On July 23, John Carpay spoke at the “Freedom Barbecue” in Nanaimo, B.C., organized by Sun TV host Ezra Levant.

 In early May, Nanaimo’s City Councillors voted eight-to-one to cancel the “Leadercast” video conference that was to take place in city-owned facilities, rented out for this event. The vote by City Council came just five days before the event was to take place, and many people had purchased their tickets and were looking forward to attending. No notice of the motion was provided to the event organizers, who therefore had no opportunity to explain the merits of their event, or provide necessary information to City Council.

The same “Leadercast” video-conference took place in hundreds of cities across the world, and featured high-profile speakers such as South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, and former U.S. First Lady Laura Bush. In their remarks leading up to the vote to cancel the event, Nanaimo City Councillors compared opposition to same-sex marriage with criminal conduct, hatred, and even the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian school girls by the terrorist group Boko Haram.

JCCF president John Carpay was interviewed twice by Ezra Levant on Sun News Network’s The Source, to discuss how the City’s cancellation of this event violates the Charter right to freedom of expression. The threat of legal action against the City of Nanaimo played a role in City Council rescinding its motion on July 3, 2014.

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