George Katerberg challenges government response to Covid with highway billboard
George Katerberg is a retired HVAC technician and business owner. After the era of Covid lockdowns, he decided to close his business, sell his home and move to Thessalon, Ontario, along the shores of Lake Huron.
On March 1, 2024, Mr. Katerberg rented a billboard along Highway 17 near Thessalon. The billboard displayed the faces of various Government of Canada officials, including the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the leader of the federal NDP, the Ontario Premier, the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, and the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The sign read, “They knowingly lied about safety and stopping tranmission [sic],” and “Canadians demand accountability.” The sign also featured an image of two hammers behind a Canadian flag. Mr. Katerberg said the design was inspired by a symbol from the 1979 Pink Floyd album, The Wall, which addressed government overreach.
Ontario Ministry of Transportation bans billboard over concerns about promotion of hatred
Shortly after the billboard was erected, Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation ordered that the billboard be removed due to an allegation that the image represented white supremacist ideology. Unbeknownst to Mr. Katerberg, the hammer image from Pink Floyd’s The Wall was later appropriated and used by an American white supremacy music group in the late eighties and early nineties – over 30 years ago. The Ministry ordered that Mr. Katerberg contact them in advance for pre-approval of any future signs he might wish to display.
Mr. Katerberg immediately removed the billboard sign. He then prepared a new sign with the same message, but he replaced the image of the two hammers behind a Canadian flag with an image of the Canadian flag alone. Mr. Katerberg submitted the sign to the Ministry for approval on June 18, 2024.
On June 28, 2024, the Ministry of Transportation denied Mr. Katerberg’s proposed sign, advising him by email that “[t]he message on the billboard may be seen as promoting hatred or contempt for the individuals pictured on the billboard, which may violate certain policies regarding advertising. Any other billboards that you wish to erect on the highway must be pre-approved by the [Ministry of Transportation].”
George Katerberg launches constitutional challenge in case about freedom of expression and government accountability
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms filed a constitutional challenge on Mr. Katerberg’s behalf against the Ontario Ministry of Transportation on July 25, 2024.
In his Notice of Application, Mr. Katerberg is asking the Divisional Court of the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario for a judicial review of the decision of the Ministry. A judicial review is a process by which courts ensure that the decisions of administrative bodies (e.g., the Ontario Ministry of Transportation) are fair, reasonable, and lawful. With help from the Justice Centre, Mr. Katerberg is standing up for freedom of expression and democratic accountability.
Mr. Katerberg alleges that the June 28 decision was unreasonable and that it did not balance the Charter right to freedom of expression with the purposes of relevant legislation, which it was required to do. The sign’s message to the public was about holding government officials accountable for their actions, which is essential to democracy.
The Notice of Application states, “The Sign does not promote violence, hatred, or contempt… Further, the Sign does not target any ‘identifiable group’… To the extent that the six well-known public figures featured on the Sign form a group at all, it is on the basis of their collective response to the Covid-19 pandemic in their political and/or professional capacity.”
Lawyer Chris Fleury stated, “Mr. Katerberg’s proposed sign was a matter of legitimate expression protected by the Charter. In a functioning democracy, individuals like Mr. Katerberg need to be able to express their dissatisfaction with public officials. Doing so is not promoting hatred. Mr. Katerberg is looking forward to his day in Court and to eventually being able to erect his billboard.”
Ontario backs down, admits that roadside billboard does not promote hatred
The Justice Centre is pleased with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation’s decision to reverse its earlier refusal to allow a political billboard criticizing government officials for their role in Covid mandates. The Ministry had initially banned George Katerberg’s roadside sign—claiming it promoted hate—despite the message being a peaceful call for accountability and transparency. With legal support from the Justice Centre, Mr. Katerberg challenged the Ministry’s decision, arguing that it failed to properly consider his Charter-protected right to freedom of expression. Just six days before the federal election, the Ministry acknowledged that the billboard did not promote hatred and agreed to reconsider its approval.
For Mr. Katerberg, a retired tradesman who moved to Thessalon, Ontario, the case was never about controversy—it was about truth and the right to speak it. “I knew there was nothing wrong with my sign,” he said. “I knew if people saw it, they wouldn’t be scared to talk about the mandates.” The sign, inspired by themes of government overreach, featured prominent officials and a call for accountability. Thanks to the determination of Mr. Katerberg and support from Justice Centre donors, this case stands as a reminder that political expression—even when critical—is not hate speech, but a vital component of a free society.
Ministry of Transportation revises its guidelines to restrict freedom of expression; appeal launched
In April 2025, the Ministry quietly amended its policy manual to restrict signs along “bush highways” to those only promoting goods, services, or authorized community events.
The new guidelines are sweeping and comprehensive, barring any messaging that the Ministry claims could “demean, denigrate, or disparage one or more identifiable persons, groups of persons, firms, organizations, industrial or commercial activities, professions, entities, products or services…”
Relying on this new policy, the Ministry once again denied Mr. Katerberg’s revised billboard.
Lawyers provided by the Justice Centre have therefore filed a new legal application with the Divisional Court to challenge revised policy guidelines.
The Justice Centre is providing lawyers to Mr. Katerberg to fight this new attempt to restrict his freedom of expression. Constitutional lawyer Chris Fleury explains, “By amending the Highway Corridor Management Manual to effectively prohibit signage that promotes political and social causes, the Ministry of Transportation has turned Mr. Katerberg’s fight to raise his sign into a fight on behalf of all Ontarians who wish to express support for a political or social cause.”
Updates on this matter will be posted here in the coming weeks.