A public hearing considering whether the government had legal grounds to order Canada Post to stop distributing a local publication routinely described as “hate propaganda” began this morning.
The Board of Review hearing was called following last year’s prohibitory order by federal minister Judy Foote, the minister responsible for Canada Post. The order banned the publishers of Your Ward News from using Canada Post with the reasoning that the publishers committed an offence by sending hate propaganda through the mail.
The rare quasi-judicial hearing, which got underway this morning in a federal building at Yonge and Sheppard, will determine if the minister had reasonable grounds to believe the publishers were committing an offence. Today’s hearing, led by a three-member panel and attended by interested parties, lawyers, and members of the public and media, has the goal of setting up the structure and procedure for the hearings.
A coalition of community members called STAMP (Standing Together Against Mailing Prejudice), led by members Lisa and Warren Kinsella, has been vocal in their opposition to Your Ward News, which was the subject of a human rights complaint.
Those interested in following along can do so on Twitter, where several people are live-tweeting today’s proceedings.
At the government’s first hearing on Your Ward News up at Yonge & Sheppard.
— Jonathan Goldsbie (@goldsbie) April 25, 2017
Your Ward News’ lawyer plans to challenge constitutionality of Section 43.1 of the Canada Post Act
— Greg Renouf (@grenouf) April 25, 2017
By introducing the constitutional question, Your Ward News’ lawyers have placed a flight of stairs in front of the Board’s ED-209.
— Jonathan Goldsbie (@goldsbie) April 25, 2017
Person of interest wants to know who will cross-examine: lawyers or #YourWardNews staff? Jamal says she had hoped to determine that today.
— allie g. (@allieegraham) April 25, 2017
.@kinsellawarren has asked a board of review to allow media camera access to upcoming hearings for Your Ward News.
— Adrian Ghobrial (@CityAdrian) April 25, 2017
Next #yourwardnews hearing will be sometime in May.
— Evan Balgord (@ebalgord) April 25, 2017
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