John Carpay: Hamilton mayor, police violate Charter in crusade against anti-immigration group

Then-Ontario NDP leader, and current mayor of Hamilton, Ont., Andrea Horwath, attends a campaign rally in Kingston, Ont. in 2022. Photo by Postmedia Files

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The mayor and police in Hamilton, Ont., have decided that some Canadians have the wrong kind of opinions and should not be allowed to rent public facilities.

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Last week, Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath declared that the Dominion Society is not entitled to rent city-owned property to hold a conference. The predictable result was to force the group to seek a private venue in which to hold its meeting.

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The Hamilton Police Service then diverted some of its stretched resources to impeding the efforts of the Dominion Society, issuing a political statement denouncing it as “divisive and exclusionary,” and as negatively impacting “the sense of safety and belonging within our community.” The police even asked the public to contact them with information about any efforts the group might make to secure a venue.

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Hamilton’s police and mayor are behaving much like Quebec’s former tourism minister, Caroline Proulx. In 2023, she ordered the Centre des congrès de Québec, which is owned by a Crown corporation, to cancel its contract with Harvest Ministries to hold a Christian conference. The sole reason for cancelling the contract was that Proulx vehemently disagreed with the Christian group’s beliefs about abortion.

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The Superior Court of Quebec recently ruled that Proulx had abused her authority and violated the Charter-protected freedom of expression of Harvest Ministries. The court awarded general and punitive damages to Harvest Ministries.

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The Dominion Society describes itself as “dedicated to promoting Canadian identity, heritage and nationalism.” It advocates for remigration: sending immigrants back to their countries of origin. Neither Hamilton’s mayor nor its police force have accused it of being violent, criminal or terrorist. It therefore has the same right as every other non-profit in Canada to operate peacefully within the law, and to advocate for its beliefs.

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Polls have shown that roughly half of Canadians believe immigration levels are too high. Let’s say for argument’s sake that only eight per cent of Canadians support remigration, and 92 per cent oppose it. Should having only eight per cent support for your opinion mean losing your right to rent government-owned facilities, and to use public spaces like parks and sidewalks?

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If yes, then no government facilities should be available for rental by the NDP, which garnered only 6.3 per cent of the popular vote in Canada’s most recent federal election. Almost 94 per cent of Canadians rejected the NDP in 2025. Yet the NDP is not disqualified from being able to exercise its Charter freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly.

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Politicians and policemen have every right to express their political opinions for or against various groups and causes. At the same time, Canada’s mayors, cabinet ministers and police forces have no right to treat government property as though it were their own private property, available only to “good” people who have the “correct” political beliefs.