Guelph, Ont., January 27, 2022 – Yesterday the City of Guelph received the Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s reasons for decision with respect to two applications for judicial review by Guelph and Area Right to Life which challenged the City’s decision to remove three anti-abortion advertisements from buses owned and operated by the City of Guelph.
The Court did not strike the City’s Advertising Acceptability Policy or order the reposting of the advertisements, but directed the City to reconsider the application of its policy with respect to the advertisements at issue.
The City is carefully reviewing the reasons of the Court, considering its legal options, and determining what impact the Court’s reasons will have on how the Advertising Acceptability Policy is applied going forward.
The Advertising Acceptability Policy remains an important guidance document for how the City considers content which it accepts for display in City spaces. It’s possible that the Court’s reasons may suggest process changes in how the Policy is applied in individual cases.
The City has not made any determination about the specific advertising content which the Court has remitted for its reconsideration.
Media contact
Tara Sprigg
General Manager, Strategic Communications and Community Engagement
519-822-1260 extension 2610
[email protected]