Toronto City Council approves controversial ‘bubble zone’ bylaw

Toronto City Council has approved a controversial bylaw that restricts protests around places of worship, schools and daycares.

Following a daylong contentious debate, councillors voted 16-9 in favour of the “bubble zone” bylaw, which is scheduled to take effect on July 2.

Among a flurry of motions that were passed late Thursday is one that expands the exclusion zone around these places from 20 to 50 metres while also extending how long the owners who apply for these zones remain in place to one year instead of six months.

A provision that required an owner to prove they had previously been affected by a protest to apply for the exclusion zone was eliminated, meaning there’s no application process, and any mosque, synagogue, church, or daycare that asks for a ‘bubble zone’ will get one.

Violators could face fines of up to $5,000 for ignoring the ‘bubble zone’ and could also be arrested if they refuse to comply.

According to councillors, the bylaw could apply to 3,000 locations across the city.

For more than a year, City Hall has struggled with imposing a ban on protests outside places of worship and other vulnerable institutions. For those in favour of the bylaw, it is about fighting antisemitism, while for those against, it’s an infringement on rights and freedoms.

“The bylaw as proposed protects rights to protest; there are lots of places that you can do that, but we’re not going to allow the hateful intimidation of people who are trying to practice their faith,” said Coun. Brad Bradford, who voted in favour of the motion.

Other councillors pointed out that there are already laws against hate speech and that banning protests is anti-democratic.

“Here’s the thing that is so hard about allowing for protests, supporting protests. If you support protests, you have to support it for people you disagree with too,” said Coun. Gord Perks, one of the nine who voted against the motion.

At one point during the debate, a protester had to be removed from the council chamber.

“You are weaponizing antisemitism in your actions,” he was heard yelling as he was led away by security. “This is an utter farce.”

Coun. Chris Moise put forth a motion to defer the bylaw until the federal government tabled similar legislation, saying the matter has become “divisive” for councillors. Opponents of that motion called it a “high-risk venture,” pointing to the Liberals’ minority and no guarantee that the feds will do anything.

“We have an opportunity here to create a made-in-Toronto bylaw for our unique situation. Do we really want faraway Ottawa — out of touch Ottawa — to be doing it for us?” said Coun. James Pasternak.

Coun. Bradford said punting this to another level of government amounted to a “dereliction of our duty.”

“Nineteen months into this mess of what we’ve seen happening, further debate, further deferral, further delay is unhelpful.”

Coun. Rachel Chernos Lin echoed those comments, saying, “It is our responsibility.”

Coun. Mike Colle noted the bylaw is a “minor change” where they are asking bylaw officers to issue tickets to people who impede entrances.

“If we can’t do that as a City Council, what the hell are we doing here?”

Ultimately, Moise’s motion to defer the bylaw failed by a vote of 16-8.

Critics of the bylaw have vowed the matter is likely to go before the courts as part of a charter challenge.

“I can’t see how it would not given how vague some of the elements of this bylaw are,” said Louise Smith with the Coalition for Charter of Rights and Freedoms. “One of the aspects of it is that you can’t express acts of disapproval in this access area, and how do you define an act of disapproval?”

When asked during Thursday’s debate if the bylaw is “charter compliant” and balances free speech and public safety, the city’s solicitor said while they had identified many arguments that could be made to defend a charter challenge, “one can never predict with certainty the outcome of a court proceeding.”

Alan Carter contributed to this report