City council in Ottawa has agreed to allow ads promoting atheism on OC Transpo buses.
Council voted Wednesday night to allow the ads—which read “There’s Probably No God. Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life”—to be displayed after city solicitor Rick O’Connor told councillors the ban wouldn’t hold up in court.
In a memo to councillors, O’Connor suggested the decision not to allow the ads might violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“This is a great day for Canadians of all faiths,” said David Barton, a member of the Humanist Association of Ottawa.
The Freethought Association of Canada recently applied to place the ads on OC Transpo buses but was refused because the city said they contravened a city policy.
Coun. Alex Cullen, who has been fighting for weeks to have the decision overturned, said he’s pleased with the reversal.
“It shows a simple bus ad tests our commitment to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” said Cullen. “I’m pleased council rose to the occasion.”
But not everyone agreed with the decision.
Coun. Bob Monette said the ads are offensive and shouldn’t be allowed on public property.
“I believe they are in very poor taste and derogatory to anybody who believes in God,” he said. “I am concerned they are judging other people’s beliefs. It’s public property and it’s inappropriate.”
Council also agreed to direct staff to review its current advertising placement policy, which states “religious advertising which promotes a specific ideology, ethic, point of view, policy or action, which in the opinion of the city might be deemed prejudicial to other religious groups or offensive to users of the transit system is not permitted.”
Coun. Michel Bellemare said the debate should never have reached council and that a protocol should be in place that would force OC Transpo to consult the city’s legal services department when an issue like the atheist bus ad arises.
Transit officials made the initial decision to block the ads after receiving four complaints from the public.
Without more evidence the ads would be offensive to a reasonable number of transit users, O’Connor said it would be difficult for the city to successfully defend its decision in court.
