CCLA Raises Serious Concerns about Winnipeg’s Proposed Anti-Protest Bylaw

OTTAWA – February 16, 2026

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) is deeply concerned about the proposed Safe Access to Vulnerable Infrastructure Bylaw, which is set to be debated at the Winnipeg City Council this week.

The bylaw would establish 100-meter zones around hundreds of community gathering spaces in Winnipeg. Within these zones, speech expressing “objection or disapproval” toward an idea, action, person, or group based on specified characteristics would be prohibited.

“Winnipeg’s proposed anti-protest bylaw directly infringes on freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly,” said Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, director of CCLA’s Fundamental Freedoms program. “These Charte-protected rights have little meaning without broad access to public spaces for expressing dissent and challenging the status quo.”

“This draft bylaw wrongly presumes that disruptive or unpopular expression near certain community gathering spaces is a nuisance that the City should eliminate,” Bussières McNicoll added. “We do not live in a free and democratic society if bylaw enforcement officers or the police are given broad discretion to arbitrate what constitutes acceptable protest speech.”

“People’s right to physical safety is already extensively protected by existing law,” said Howard Sapers, CCLA’s Executive Director. “While we share the goal of working towards a more inclusive and equal society, it should not be pursued through rights-infringing legislation.”

“The CCLA is urging City Council to vote against and set aside this deeply problematic proposed bylaw,” Sapers concluded.