25 supporters of freethought and free speech turned out to the morning protest before the council meeting, and about 12 were in the chambers later in the afternoon when the vote took place. The protesters, representing the Humanist Assocation of Ottawa and the Freethought Association of Canada all had matching T-shirts, with the bus ad on the front, and on the back was a list of cities where atheist bus ads have run, with the heading “Atheist bus world tour”.

City Councilor Alex Cullen (also chair of the Transit Committee) spoke eloquently and passionately in defense of the fundamental right to freedom of expression, citing the Canadian Charter of rights and freedoms. Cullen emphasized that the right to freedom of speech must also apply to people with whom we disagree.

Councilor Marianne Wilkinson repeated her opposition to the ads, saying that she found them offensive to her Christian faith. She also re-iterated her comment that the ads were only rejected because they did not meet the previously stated policies and guidelines, saying that the FAC had been informed of this, but we had refused to comply. (The guidelines state that religious ads are only permitted if they refer to a specific event, and include time and location information; however, there are numerous examples of religious ads that do not meet this requirement – see http://atheistbusottawa.wordpress.com/examples-of-religious-ads-on-ottawa-buses/.)

One councilor took exception to the light-hearted spirit of our ad, likening it to a youthful prank (rather odd, since the assembled group of atheists sported more than a few gray hairs among the bunch of us). Mayor Larry O’Brien almost seemed about to vote in favour of allowing the ads, saying that it had been a topic of discussion at the Ottawa Inter-faith Council (which O’Brien chairs), and that “to a soul” all the faith leaders were in support of the ads, many even considering that there would be a positive effect of increased dialogue and attention to religious ideas. However, in the end, he said that he felt bound to uphold the city’s policies and therefore would vote against allowing the ads.

It is interesting to note that several councilors were willing to spend $10-20k of taxpayers’ money to fight a legal battle that the city solicitor said they would be almost sure to lose.

In the end, the rollcall vote had us nervously counting on our fingers, but the decision was in our favour, 13 to 7.