Paul Tuns:
Campaign Life Coalition has filed two applications for judicial review in the New Brunswick Court of King’s Bench asking the court to quash a pair of decisions of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission referring complaints to a Board of Enquiry about two of CLC’s political flyers distributed in the 2024 provincial election.
CLC’s lawyer, provided by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, argued that the referrals unjustifiably infringe the organization’s freedom of expression as protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Lawyer Hatim Kheir argued CLC “was engaged in political speech, which is the most protected form of expression in our constitutional system.” He said, “We are asking the Court to provide guidance to the Human Rights Commission to ensure that free expression is properly protected.”
CLC distributed more than 615,000 postcard-sized flyers related to transgender policies and education through the mail in New Brunswick. One of the flyers supported parental notification when it comes to social transitioning of gender confused children at schools with the message: “Schools Must Not Keep Secrets from Parents: Let’s Support Transparency in Schools.” Another flyer opposed the teaching of transgender-related topics in schools, stating “Pushing Transgenderism in Schools Harms Children: Let’s Stop Confusing Children in New Brunswick Classrooms.”
Two New Brunswick residents filed separate complaints to the N.B. Human Rights Commission about receiving flyers and on April 23, 2026, the Commission determined there was an “arguable case” of discrimination that could be heard by the Board of Inquiry.
The JCCF noted, “In both matters, the applications argue that the Commission failed to apply binding Supreme Court of Canada jurisprudence governing discriminatory expression and breached procedural fairness during its screening process.”
Jack Fonseca, CLC director of political operation, said CLC hopes “to convince the court that the complaints were baseless and should never have been accepted.”
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