REGINA, SK, October 15, 2002 (LSN.ca) – Pro-Life activist Bill Whatcott was victorious in a court battle over his placing pro-life pamphlets on car windshields in a University of Regina parking lot. In an 18-page decision released on Friday, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Dennis Ball set aside Whatcott’s conviction for “the unlawful distribution of literature,” saying application of a parking bylaw stopped Whatcott from communicating his views, contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Ball said the act also infringed Whatcott’s freedom of expression as protected by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code. The judge also noted that even if the University of Regina did have a law against littering on campus, such a law could only apply to advertising material. “It is highly unlikely that a university, whose mandate is to foster and encourage intellectual discourse, intended to ban all communications on the campus which attract public notice ‘so as to create interest,’ including the non-commercial expression of personal views, without the university president’s prior written permission,” Ball said. Whatcott’s lawyer Thomas Schuck said the ruling could have broader implications for freedom of speech on campus. (The Leader-Post (Regina) Sat 12 Oct 2002 City & Province B1 / Front News Kevin O’Connor) See related LifeSite coverage: COURT FINES PRO-LIFER FOR PAMPHLETING AT PUBLIC UNIVERSITY www.lifesite.net/ldn/2001/nov/01112802.html
(with files from Pro-Life E-News Canada)