Constitution Foundation, lawyer for women’s rights group put City of Niagara Falls & police on notice for ‘unlawful arrests’ & sign ban

The mayor of Niagara Falls, council members, City officials and the local police are feeling the heat after a controversial decision at a recent public meeting. Three women were removed and arrested for holding small signs with the name of the organization they belong to—The Women of Ontario Say No—written on them. 

Lawyer Susan Toth, a partner with Spero Law in London, sent letters to Niagara Regional Police and Niagara Falls Council, obtained by The Pointer, warning them that the recent harsh treatment of women seeking to address proposed provincial legislation aimed at holding municipal officials who commit assault accountable, will not be tolerated. 

“With respect to the abhorrent treatment of my clients who attended City Hall on June 17, 2025, I understand that you have already received correspondence from the Canadian Constitutional Foundation with respect to the violations of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in not allowing my clients to peacefully hold up signs that said, ‘Women of Ontario Say No’,” Toth wrote in her letter, dated July 3 and addressed to The City of Niagara Falls, Mayor Jim Diodati and Council. 

Three of the women shown above were removed then arrested after attending the June 17 Niagara Falls Council meeting.

(Ed Smith/The Pointer)

The Women of Ontario Say No (WOSN), a grassroots, non-partisan advocacy group focused on holding municipally-elected officials accountable for violence and harassment, retained Toth after an incident reported by The Pointer, when tensions came to a head during the June 17 Niagara Falls Council meeting. In response to Diodati’s refusal to allow delegations on the proposed bill 9 ahead of a public meeting that was held yesterday in the city by the province to gather input for the legislation, six members of WOSN attended council on June 17 with signs that read “The Women of Ontario Say No.” 

Citing vague concerns that any deputation regarding bill 9 might relate to “ongoing legal proceedings” connected to a criminal charge for alleged intimate partner violence laid on May 3 against Councillor Mike Strange—a former Olympic boxer—the City prevented the group from addressing the proposed provincial legislation ahead of the province’s public hearing. Strange denied any wrongdoing after his arrest when police found an injured woman at his home.

The Women of Ontario Say No is a group that wants to see tougher accountability of municipal officials accused or convicted of assault.

(WOSN)

WOSN explained that remarks in council would not touch on Strange’s case, but would instead address the provincial committee meeting scheduled for July 4th in Niagara Falls to gather public input on proposed amendments to the Municipal Accountability Act (bill 9). The group’s members felt it was appropriate to address proposed legislation focussed on municipal accountability inside City Hall chambers. Diodati and City officials denied their requests, acknowledging that while such a deputation would normally be permitted, it was being blocked due to Strange’s situation. 

Toth questioned why, if Council feared Strange’s legal proceedings would be drawn into the conversation, he was not asked to recuse himself, instead of blocking a general discussion on an important issue entirely. She points out the legal proceedings are not against the City of Niagara Falls, it’s a private citizen who was charged with assault and he happens to work as an elected member of council. She likened the tactic to denying any conversation during a council meeting about any matter that could be loosely connected to a legal proceeding.

“I am confident that at no time has the City of Niagara Falls refused a deputation about safety on the basis that there is a case against them involving a slip and fall. Similarly, individual city councilors have no doubt been involved in various private legal proceedings over the years, none of which prevented deputations that were tangentially related to those proceedings.” 

Despite being denied a chance to address bill 9, members of the group decided to attend the council meeting on June 17 anyway, with small signs on their laps in protest. Three women were then removed and arrested for violating a City policy that prohibits the display of signs inside Council chambers during public meetings.

The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) is now taking legal action.

“We are writing to you to ask that you immediately rescind the ban on signs at public meetings contained in the Niagara Falls Decorum Policy for Public Meetings,” CCF director of litigation, Christine Van Geyn, wrote in a June 19 letter addressed to Niagara Falls City Council. “We have serious and urgent concerns arising from the recent arrest of three individuals at a Niagara City Council meeting on June 17, 2025 for holding signs. The arrests included regional Councillor Haley Bateman.”

The CCF has reviewed the City’s sign policy which states, “Objects and symbolic materials, such as signs, shall not be allowed within the meeting area unless used for formal presentation purposes.”

“This policy is constitutionally problematic, and the decision to eject and arrest three individuals for carrying signs was unreasonable,” Van Geyn wrote. 

“The signs were reportedly in protest of the city clerk’s decision to deny a delegation to a member of the public about provincial legislation aimed at strengthening municipal governance and accountability. The women protested the denial of the delegation by holding up paper signs that said, ‘Women of Ontario Say No’.”

In her legal letter to City Council, Toth wrote: “In addition, on June 17th, 2025, multiple members and/or supporters of WOSN were wrongfully detained and arrested. Their arrest is a clear violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. My clients were exercising their lawful right to peacefully assemble and peacefully protest. They were not disrupting the city council meeting. Their signs were neither offensive nor derogatory, nor did they contain any inappropriate language. They were merely sitting in the public gallery, holding 8.5” x 11” cardstock that stated ‘Women of Ontario Say No’.”

Her letter to Niagara Regional Police questions why officers who removed and arrested the women from the June 17 meeting violated established law.

“I remind the Niagara Regional Police Service that the Code of Conduct for Police Officers (Ont. Regulation 407/23, under the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019) is clear: 5. (1) A police officer shall not, in the course of their duties, treat any person in a manner that the officer, at the time, knows or reasonably ought to know would contravene the Human Rights Code. 6. (1) A police officer shall not, by act or omission, do anything that the officer, at the time, knows or reasonably ought to know would infringe or deny a person’s rights or freedoms under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 7. (1) A police officer shall not make an arrest if, at the time of the arrest, the officer knows or reasonably ought to know that the arrest is unlawful.”

The legal letter to police continues:

“On June 17, 2025, the common law, human rights, and constitutional rights of my clients and all the above sections of the Code of Conduct were breached:

- The police wrongfully arrested three women who were peacefully holding signs inthe public gallery of City Hall on an issue that impacts women, therefore infringing on their Charter rights and freedoms, and the Human Rights Code;

- The police sent two police cars and four police officers to arrest a handful of peacefully protesting women, which is not only a misuse of public resources, but also contributes to undermining public trust in policing; and,

- The police refused to provide their badge number during the arrest.

- One of the police officers, Robert LaPlante identified himself as a Superintendent, but it is my client’s understanding that he is, in fact, an Inspector.”

Toth also addressed the unfair consequences of the allegedly “unlawful” arrests.

“Further, while police declined to charge my clients after their arrest (as there were no grounds for any charges), my clients will now have a non-conviction record that police may be able to access and may be subject to disclosure. This is unacceptable given that there were no proper or lawful grounds to arrest them in the first place.”

The CCF is also questioning the heavy-handed treatment by Diodati, some of his fellow council members and City officials. 

“The ban on signs is an infringement on the rights of members of the public protected by s. 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This violation of Charter-protected rights cannot be justified in a free and democratic society, as it is not minimally impairing or proportionate. The pertinent case law analyzing this precise issue is attached to this letter.

When members of the public lack access to the levers of power, or feel like their voices are being silenced, signs are one of the ways they can voice their objections. A sign can convey their message to elected leaders in power when those leaders would rather not hear it. The right to protest with signs is a core part of democracy. This is the civic protest that the women at the June 17 meeting were engaging in, as is their constitutional right. The heavy handed response of the city arresting three women for silently holding signs is heavy-handed, disproportionate, unreasonable, and unconstitutional.”

Toth further notes that police appeared to act as agents of the Mayor or his office, an allegation that, if confirmed, would constitute a direct violation of the fundamental principle of police independence. Her legal letter also highlights what she describes as a “painful irony”: that while women were being arrested for “peacefully holding inoffensive signs,” a councillor was permitted to continue in his official role “despite being charged with a serious violent offence involving assaulting a woman, a benefit that other professions (including police) would not be granted.”

The Women of Ontario Say No is calling for a public acknowledgment that the arrests were unlawful, a formal apology from Niagara Police, a commitment that officers will no longer interfere with WOSN members exercising their right to civil expression, and the immediate purging of all non-conviction records related to the incident.

In the letter that was sent to Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati and council, Toth informs the City that the refusal to allow the women to speak is a breach of the Ontario Human Rights Code as well as the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Toth also takes issue with any restriction against her clients to enter public property in the future, reminding officials that such orders must comply with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Human Rights Code. Regarding the arrests, she argues that the Trespass to Property Act was misused to silence her clients’ right to engage in protected expression, emphasizing that this law, like all others, must be applied in good faith and in accordance with the Charter and the Human Rights Code. She further warns that the arrests raise serious concerns about the possible politicization of the police, stressing that law enforcement must remain independent of municipal influence, as affirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada. She emphasized that “women who are peacefully holding signs in the public gallery of City Hall with respect to an issue that impacts women should not be subject to the Trespass to Property Act, as this would be a violation of my clients’ fundamental rights and freedoms.”

Toth also took issue with remarks by City officials, including a dismissive reference to “Trump-style politics” to describe the women who were arrested. She calls the comparison inaccurate, noting the deeper irony lies in using law enforcement to silence peaceful women while a councillor charged with assault remains in office. The U.S. President is also arresting and detaining people without due process, so any use of his name should be applied to the way her clients were treated, not their peaceful actions.

Despite the legal steps by CCF and the lawyer representing WOSN, Diodati and other Niagara Falls officials have chosen to double down on their actions.

Item 8.3 on the agenda for this coming Tuesday’s council meeting refers to a report scheduled for consideration by Council. In the report the City argues that its actions were consistent with its legal obligations and decorum policy, aiming to maintain order, safety, and lawful procedure during meetings.

The report was written by senior City staffers including Nidhi Punyarthi, the City solicitor, who wrote that “staff believe there is grounds to lodge an Integrity Commissioner complaint against Regional Councillor Bateman who participated in these activities”. She claims that in the opinion of City staff, Bateman failed to uphold her ethical obligations that night at council.

Toth told The Pointer the City’s response amounts to “gaslighting”, adding, “the City is attempting to reverse who the victim is and who the offender is.”

She asserts that it is the City that has attempted to “muzzle, intimidate, and silence” her clients. “They are the ones who are attempting to (mis)use their by-laws and the Trespass to Property Act to silence women and breach the Charter.” 

She challenges the legal foundation of the City’s report that calls for Bateman to be investigated for Code of Conduct breaches. “Our Charter does not say you are entitled to rights as long as your rights do not interfere with ‘order and decorum.’ Decorum is not a justifiable restriction of fundamental freedoms. Charter rights are not absolute, but any restrictions must be demonstrably justified and minimally impairing.”

She calls the examples provided in the report “false equivalencies”. While acknowledging that “holding up homophobic signs would not be justifiable,” she maintains that the comparison does not apply in this case. “In my opinion, the report is legally incorrect in suggesting that holding up an objectively non-offensive sign, quietly, is a justifiable restriction on free expression.” 

Toth emphasizes that WOSN simply wants the opportunity to speak to proposed provincial legislative changes aimed at promoting accountability. 

“Why is the City so afraid to allow these women to speak?... What is more fundamental to our democratic system than the ability of citizens to speak to their elected officials and lobby for change? You can’t pick and choose when the rule of law is convenient. My clients have the legal right to speak, to be heard, and to be allowed to peacefully demonstrate.”

Council is set to meet at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 8. The Women of Ontario Say No has called on supporters to attend in a show of solidarity.

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