Three years after illegally cancelling a Christian group’s event for its pro-life views, Quebec’s former tourism minister Caroline Proulx has been ordered to personally pay Harvest Ministries International $30,000 by a Quebec judge for violating their right to freedom of speech.
As LSN reported at the time, Harvest Ministries International had a contract to host their Faith, Fire, Freedom Rally at the Quebec City Convention Centre from June 23 to July 2, 2023. Their contract was abruptly cancelled at the behest of Proulx, who ordered its nullification on June 1 on the basis that the event was “against the fundamental principles of Quebec.” The event was to cap off a series of cross-province events and was expected to draw 1,200 participants per day.
After being asked about the event by a Radio-Canada journalist, Proulx looked up the group; Harvest’s website states that abortion has “made the mother’s womb the mother’s womb the most dangerous place for a child in Canada” and urges people to “pray for the sanctity of life, and for an end to abortion in Canada!”
As CTV reported, Proulx “then instructed her chief of staff to inform Pierre-Michel Bouchard, President and CEO of the Convention Center, in writing of her decision to cancel the lease agreement for the event.” The message stated: “We firmly believe in freedom of expression, but just as strongly in freedom of choice. We have serious reservations about holding this event in a public venue. Nothing prevents them from holding the event elsewhere, in a private venue.”
With only 10 days’ notice, organizers failed to find another venue; the court ruling stated that: “Despite this, nearly 200 people gathered at another venue in Quebec City and still participated in prayer meetings and gatherings on the Plains of Abraham.”
Other senior government figures in Quebec concurred with Proulx’s decision at the time; Premier François Legault stated that “we’re not going to allow anti-abortion groups to put on big shows in public places” and the minister for the status of women added that “I’m all for freedom of expression, but at the government, we have principles and we’ve decided to be consistent” because “we are a resolutely pro-choice government.”
Harvest Ministries International, represented by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, sued Proulx and the government of Quebec for $80,000 in damages. According to CTV, the government “defended the minister’s decision by arguing that freedom of expression also protects the right not to be associated with a particular discourse.”
The court rejected this argument. On July 28, Superior Court Justice Alain Trudel ruled that Proulx had exercised her ministerial authority in “an arbitrary and abusive manner” and stated that her order to cancel the event “is not justified in a free and democratic society.” The 26-page ruling states further that:
Preventing a message that displeases the minister or causes deep unease within the government from being conveyed in the public sphere does not constitute an urgent and genuine objective that justifies a restriction on freedom of expression…
Her interference in the SCCQ’s decision-making process, motivated by considerations of an essentially political nature, and her contemporaneous public statements based on personal convictions to the effect that the plaintiff’s expression of anti-abortion views had no place in a public space owned by the State, demonstrates a willingness to infringe upon the plaintiff’s freedom of expression and to bring about the foreseeable consequences resulting from that decision.
Trudel ordered Proulx, the Société du Centre des congrès de Québec, and the Attorney General of Quebec to pay Harvest Ministries International $30,636.92 in compensatory damages, but stated that Proulx “shall bear 100%” of the amount in question.
“We reiterate our unequivocal commitment to women’s right to control their own bodies and make their own choices regarding reproductive health. Québec has always defended these rights and will continue to do so. We will NEVER back down on women’s rights to voluntary termination of pregnancy,” Proulx, who is not running in the next provincial election, said in response. “We will continue to support women and ensure their access to the services to which they are entitled. Since the matter may be subject to further legal proceedings, we will not issue any further comments at this time.”
In short, Proulx’s view is that public expression of the science-based pro-life worldview can legitimately be suppressed. Fortunately, a Quebec judge disagreed with that view. “This judgment confirmed that governments cannot use public facilities to punish organizations because officials disagree with their beliefs,” stated constitutional lawyer Olivier Séguin. “The Court rightly found that the Minister acted without legal authority and violated fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Charter.”
