Free Speech

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The Ontario legislature passed a law that forces gas station owners to put up stickers with the government party line on pollution pricing or the carbon tax.

The government should not force anyone to share their message. If the station owners choose to not put up the stickers, they can be handed a new fine every day.

That’s called “compelled political speech.” That’s unconstitutional.

Why this is an Issue

Forcing an opinion on someone, or putting words in their mouth, is a violation of their liberty, freedom of thought, association and expression.

When someone does it from a position of power, it is demeaning and an abuse of authority. When a government does it to their citizens, it is important to take action and stand up to power.

That is why we are fighting for freedom of speech in Ontario.

CCLA is taking the Ontario government to court for forcing gas stations to put up stickers that we say are nothing less than government propaganda. Every single day, we choose the information we read and the information we share. What we share expresses our thoughts and feelings about life and how we see the world around us. How we interact with it. But what if you were forced to share something that you thought was inaccurate or untrue?

What if you were forced to share something, and if you didn’t, the government could hand you a new fine every single day?

Our claim argues that the law violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ protection of freedom of expression.

Forcing retailers to post a particular, government-mandated message about a political issue, particularly just prior to a federal election, is compelled speech that is not reasonable and cannot be justified by any compelling government objective.

Our Recent Work

2020 VICTORY.

CCLA won its challenge to Ontario’s anti-carbon tax stickers before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

The Court agreed that CCLA had the right to challenge the mandatory sticker requirement and found that the stickers were a form of compelled political expression that violated the constitutional protection of free expression.

The Court also agreed that the violation of free expression could not be justified. As the Court said: “A government or political party can, in the words of Ontario’s Minister of Energy, “stick it to” another tier of government of political party as a matter of free speech in an election campaign otherwise. But a government cannot legislate a requirement that private retailers post a Sticker designed to accomplish that task. The mandatory fuel pump Sticker is an unconstitutional attempt to do just that.”

““The provincial government can engage in a war of words with the federal government over the carbon tax, but it cannot use the threat of fines to conscript private businesses to take up its cause,””
Cara Zwibel,CCLA’s Director of the Fundamental Freedoms Program.

In October 2019, the Ontario Government served the Canadian Civil Liberties Association with their Statement of Defence in the Ontario Sticker law challenge by CCLA.

Their Defence is that the Ford Government’s sticker does not contain a political message.

We disagree.

““With their anti-carbon tax stickers, the Ford Government is sticking it to free speech, by forcing gas owners to stick ‘em up or pay up. That’s unconstitutional compelled speech, because it uses the power of the state to propagate government propaganda, using the powerful legal threat of fining dissenters. So we at CCLA are standing up to their abuse of power by taking them to court,””
Michael BryantCCLA’s Executive Director.

We Believe You Should Be Able To Speak For Yourself And Not Be Fined For Not Spreading Government Propaganda.

The Timeline

2020

September 4, 2020

CCLA Victory

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that the Ontario government’s law requiring gas retailers to post an anti-carbon tax sticker is unconstitutional compelled speech and the stickers are no longer mandatory.

Read the Judgement

July 6, 2020

Court Appearance

CCLA’s lawyers appeared before Justice Morgan of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to make arguments in support of our position that the government’s gas stickers are unconstitutional compelled speech. Justice Morgan reserved his judgment.

May 8, 2020

CCLA Files Written Argument

CCLA has filed its written argument in our challenge to the Ontario government’s mandatory gas stickers. The argument we put forward is that. while the government has every right to oppose the federal government’s approach to climate change, it does not have the right to force private retailers to convey its political message. We will have the government’s response in a few weeks, and hope to be before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in this case in early July.

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2019

October 30, 2019

Ontario Government files Statement of Defence

CCLA is served the Ontario government’s Statement of Defence.

Read the Statement

September 3, 2019

CCLA files Statement of Claim

CCLA files our Statement of Claim.

Read the Statement

August 30, 2019

Law Comes Into Effect

Law requiring gas station owners in Ontario to post anti-carbon tax stickers comes into effect. Individuals could be fined up to $500 each day, or up to $1,000 a day for subsequent offences. Corporations could be fined up to $5,000 a day, or up to $10,000 a day for subsequent offences.

April 29, 2019

CCLA Challenges Carbon Tax Stickers

CCLA sends a letter to the Ontario government saying we will challenge the carbon tax stickers, as it is compelled speech.

Read Letter

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Materials & Documents

Latest Updates and Briefs

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Fighting Compelled Political Speech

Fill Up On Free Speech

The Ontario legislature passed a law that forces gas station owners to put up stickers with the government party line on pollution pricing or the carbon tax.

The government should not force anyone to share their message. If the station owners choose to not put up the stickers, they can be handed a new fine every day.

That’s called “compelled political speech.” That’s unconstitutional.

Why It Matters

CCLA's Response

Timeline

Materials + Documents

Updates + Briefs