Changes to the region's code of use bylaw earned final approval from regional council Wednesday, but not before several delegations voiced opinions for and against the new measures designed to prevent harassment and discrimination on regional property.
The changes prohibit harassing behaviour based on race, religion, gender identity or sexual orientation, socio-economic status or housing status, and other protected grounds under the Ontario Human Rights Code occurring within public spaces that are regionally owned or occupied.
It gives bylaw and security staff the power to remove and fine any individual or group deemed to be "causing or permitting communication with any person in a way that causes the person, reasonably in all circumstances, to feel harassed."
David Alton, a lived experience facilitator with the Social Development Centre of Waterloo Region, praised the addition of socio-economic and housing factors in the bylaw.
He said the biggest concern they received while consulting on the Erb's Road interim housing community for unsheltered individuals was around harassment residents were experiencing from their neighbours.
Some were so afraid, they didn't want to walk to the nearby transit stop, he said.
Fauzia Mazhar, said she knows better than anyone, as a Muslim woman of colour, what harassment and hate looks like in public spaces because she has experienced it as long as she's been in Canada.
"I'm not here to hear others tell me what harassment means and hate means and what does it look like for a visible Muslim woman like me in everyday life," she said after hearing from a series of delegations opposed to the changes.
The director of the Coalition of Muslim Women of KW was instrumental in calling for the changes in an effort to combat Islamophobia she and others in the Muslim community have experienced.
It was one of a list of recommendations to eradicate Islamophobia the organization developed in the wake of the Afzaal family murders in London, Ontario in June 2021.
"I'm here to support and witness an historical moment," she said.
"As soon as this council ratifies the amendment to Bylaw 13-050 it will become the first municipality in Ontario and a select few in our country to have a bylaw in place to uphold the rights of marginalized communities to have protection against harassment and discriminatory behaviour based on the 17 protected grounds in the human rights code" on regional property.
But not every delegation welcomed the change.
Cambridge councillor Adam Cooper said the way the amended bylaw is worded means anyone could be in violation of it simply by sharing a viewpoint someone doesn't agree with.
He called the bylaw a lazy political tactic that essentially weaponizes the word hate by applying that label to anyone who voices an objectionable view.
"Fortunately this is a democracy...and there's some caveats to democracy where you might hear some things that you don't like, some things that you might disagree with. That's why I'm a councillor, why a lot of you are, because we're going to discuss stuff. If there is no discussion, why do we even have a job," he questioned.
The price of being in a democracy is having to hear views that are sometimes objectionable, "but you don't shut it down."
Some, like Cooper, worried the legislation goes beyond its intention and could make some marginalized communities feel further victimized while also adding to resentment felt by others against those communities.
Julia Malott, a transgender parent and regular columnist with the National Post, said she is well acquainted with hateful and vile language being used towards her but says she has learned to become resilient to it.
And while applauding the effort to stop hateful speech on public property, she questioned the need for any changes to the bylaw because sections of the criminal code already apply.
She also worried how some who harbour hateful views will react.
"Placing restrictive covenants on the speech of others, even when done with the best of intentions, causes resentment and animosity towards marginalized identities to grow," she said.
"Those with bigoted views will see it as my fault that they are now further restricted."
The solution to identity politic divides, she said, is openness and communication, "not to barricade us further."
Alan Honner, a lawyer and litigation director with The Democracy Fund called the changes to the bylaw, which he said are modelled after the City of Edmonton's public place bylaw, "deeply flawed."
The amendments go too far, he said, because they not only prevent harassing communications based on human rights concerns but also prevent "any communication whatsoever that would reasonably cause a person to feel harassed."
The wording implies limits on anything that would make a person feel troubled, or that they might find objectionable and sets "a very low standard" that has nothing to do with human rights concerns.
He believes the bylaw will fail the constitutional test if challenged in court.
One of the local organizers of last week's 1 Million March 4 Children rally, which called for the removal of 2SLGBTQ+ and gender identity teachings in the curriculum, Marium Ali, said she fears there could be "unintended consequences of prioritizing hurt feelings over the charter right for all of us to speak."
The bylaw could be weaponized to intimidate people from sharing their thoughts, expressing their concerns and joining together to demand changes to legislation, she said.
Her concerns were shared by Wasai Rahimi, president of the Afghan Council, who called the current education system "unsafe and unhealthy" because of the "indoctrination" of children.
"We are not a group of hate. We are a group of love who love all Canadians. We love our children and we stand for our rights as parents," he said.
He said anyone who labelled last week's protesters a hate group demonstrated discrimination and prejudice.
Janice Jim, a member of GroundUP Waterloo Region, stood up to support the amendments, saying she's disturbed by recent events that appear to show people are becoming emboldened by displays of hatred against marginalized groups.
She mentioned the targeted attack against a gender studies professor and students at the University of Waterloo, threats made against a drag queen story time at KPL in Kitchener in June, and hate speech levelled at the 2SLGBTQ+ community during last week's protest.
"One day after that rally, a Pride flag was burned at a Kitchener high school and thrown at LGBTQ students."
Harassment and discrimination cause dire emotional and psychological effects on individuals and prevents them from safely enjoying public spaces, she said.
Jim added that while the bylaw is not the complete solution, it is one more tool to combat street harassment and attacks.
"It is a statement that the region condemns hateful acts, it is a message that the Region of Waterloo is an inclusive community, it is a message that hate has no space in our community."
The amended bylaw will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
In the meantime, staff will develop an implementaton plan that includes training and communication.
