The City of Ottawa has cancelled 17 fines issued to protesters for using megaphones and loudspeakers during protests nearly two years ago, but some advocates remain frustrated that the noise bylaw’s constitutionality wasn’t tested in court.
City prosecutors announced during a hearing on Tuesday that they were withdrawing
noise bylaw violation tickets
issued in December 2023 and early 2024 for using noise amplifiers while protesting in public spaces.
“Based on a review of the specific circumstances, the prosecution discontinued proceedings for reasons of public interest and to preserve limited court resources,” interim city solicitor Stuart Huxley wrote in a statement.
While the dropped fines represent a win for protesters and advocates, many say a real victory would have forced the city to re-evaluate its
application of the noise bylaw
and whether it infringed on Charter rights on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
“We left the courthouse happy and relieved, but also a little disappointed because we didn’t get that public, court-mandated ruling on the unconstitutionality of that bylaw,” said Emily Quaile, a member of Community Solidarity Ottawa.
Quaile said she was handed a $490 noise bylaw ticket for using a megaphone during a transgender youth rally in February 2024. She then joined a group of activists who had received similar fines under the legal representation of RavenLaw LLP.
After several proceedings and early resolution meetings, RavenLaw submitted a
legal brief
in August outlining why it believed the noise bylaw to be unconstitutional.
City prosecutors had “every opportunity to drop the charges” throughout the months-long legal process, said Rohoma Zakir, a lawyer at RavenLaw, but it wasn’t until after the defence filed that document that the city chose to withdraw.
“They likely realized that they could not defend the bylaw and that it was unconstitutional,” Zakir said.
In what Quaile described as “a pretty anticlimactic moment,” Tuesday’s hearing lasted less than 10 minutes before city prosecutors announced the charges had been dropped.
Former MPP Ottawa Centre Joel Harden, who received a noise bylaw ticket
for speaking through a megaphone
during a pro-Palestinian protest in December 2023, also had his fine dropped on Tuesday.
“I was disappointed in my city on the day (of the protest), and I remain deeply disappointed,” Harden said in an interview. “I was happy to see the charges thrown out, but I want to know why the city felt the need to repress our freedoms.”
Huxley confirmed the noise bylaw remained in effect, stating it outlined “the conditions under which sound amplification may be authorized and prohibiting any person from causing bass noise, unusual noise, or any noise likely to disturb the inhabitants of the city.”
As she prepares for upcoming rallies, Quaile says she fears the bylaw will continue to be an avenue the city can use to restrict future protests.
“The fact that this bylaw remains on the book and untested means that the city wanted to keep it on the book in its current state to be potentially used against us at a later date,” she said. “That causes a huge chill on our freedom of speech and it does chip away at our confidence to be able to go out and protest.”
For Zakir, the real victory is that people continue to protest with megaphones in hand while asserting their freedom of expression despite the fines she believes the city is using as an intimidation tactic.
“While there may not be a legal decision that says we all can now use megaphones, there is a precedent for us knowing that, if we do push back, if we do stand our ground, there is a world where can we can assert our rights and really go all the way,” she said.
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