RSED lawyers Stephanie DiGiuseppe and Heather Gunter have been granted leave to intervene in the constitutional challenge to Ontario’s “Ag-Gag” Laws, the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act of 2020 (“bill 156”) on behalf of the Regan Russell Foundation.
Bill 156 restricts the rights of animal rights protestors to engage in undercover investigations, whistleblower activities, and core protest activities, such as “bearing witness” to the deaths of farm animals.
In March 2021, Animal Justice filed a constitutional challenge to bill 156. You can read more about the Animal Justice constitutional challenge here. The Regan Russell Foundation will join other animal rights civil society groups such as Animal Save Movement and the Centre for Free Expression to argue that the ag gag laws breach the free speech, freedom of assembly, arbitrary detention, and s. 7 rights of animal justice protestors.
The Regan Russell Foundation (RRF) is a not-for-profit organization established in the memory of animal rights activist, Regan Russell. Regan Russell was killed on June 19, 2020 in Burglinton, while engaging in animal rights protest activities. Her death sparked a wave of activism around the globe, focused on animal welfare and the right to peaceful protest. RRF is primarily concerned with preserving Regan Russell’s legacy and continuing her activism in the areas of animal welfare, animal rights and protest rights.
In our constitutional challenge to bill 156, we will argue that limiting protesters’ freedom of speech and assembly in order to ensure their safety is not justifiable under the Charter, and the provincial government should not use Regan’s death to support its argument to the contrary.
In addition to combatting this unfair legislation, our submissions will have broader relevance to the analysis under s. 1 of the Charter, wherever freedom of speech and the safety of the speaker are put in conflict.
