PNE bans antiwar message

An antiwar activist has suggested that the Pacific National Exhibition and the Vancouver police violated her constitutional rights by prohibiting her from handing out leaflets at the fair.

On September 4, several StopWar volunteers were forced off the grounds after trying to counter a Canadian Forces demonstration of weaponry. In a phone interview with the Georgia Straight, StopWar cochair Marla Renn said two Vancouver police officers threatened members of her group with charges of “assault by trespass” if they didn’t leave.

The City of Vancouver owns the PNE, which charges admission to the fair. The event is held on public property at Hastings Park.

“We had no opportunity to say, ”˜Okay, can we put the pamphlets away and speak to people?,’ ” Renn claimed.

PNE chair Raymond Louie, a Vision Vancouver councillor, referred the Straight’s call to spokesperson Laura Ballance. She told the Straight in a phone interview that six people were handing out leaflets and attaching antiwar stickers at the Canadian Forces display. “We would prohibit anyone from leafleting,” Ballance said by phone. “It’s a massive garbage nuisance.”

She noted that the fair is the largest ticketed event in B.C., entertaining approximately 900,000 people a year. “It would be incredibly disturbing for guests just to have people walking up, tapping them on the shoulder, and talking to them on conceivably an endless list of subjects,” Ballance said.

Two lawyers say the protesters have a strong legal case. Robert Diab, who teaches legal courses at Capilano College, told the Straight by phone that governments and government-owned entities such as the PNE are subject to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, unlike the owners of private property.

Diab, who cowrote a recent paper about civil liberties and the 2010 Olympics, said he believes that if the StopWar protesters were not pushing, shoving, or showing overt hostility, they had a constitutional right to distribute pamphlets at the fair.

“It would be a violation of the charter of rights if they were to be denied that opportunity,” he said.

Freedom of expression is guaranteed under Section 2(b) of the charter of rights. In July, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that TransLink infringed on the constitutional rights of the Canadian Federation of Students and the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation by refusing to accept their political advertisements several years ago.

Lawyer David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, told the Straight by phone that the TransLink case and a 1991 Supreme Court of Canada decision about an airport protest have some bearing on how the PNE conducts its affairs.

In the 1991 decision, Committee for the Commonwealth of Canada v. Canada, the court ruled that officials at a publicly owned airport infringed on two protesters’ freedom of expression by prohibiting them from trying to recruit members to their group. “The distribution of pamphlets and discussion with certain members of the public are in no way incompatible with the airport’s primary function, that of accommodating the needs of the travelling public,” the court ruled.

The Canadian Forces paid a fee to the PNE to become an exhibitor, according to Ballance. Eby suggested that StopWar volunteers would have a stronger court case had they had also applied for a booth.

“My feeling is that the flyers weren’t interfering with anyone’s enjoyment of their day at the PNE, and that the city should be welcoming free political expression on all of its property—and not just on the sidewalks—especially if they’re welcoming the armed forces in,” Eby said.

Ballance acknowledged that StopWar asked to become an exhibitor on the 14th day of the fair. She said that staff refused to process the request, but were willing to discuss the issue after the fair ended on September 7.

“I think that any group that approached us—whether or not they were selling hot dogs or wanting to leaflet or talk to our guests—wouldn’t be entertained in the middle of the event,” Ballance said.