By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
SARNIA, Ontario, April 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Recently a pro-life ad that reads, “9 months. The length of time an abortion is allowed in Canada,” was removed from six Sarnia Transit city buses after one complaint by a teenager. Now, because of the incident, city staff are considering an overhaul of bus advertising rules, calling them inconsistent and “somewhat outdated,” according to a Sarnia Observer report.
Earlier this month LifeSiteNews reported that Miranda Domingue, a student at St. Francis Xavier school, complained in a letter to the paper that she was “outraged” that the city appeared to be endorsing a pro-life position by allowing the sign on city buses, and wanted Sarnia Transit to apologize.
Miranda now says the letter was part of a school project and she “never imagined it would blow up like this,” but still maintains that, “I just didn’t think it was right that that statement be on city buses.”
Sarnia Transit manager Jim Stevens told city council in a report that the complaint from Miranda precipitated the need to review the city’s advertising policy, which had not been reevaluated in five years.
“The current policies or standards are somewhat outdated; inconsistent within our various advertising agreements; and lack a formalized advertising/complaint review process,” he said in the report.
Sarnia mayor Mike Bradley indicated that future complaints about bus ads may be forwarded to Advertising Standards Canada (ASC), which oversees the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards, for a judgment.
The ASC, a self-regulating body of Canada’s advertising industry, already ruled last year that the pro-life ad, which says abortions are allowed in Canada throughout all nine months of pregnancy, are “deceptive,” ignoring both evidence from Statistics Canada confirming the truth of the message the ad gives, and a ruling from the Supreme Court, which shows that there are no laws against abortion at any point in Canada.
Joanne Byfield, president of LifeCanada, the group behind the ads, said the ruling was unbelievable. “Our ads simply state the reality in Canada that there is no law restricting abortion at any stage of pregnancy. This ruling says it is ‘deceptive’ to tell Canadians that,” she said. (See: Pro-Life Ads Pointing Out Fact that in Canada Abortion is Permitted Until Birth are Ruled “Deceptive”: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08052604.html)
An recent, informal poll by The Observer showed a high level of public support for the pro-life ad.
The poll asked, “Do you believe city buses should carry messages about controversial topics like abortion and religion?” and resulted in 567 responses of “Yes, it’s a question of free speech” to 156 responses of “No, it’s the wrong forum for divisive issues.”
To express your opinion please contact:
Jim Stevens, Director of Sarnia Transit
1169 Michener Rd, Sarnia, ON N7S 4W3
Phone: 519-336-3271
Fax: 519-336-3361
Email: [email protected]
Mike Bradley, Mayor
Sarnia City Hall
255 Christina St.North, Sarnia, ON N7S 1A1
Phone: 519-332-0330 ext 312
Fax: 519-332-3995
Email: [email protected]
Read previous LSN coverage:
Sarnia, Ontario Transit Pulls Pro-Life Bus Ad after One Complaint from High-Schooler
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09040910.html