Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown during the Diwali Mela festival at Sesquicentennial Park in Brampton, Ont., Nov. 1.Andrew Lahodynskyj/The Canadian Press
City council in Brampton, Ont., has passed a motion to restrict “nuisance demonstrations” near places of worship after a series of violent protests outside a Hindu temple earlier this month.
The new bylaw states that no person “shall organize or participate in a nuisance demonstration within one hundred metres” of a place of worship, specifying that the measure is not intended to prevent peaceful protests.
The decision comes after hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the Hindu Sabha Mandir on two consecutive days, resulting in violent clashes that led to multiple arrests and the suspension of a Peel police officer.
Social-media posts at the time appeared to show some demonstrators holding banners in support of a separate Sikh country called Khalistan and others holding India’s national flag.
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Some have warned the bylaw could result in restrictions on free speech, with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association calling its wording “vague, subjective, and overly broad” in a letter to council earlier this week.
Restrictions on demonstrations near places of worship have been considered in other Ontario cities, including Vaughan, where a similar bylaw was passed earlier this year.
In Mississauga and Ottawa, city councils have recently passed motions directing staff to study the feasibility of such a bylaw.