An Ottawa judge has granted an interim injunction seeking to silence the honking horns that have plagued residents of downtown Ottawa for the past 11 days.
"Tooting a horn is not an expression of any great thought I'm aware of," said Justice Hugh McLean during a court hearing in Ottawa Monday.
The temporary injunction order is effective immediately and is meant to silence the horns at all hours for the next 10 days. It covers the zone north of the Queensway, the city's main east-west artery.
Lawyer Paul Champ said air horns and train horns are blasted at sound levels of 105 to 120 decibels for prolonged periods and can cause permanent hearing damage.
"Every hour this goes by, there is harm to the people of Centretown," he told the hearing.
Keith Wilson, a lawyer representing three protest organizers named in the suit, argued that his clients — Tamara Lich, Benjamin Dichter and Chris Barber — are not personally responsible for the noise.
He also said that what Ottawa is experiencing is a grassroots protest against pandemic measures.
"There is more evidence before you that downtown Ottawa residents don't feel they're being harmed and this is part of the democratic process," he said.
A cyclist rides toward a police barricade where trucks are lined up near Parliament Hill on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
The judge said that while the participants have a right to protest, taking their horns away would not rob them of that right.
The request for an injunction came out of a proposed class-action lawsuit filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Friday by lawyer Champ on behalf of his client Zexi Li, a 21-year-old public servant.
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It sought an injunction prohibiting the defendants, or any other participant in the anti-vaccine mandate convoy protest, from using vehicle horns in the vicinity of downtown.
According to the order, police are now authorized to arrest and remove anyone they believe is aware of the order and is contravening it. They also have the discretion to release anyone from arrest if that person agrees in writing to obey the order.
The defendants are also ordered to publicize the injunction on social media.
The court is adjourned until Feb. 16, at which point all sides will discuss continuing the order.
Dunge on February 7th, 2022 at 22:34 UTC »
We already have anti-noise laws during the night, not sure why those weren't enforced already.
Airdropwatermelon on February 7th, 2022 at 22:20 UTC »
They will start yelling honk now.
GinoStromboli on February 7th, 2022 at 21:30 UTC »
My favorite quote from the judge "Tooting a horn is not an expression of any great thought"
Edit: For people commenting, the injunction was granted because the citizen's rights to a healthy life in their home overruled their right to HONK after an ENT proved that the noise levels were dangerous. The defendants did not provide sufficient evidence as to why they couldn't use alternative forms of protest.
Edit 2: I will also add that the lawyer represented ONLY the organizers and refused to defend the truckers also named in the lawsuit. Part of their defense was to say they weren't the ones honking the horn, throwing the undefended truckers under the bus to save their ass.
Edit 3: Some of you in the comments may be shocked to learn that Canada and USA are two different countries with different laws and different governments
Edit 4: Looks like some of the replies here have been using MeResearch as their main source of information