The City of Maple Ridge is being called out for having bylaws that ban swearing and blasphemy.
The bylaws ban blasphemous, threatening, obscene or vulgar language, and one specifically forbids insulting municipal employees performing their duties.
“While anti-blasphemy and anti-swearing bylaws are holdovers from a more traditionally conservative time and are unlikely to result in a ticket in 2025, it is still bad for the rule of law that so many municipalities continue to outlaw saying naughty words or insulting the Gods,” writes the Canadian Constitution Foundation, in a report titled “Canada’s Most Censorious Bylaws 2026.”
The city’s Public Places, Parks and Recreation Facilities Regulation Bylaw, dated June 28, 2022, bans “any blasphemous, threatening, obscene or vulgar language” in these spaces.
The foundation promotes freedom of expression as a foundational right in a democracy. It created the Municipal Muzzle Award to recognizemunicipalities undermining Charter-protected free expression.
“Canadians should be free to express political opinions, criticize governments, protest peacefully, create controversial art, and participate fully in civic life without fear of censorship by local governments,” writes interim executive director Christine Van Geyn, who is a lawyer and author.
The report is based on a review of bylaws and policies from cities of more than 50,000 population across Canada.
The organization offered “The Municipal Muzzle Award” to Nanaimo, for working to cancel a show by Canadian comedian Ben Bankas, whose comedy has been called offensive and even racist.
Van Geyn said Canadians should pay close attention to the growing willingness of cities to regulate lawful speech, and be vocal in pushing back against it.
“Local governments all over the country are normalizing censorship by passing vague and over-broad bylaws that punish speech simply because someone finds it controversial or politically inconvenient,” said Van Geyn. “Canadians cannot afford to become complacent. Free expression is eroded gradually, one bylaw and one policy at a time, unless people are prepared to speak up and challenge government overreach.”
The City of Maple Ridge’s communications department responded, saying the language referenced by the Canadian Constitution Foundation appears in the City’s Council Procedure Bylaw under the section on Conduct and Debate.