He’s Guilty… but
Ternette loses case but still prompts City Hall to change parade bylaws.
John Kendle


Uptown contributor Nick Ternette was found guilty Oct. 21 of disobeying a police officer during the 2004 Walk for Peace.

The peace march, an annual event since 1982, was not granted a parade permit by the chief of the Winnipeg Police Service in 2004, as police said they were already busy with another gathering — which, interestingly enough, was the farewell parade of the Second Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry as it departed from Kapyong Barracks.

About 250 Winnipeggers were determined to walk for peace anyway and did so, with Ternette acting as unofficial parade marshal. Winnipeg Police intervened and Ternette was ticketed for parading without a permit on a public street. He was also charged under the province’s Highway Traffic Act with failing to obey a police officer.

At the time, Ternette argued that City of Winnipeg bylaws regarding parade permits were unclear and antiquated. Somebody at City Hall must have agreed, as his ticket was eventually rescinded and council passed an updated parade bylaw this past April, one which clarifies and streamlines the parade-permit process.

Ternette and his lawyer thought the provincial charge would be dropped as well, but the Crown persisted. So Ternette argued that the relevant section of Highway Traffic Act contravened Section 2 of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees “freedom of peaceful assembly.”

With the case thus framed, provincial court judge John Guy had to determine whether the peace marchers’ freedom of peaceful assembly superceded a Winnipeg policeman’s decision that disrupting the peace march was “reasonably necessary” to ensure public safety because the marchers did not have a permit, they were walking on a public thoroughfare and disrupting traffic, they were not supervised by police, etc., etc.

In the end, the old ‘individual rights vs. public good’ debate was given an airing, and Judge Guy ruled that officer’s interpretation of the Highway Traffic Act was, in this case, correct.

Score one for ‘public good.’

What’s interesting about this affair, however, is that the whole case would have been a non-starter had the City of Winnipeg updated its parade bylaw before June 2004. By changing its rules for granting permits and rescinding his ticket, the city tacitly acknowledged that Ternette was in the right.

So score one for Nick, too.

News & Shtuff: A quick round of congratulations are in order for the following Manitoba musicians who won Western Canadian Music Awards at the WCMA show in Vancouver on Oct. 23: The Waking Eyes, who picked up best independent album and best rock album honours for Video Sound; Burnt Project 1, which won best aboriginal album for Hometown; Nathan, who won best songwriter for Jimson Weed, as well as best video for Sunset Chaser; The Duhks, who won best roots album for their self-titled effort for Sugar Hill; and Ya Ketchose, who picked up best francophone album for En Route… At a smaller, industry-oriented affair held the day before, Winnipeg’s Chris Burke-Gaffney won a WCMA as manager of the year, Paquin Entertainment was named best agency of the year, bassist extraordinaire Gilles Fournier was named best musician, Gilles Paquin was named best talent buyer/promoter, and Private Ear Recording was named recording studio of the year.