VANCOUVER, January 17, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – B.C. pro-lifer Jim Demers has lost his challenge of the provincial bubble zone legislation at the B.C. Court of Appeal. However, the result is a positive one for Demers who says the appeal was argued in terms of the right to life for the unborn and is now set to go to the Supreme Court of Canada. Demers argued that the bubble zone infringed on his right to freedom of speech under the Charter. He further argued that human embryos are included in the charter provision which says “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.”
While the three justices rejected the appeal, Demers is now eligible to apply for leave to appeal the case to the Supreme Court of Canada. Demers told LifeSite that from the outset, the challenge was to have the case heard at the Supreme Court level. “Right from the start the lower court justices said the case would go to the Supreme Court,” said Demers. He recalled that Justice Hood of the BC Supreme court went so far as to suggest that the quicker the case got there the better. Demers noted that a win on freedom of speech grounds would have stopped the right to life challenge from being heard at the Supreme Court. The text of the court decision in the Demers case is at: https://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/ca/03/00/2003BCCA0028.htm