Advocacy groups call for city to protect protesters from noise bylaw fines

A coalition of more than 50 community groups is backing a call for city hall to protect protesters from being fined for noise violations while using megaphones and speakers. This comes after dozens of tickets were issued at recent demonstrations throughout Ottawa.

“Our right to protest in this city is fundamental, and shouldn’t be at the discretion of city bylaw officers or police,” Sam Hersh of Horizon Ottawa said at a press conference outside city hall earlier this week.

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Since late Dec. 2023, bylaw officers have given out at least 48 noise violation fines to protesters at various demonstrations, he said, amounting to $23,000.

The city’s bylaw officers began ticketing pro-Palestinian protesters on Dec. 23 for using megaphones and speakers, something the group had been doing at their weekly rallies for months prior without issue, said Sarah Abdul-Karim of the Palestinian Youth Movement.

READ MORE: Noise bylaw tickets issued again during 12th weekend of pro-Palestinian rallies in Ottawa

Abdul-Karim said the noise bylaw is “a threat to our rights as Canadians, and a threat to Ottawa’s longstanding history of social movements and protest.”

Protesters at rallies and demonstrations for solidarity with transgender youth, striking workers and climate protesters have also been ticketed, Hersh said.

“This is not only an issue for one particular movement,” Hersh said. “We’ve tried to work with city council to ensure bylaw changes will be made, but it’s clear more pressure is needed.”

Noise during protests became a contentious issue in Ottawa during the convoy demonstration, as honking truck horns echoed through the downtown core over three weeks in 2022. In that case, a judge eventually issued a court order banning the horn honking and air horn blowing that echoed downtown during that lengthy protest.

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Zexi Li, the lead plaintiff in a $290-million class-action lawsuit against convoy organizers on behalf of downtown Ottawa residents, workers and business owners, described the excessive noise from vehicles honking their horns “for most of the day, if not all day.”

Hersh says any proposed amendment to the noise bylaw for one-day protests, however, shouldn’t “give bylaw any less tools to deal with some of the convoy if they came back to the city.”

The difference, he says, is “the convoy was a three-week occupation of the entire city of Ottawa, and we’re asking for a bylaw for it to be OK for people to have megaphones at protests.”

Bylaw issued more than 3,000 parking tickets in the downtown area by the convoy protest’s end, as well as two tickets for noise infractions and one for encumbrance of a highway by a vehicle.

When the convoy protesters returned in February of this year to mark the two-year anniversary of the original protest, Ottawa police instructed city bylaw officers not to ticket participants in a “volatile” and illegal fireworks display, in hopes of de-escalating the situation.

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Police did hand out tickets, however, for driving while suspended, operating a vehicle without insurance, failing to surrender a driving permit, driving without a permit and driving the wrong way on a one-way street. There were also tickets for parking infractions and excessive noise, while one unplated vehicle was towed away.

READ MORE: City clarifies police, bylaw officers’ response during convoy anniversary demonstration

Ottawa’s noise bylaw states “no person shall operate or use or cause to be operated or used any sound reproduction device on any highway or other public place.” The city has previously defended its choice to ticket protesters, saying bylaw officers “follow a progressive enforcement model and take every opportunity to educate individuals on Ottawa’s bylaws before the event, and work towards a resolution during the event.”

Hersh said council amending either the noise bylaw — or the special events bylaw, which covers demonstrations, marches and processions — would be acceptable, and “what matters is that council affirm the principle that Ottawa residents have the right to protest, without intimidation from OPS and bylaw.”

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Ariel Troster, city councillor for Somerset Ward, which includes Centretown and surrounding core neighbourhoods, said she isn’t receiving complaints about noise levels during regular protests.

“I’m obviously deeply concerned,” she said, “and I also represent Centretown, where the convoy took root, where we certainly had to deal with completely unacceptable amplified noise.”

She said councillors have been discussing the noise bylaw and mulling the best way to approach changing it.

“I have a lot of respect for bylaw,” Troster said. “We don’t want to antagonize them. We don’t want to take a tool away from them that they think they really need. But I’m still scratching my head about this one.”

Annie Yeo, vice president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, said she was “appalled” the city would issue fines at protests, saying it discourages community organizers from pushing for progressive change.

“What kind of city is this where we can’t voice our discontent of public figures, in our very own public spaces?” she said. “Noise regulations should not be weaponized to suppress legitimate forms of picketing and protest. How can we, as workers, engage in legal strike action, when we have cops breathing down our neck and preying on the working class?”

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Callie Metler, executive director of Capital Pride, one of the largest pride festivals in Canada, said Ottawa’s streets have always been a place of protest, but “are now sites of danger, sites of counterprotest, sites of direct conflict with those who hate us.

READ MORE: Protesters rally for trans youth during Alberta premier’s trip to capital

“If we must continue to react to this hate, we need to do it loudly.”

Metler added megaphones also serve a practical purpose, saying she safely directs over 10,000 participants from the start to finish of the pride parade. “I couldn’t do it without a megaphone strapped to my back.”

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