Article content continued

Freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression

To his everlasting shame, even ostensibly conservative Mayor John Tory got in on the act.

“There are thousands of places this event could be held in Toronto other than the public library,” he said in a statement. “When it comes to public buildings, I believe we should hold ourselves to the highest standard.”

That’s completely backwards. “The library is acting as a part of government,” said Bruce Ryder, a constitutional law professor at Osgoode Hall who helped the library update its room rental policies two years ago, after a similar controversy. It thus has a higher bar to clear — not lower — if it wants to deny a booking. “If this was private space, the protection of freedom of expression wouldn’t apply,” said Ryder.

Not all is lost. Gord Perks, another arch-progressive city councillor and member of the library board, supports the motion to revisit room-rental policies. But he excellently rebutted calls for outright cancellation. “The decision of the (head) librarian is final. That is not only appropriate, but is an essential safeguard,” he wrote on his website. “Elected officials should never have the right to decide on a case-by-case basis who has the right to speak in a public venue.”

Perks trenchantly noted that certain of his colleagues are constantly trying to defund Pride because it allows Queers Against Israeli Apartheid to participate — something often described as constituting “hate,” but which certainly does not in any legal sense. “City staff made it clear that while some were hurt and offended by the presence of this group, its presence did not constitute hate speech and was not a violation of human rights,” Perks wrote, inviting the library’s detractors to draw a fairly precise parallel.