MOOSE JAW — The president of an organization that works to defend the constitutional freedoms of Canadians through litigation and education will be the guest speaker at this year’s Moose Jaw Right to Life banquet.
Lawyer John Carpay with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) will discuss his work with the pro-freedom organization during the pro-life group’s annual banquet, which occurs on Friday, April 4, at Church of Our Lady Hall.
Doors open at 6 p.m. and the dinner starts at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 each or $210 for a table of eight, while there will also be a silent auction. To purchase tickets, phone 306-694-4111.
“Some of our board (members) heard him speak before and he really emphasizes the need to protect basic Charter … rights and freedoms in Canada,” said Jean Landry, board president of Moose Jaw Right to Life.
“Whether it’s peaceful protests or freedom of speech, whether we agree with who or what he is defending isn’t the main concern,” she continued. “(Instead), it’s the fact that what has happened goes against the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
Landry pointed to several court cases that the JCCF has handled to highlight the work the organization does to support pro-life groups that face barriers in promoting their messages.
For example, last June, the Justice Centre supported Edmonton Pro-Life in acquiring a booth during the city’s annual KDays Festival. The charity had had a booth since the 1980s, but in 2022, the Explore Edmonton Corporation (EEC) unilaterally cancelled the organization’s booking without explanation.
After taking a year off, Edmonton Prolife applied last year for a booth but received an unclear notice that its application had been rejected because it had not met vendor criteria or because of a lack of space.
On June 4, 2024, Justice Centre lawyers filed a lawsuit at Alberta’s Court of King’s Bench in Edmonton against EEC for not allowing the pro-life group to acquire a booth in violation of its Charter rights.
A second example occurred in May 2023 in Ottawa, where a pro-life group wanted to display images of aborted fetuses on signs during their press conference at the National March for Life on Parliament Hill. Before the press conference, a member of the Provincial Police Service (PPS) reviewed the signs and then prevented the group from showing them because he considered them too graphic.
This decision was later reaffirmed in an email referring to the “General Rules on the Use of Parliament Hill.” At the time, the policy prohibited signs “that are obscene, offensive, or that promote hatred,” but the policy was later expanded to prohibit any “signs or banners that display explicit graphic violence or blood.”
On June 30, 2023, the Justice Centre helped the pro-life group file a notice of application in the Federal Court, challenging the violation of their freedom of expression in the nation’s capital.
Meanwhile, in 2017, Prince Albert’s pro-life group attempted to fly its flag on city hall’s courtesy flagpole to recognize “Celebrate Life Week,” something it had done for 20 years. However, the mayor said the flag raising would not be raised, but the city would still proclaim Celebrate Life Week.
The JCCF filed a court application against the City of Prince Albert and sought to have the municipality reverse its decision. The organization then took the case to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, which upheld the lower court’s decision of costs against the city for its misconduct but did not address the city’s Charter violations.
