigration policy and what it calls remigration. Critics call it extremist. The legal issue is not whether those views are popular. It is whether city hall and the police may use public power to keep a lawful meeting from happening.
Horwath announced that no city-owned venue would be rented to the organizers, then wrote to private businesses urging them not to host the event either. Hamilton Police went further. Inspector Darren Murphy said “Dom Con is not welcome in Hamilton.” The service issued a news release telling venues to consider the “impact” of the group’s messaging and asking the public to report possible bookings as if arranging a conference were a police matter. Two Hamilton venues cancelled. The event was moved out of the city.
The Justice Centre’s letter argues that this combination of official statements, pressure on private landlords and a police call for reports infringes freedom of expression and peaceful assembly under sections 2(b) and 2(c) of the Charter. No criminal charges were laid against the organizers. Conservative MP Andrew Lawton, who has said he has significant problems with the Dominion Society, still asked the obvious question: why are police targeting venues over a gathering that has not been alleged to be illegal?
A free city is allowed to dislike a speaker. It is allowed to protest outside. What it is not supposed to do is have the mayor and the police work in tandem to dry up every room in town. Once “divisive messaging” becomes a reason for the state to lean on landlords, the list of unwelcome conferences will not stay limited to one group. The remedy for bad ideas is argument and votes, not a municipal blacklist enforced by the people who are supposed to protect the peace.
