The man accused of throwing chocolate milk on pro-life supporters wants the city to develop a decency bylaw, but councillors say the situation is out of their hands.
Brian Hamilton, a well-known Thunder Bay businessman, faces charges of assault after he allegedly threw chocolate milk on pro-life demonstrators last Saturday. The Calgary-based group called Canadian Centre for Bio-ethical Reformhad stopped in town during a nationwide tour.
The group displayed graphic images of aborted fetuses in the Bay Street and Algoma Street area during their demonstration, which came at the same time and within the same area as a local business street sale.
But a desire to have a bylaw ban indecent images during protests might not get support from city council.
“Having seen several of these type of ‘morality' issues before in order to have municipal councils to take a side on it, it is my belief that these are not within the jurisdiction of municipalities,” Coun. Ken Boshcoff said, responding to statements made by Hamilton earlier about approaching council to request such a bylaw.
“We have seen now, especially with the different types of media and the ways people can communicate, that the limits are pushed. Facebook may have some controls in terms of body nudity but very few on language and on many blog sites people who are anonymous can say whatever they want.
“I don’t know where society is heading on this but for municipalities to jump in and legislate it would be just a quagmire.”
At-Large Coun. Larry Hebert shared some of Boshcoff’ s concerns and he said what concerned him was what exactly constitutes obscene or indecent.
He said the definition could vary and what may be offensive to one person may not be to another. He said the issue could just end up being a debate on censorship and that’s something they have to be careful about.
“It’s so difficult to define what’s indecent and what’s decent,” Hebert said. “There are some things that I don’t like that go over the line but other people might think that’s OK. I think censorship definitely plays into this. I understand (Hamilton’s) argument to a degree. I don’t know how graphic these images were. He took offense but someone else might not.”
Hebert pointed out that news organizations broadcasted the recent slaughter of hundreds Syrian civilians many of which were children and he argued where people drew the line.
Hebert added that even if they pass the bylaw it would probably be a violation in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
McKellar Coun. Paul Pugh said people have a right to express their opinions, but wondered if the pro-life group pushed the limits of that freedom.
Pugh added that he understood where Hamilton was coming from, but wasn’t sure if the city could even do what he is asking.
“It’s a legal question and I put the issue to the city’s legal department,” Pugh said.
At-Large Coun. Aldo Ruberto pointed out that the city already has bylaws in place for public demonstrations. Organizers have to have the proper permits, tell council where they are going to have the demonstration and how it is going to be conducted.
But if four people just start standing on a street corner, Ruberto said he’s not sure how they can classify images as pornographic, horrific or obscene.
“I don’t know how much we can guide beyond the constitution,” Aldo said. “It depends on the images and who makes those calls? I know what I like and I know what I don’t like but I don’t know what you don’t like. It’s hard to make that judgment call. I leave that up to the courts and the police.”
Having heard about the demonstration, Ruberto phoned Hamilton to talk about the situation. He said that the group was looking for trouble and trying to get a reaction when they arrived into town.
He said the group took advantage of a sidewalk sale to show those images and added that he hoped that the charges don’t go through.
“The more reaction they get the better it seems,” he said.
But if Hamilton can’t find support at city hall, he has been able to find it on Facebook.
Hundreds of people have voiced their encouragement toward his cause through the social network.
“There has never been a law against showing R- or X-rated images in public because most people are not that insensitive that we need to enact those laws,” Hamilton said on Facebook. “It's clear now, we do.”
But support for Hamilton’s cause is not universal. Comments from other Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and elsewhere show just how polarizing the issue is.
And the dialogue online almost always strays from the question of decency, turning instead into a debate between pro-life and pro-choice.
