business groups sue federal government over anti-greenwashing law, say freedom of speech breached
"this is a direct attack on free expression and an egregious overreach by the trudeau government"
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the peace tower on parliament hill in ottawa is shows in this file image.
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the federal government’s anti-greenwashing legislation violates the freedom of speech rights of canadian businesses, a lawsuit filed in calgary claims. in a 46-page statement of claim filed in calgary court of king’s bench on wednesday, the alberta enterprise group and the independent contractors business association seek a judicial declaration the law is unconstitutional.
at issue is an amendment to the canadian competition act which prohibits companies from making claims about a product’s environmental benefits without proper testing, or unsubstantiated claims about a business’s environmental benefit.
but in their court action, the plaintiffs allege even true claims could lead to substantial fines, creating a “chill effect” on public commentary.
the legislation prohibits companies from claiming environmental benefits “unless those representations can be proven, to the satisfaction of a governmental tribunal, to have been based on adequate and proper ‘tests’ of methodologies,’ ” the statement of claim says.
“even if the representation in question is true, reasonable, or defensible in light of the known evidence — and therefore important information for the public to consider — it is still prohibited by the impugned provisions if it was not based, at the time it was made, on a process of verification that the government deems sufficient.
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“therefore, the direct legal result of the impugned provisions is to prohibit a range of expression in relation to the environmental impacts of businesses or their activities, including expression that is true, reasonable, or defensible in light of the known evidence,” it says.
‘case is about protecting the free flow of information and ideas’
the legislation will also deter public discourse on important issues by deterring companies to comment, creating a chill effect.
“many businesses and industry associations will refrain from making statements about the environmental impacts of businesses or industries at all, even statements that may turn out to have been based on standards of verification deemed acceptable by the government, as a result of the vague and unclear nature of the applicable standards, the uncertainty as to the outcome of any tribunal process, and the risk of significant penalties if the tribunal believes the verification process undertaken was not sufficient.”
in a joint press release from the two plaintiffs, icba president and ceo chris gardner said the anti-greenwashing law stifles free speech.
“this case is about protecting the free flow of information and ideas — the cornerstone of a free and democratic society,” gardner said.
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“this is a direct attack on free expression and an egregious overreach by the trudeau government — it’s a slippery slope when we start to rely on a government department to police legitimate debate and dialogue on important public policy matters.”
aeg president catherine brownlee added: “these regulations pre-emptively ban even truthful, reasonable, and defensible discussion unless businesses can meet a government-imposed standard of what is the truth.”
a statement of defence in response to the lawsuit has not been filed.
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