Canadian Supreme Court ruling implications for Quebec internet censoring?

The Canadian province of Quebec’s recent approval of legislation that requires Internet Service Providers to block online gambling sites on a list prepared by the government’s own online gambling enterprise (see previous reports) could face a strong judicial challenge bolstered by a recent Canadian Supreme Court ruling.

The case involved the municipality of Châteauguay (near Montreal) which sought to stop Rogers Communications – a telecommunications provider – from erecting a cell phone mast on grounds that it was aesthetically unappealing and constituted a potential public health hazard.

Our readers will recognise the latter as one of the reasons put forward by the Quebec provincial government to justify its ISP blocking law…constitutionally a federal jurisdictional authority and not one delegated to provinces.

The municipality also tried to short-circuit the telecommunication company’s lease on the mast location by re-zoning the area as a “land reserve”.

The municipality lost the case in the Canadian Supreme Court this week, which ruled unanimously that the federal permission granted to Rogers Communication for the cell phone mast in a particular location within Châteauguay held sway because the issue was one involving telecommunications, which was a clear federal responsibility, making the municipality’s actions unconstitutional.

Several Canadian experts responding in Canadian newspaper reports to the Supreme Court ruling appeared to agree that there are parallels with the Quebec ban, and that the ruling will probably strengthen any subsequent litigation launched against the Quebec ISP blocking law.

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