Buffer-zone bill about censorship, not safety

Opinion

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This article was published 01/06/2024 (497 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At what point does persuading our neighbours of our views and beliefs become illegal?

The Manitoba government wants to ban persuasion or dissuasion of women accessing abortion services. Gender Equity Minister Nahanni Fontaine says the province needs to ban any and all (including peaceful) pro-life expression near abortion clinics, because an abortion doctor was shot in his home in 1997.

Bill 8, the Safe Access to Abortion Services Act, would create access zones around facilities that provide abortions and around the residence of abortion providers. Within such zones, no person would be permitted to attempt to persuade someone to refrain from accessing or providing abortion, share information about abortion, or express disapproval.

The bill would also prohibit physical interference, harassment, intimidation, and generating loud noise. As evidenced in examples used by the government, the justification of such access zones is primarily focused on safety for those accessing or providing abortion.

Consider Fontaine’s comments in a recent debate on Bill 8, where she noted that “this is particularly important as extremist anti-abortion violence has been targeted against abortion service providers. It is well known that a Winnipeg abortion provider was shot in his home in 1997.”

Fontaine’s fellow cabinet minister Lisa Naylor followed up Fontaine’s example by pointing to additional similar examples of serious violence.

But is this really the point of the legislation?

The specific instances of violence, aside from vague generalities, that these ministers reference happened over 20 years ago. If a no-speech “bubble zone” were needed to stop Manitobans from shooting people they disagree with, this bill would be too little, too late.

The government also makes vague reference to protesters harassing and physically stopping women from entering abortion facilities.

But none of these examples has anything to do with the current debate around access zones. There is absolutely nothing legal about physically targeting someone with whom one disagrees, including through acts less abhorrent than shooting.

Violence, harassment, assault (including making threats), intimidation (including stalking a person or impeding their free movement), mischief (including interfering with lawful use of property), nuisance, and causing a public disturbance are all prohibited under Canada’s Criminal Code.

In 2021, the federal government also amended the Criminal Code to make it an offence to impede, obstruct, or intimidate a person accessing or providing health services.

In short, the safety provisions introduced by the Manitoba government are, at best, unnecessary. But the government admits that Bill 8 goes beyond just Criminal Code prohibitions.

Bill 8 also prohibits attempts to persuade, share information, or express disapproval within 50-150 metres of certain facilities or residences.

More specifically, Bill 8 prohibits expressing disapproval of abortion or persuading someone to refrain from accessing abortion. The limitations do not address encouraging or approving abortion within these zones. The bill is targeted to focus on one side of one issue.

Trying to persuade or offer information or help to someone is no infringement on their rights.

Bill 8 is not about keeping people safe.

There are laws and means in place to keep people safe, no matter what services or facilities they are accessing. Instead, it’s about limiting speech that the government disagrees with. The government should not pretend that access zones will create added safety.

Using examples of already prohibited violence and harassment does not justify limiting speech.

Instead, the Manitoba government should abandon access zones and encourage free debate, even if it includes perspectives they may not like.

Daniel Zekveld is a policy analyst with the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada.