WINGHAM, ON: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that lawyers have filed a Notice of Application on behalf of Wingham residents Stephen Hill and Bradley Carther, challenging a ban that prevents them from attending North Huron council meetings.
This legal challenge follows an incident at a North Huron council meeting on January 15, 2026, when Ontario Provincial Police officers were called by municipal officials and directed to remove two residents from council chambers after one of them was observed recording the meeting on his phone.
The Council has since repealed the bylaw that prohibited members of the public from recording council meetings, reversing the rule following a legal warning from lawyers funded by the Justice Centre. However, the Council has not rescinded the trespass notices issued against the two residents for attempting to record the meeting.
The application asks the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to declare both the recording ban and the six-month trespass notices unconstitutional and of no force or effect.
Constitutional lawyer Darren Leung said, “While we are glad that the Township has heeded our legal warning regarding the prohibition on recording, the trespass notices against Mr. Hill and Mr. Carther have not yet been rescinded, despite the fact that the trespass notices were issued under an unconstitutional bylaw.”
