{"id":485016,"date":"2026-02-19T09:57:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/485016\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T09:57:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:57:08","slug":"winnipeg-protest-bylaw-stalled-after-hundreds-object-brandon-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/485016\/","title":{"rendered":"Winnipeg protest bylaw stalled after hundreds object \u2013 Brandon Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

WINNIPEG \u2014 A bylaw that proposed a ban on \u201cnuisance\u201d protests within 100 metres of certain locations has been shelved indefinitely after intense public pushback and a protest that drew hundreds to city hall Tuesday.<\/p>\n

City council\u2019s executive policy committee heard from about 100 members of the public Tuesday, who gave speeches in opposition to the proposed Safe Access to Vulnerable Infrastructure bylaw. The proposal was drawn up to limit \u201cnuisance\u201d demonstrations and intimidation within 100 metres of schools, places of worship, libraries, cultural centres, hospitals and other locations.<\/p>\n

The proposed bylaw would have prohibited any protest that blocked access to spaces for people or vehicles and used megaphones or voice amplifiers, with fines starting at $500 for a first offence, up to $5,000.<\/p>\n

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A rally at Winnipeg city hall opposing a proposed bylaw restricting \u201cnuisance demonstrations\u201d before the city\u2019s executive policy committee meeting on Tuesday. (Mikaela MacKenzie\/Winnipeg Free Press)<\/p>\n

Coun. Evan Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood), who put forward a motion calling on council to draft the bylaw in September, said on Monday that he changed his mind and would pull the proposal after receiving much public feedback. <\/p>\n

Duncan added that he had the support of Mayor Scott Gillingham and fellow members of EPC to shelve the bylaw and criticized some of the response as \u201cmisinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he stood by that decision Tuesday, but was \u201cstill supportive of safe spaces within the City of Winnipeg.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have several factors of this bylaw that potentially need to be revisited, as we heard from several groups today, (it\u2019s) too broad,\u201d he said in a break between delegations Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cOK, that\u2019s a great point that the community is making here. My bad for not doing the extensive community consultation that is needed in this case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duncan said he believed federal Bill C9, with proposed amendments to the Criminal Code that would create new offences for obstruction and intimidation around places of worship, could cover many of the concerns he had outlined in his bylaw, but if it didn\u2019t move forward, \u201cwe can always revisit.\u201d That hate speech legislation is currently on hold in Ottawa.<\/p>\n

Mayor Scott Gillingham described the strong public response as \u201cdemocracy at work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see this bill going back to the drawing board,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gillingham said the executive policy committee would vote Tuesday to receive the bylaw as information.<\/p>\n

Regardless, several hundred protesters took to city hall ahead of the Tuesday meeting, some with signs critical of the proposal and of Duncan.<\/p>\n

Councillors listened as speakers said they were thankful of the decision to rescind the bylaw proposal, but concerned it could be brought back in the future.<\/p>\n

Andrew Kohan, one of the organizers of the rally and a speaker at the meeting, said the wording of the bylaw sought to fine people hundreds of dollars for exercising their democratic rights all over Winnipeg.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no way around it. The language of the bylaw, as written \u2026 prohibits that activity, that Charter-protected activity, \u201d he told reporters. \u201cIt does it broadly, not narrowly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others worried unrest south of the border was creeping into Manitoba policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAuthoritarianism always begins with new layers of law enforcement and increased power of the state to suppress groups who speak on behalf of vulnerable populations \u2026 Does Winnipeg want to be part of this trajectory?\u201d delegate Byron Rempel-Burkholder, the chair of the Mennonite Church of Canada\u2019s Palestine-Israel Network, told councillors.<\/p>\n

Several spoke in support of the proposal at Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

One was Gustavo Zentner, the vice-president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, who said Jewish people in Winnipeg were facing \u201charassment and intimidation\u201d in the midst of protests related to Palestine and Israel, and said the police were limited in what they could do to fight it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are spaces serving children, seniors and other vulnerable individuals,\u201d he said. \u201cWhile protest is a fundamental right, these demonstrations have often become intimidating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several councillors outside of EPC gave their two cents. Coun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona) told the committee he believed they \u201cneed some time to retool\u201d the bylaw, while Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge) said the proposal was not properly communicated with council before being pushed forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt no point was there a council seminar on the matter pertaining to public safety of this magnitude, at no point did the public service formally present their analysis to council,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A number of groups organized in opposition to the proposed bylaw after it was proposed last week. <\/p>\n

In a letter to Gillingham sent last week, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson said the organization had received a legal review of the bylaw and had concerns with its \u201cpotential impact on First Nations peoples and grassroots movements who rely on public assembly and protest as lawful and historically grounded forms of expression.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caryn Douglas, a United Church of Canada minister, told protesters and councillors to not \u201clet the rising tide of fear of the other shape us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDenying access to be seen and heard on the streets is denying advocacy for justice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u00bb Winnipeg Free Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WINNIPEG \u2014 A bylaw that proposed a ban on \u201cnuisance\u201d protests within 100 metres of certain locations has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-485016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}