Naturalized Gardens: Legal in Toronto but not in Winnipeg

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees Freedom of Expression. A courageous Toronto woman forced a 1996 landmark decision which applies this freedom to Ontario front yards.

This article was originally written for the In Focus event on the topic of freedom of expression in your front yard. This feature was a response to the article which Carol Wallace wrote on the demolition of my garden by the Buildings Inspections Department of the City of Winnipeg, Paradise Lost: the Tyranny of Conformity.

The destruction of my garden here in Winnipeg is reminiscent of what happened in Toronto just a couple of years before, except that the Toronto scenario was more civilized.

On September 11, 1996, Justice Fairgrieve rendered a precedent-setting judgement which makes naturalized gardens legal in Ontario. As a result, the City of Toronto was forced to amend the by-law governing the look of a front yard.

Sandra Bell had been convicted of having excessive growth in her front yard, because her naturalized garden exceeded the allowable 20 cm (8") height of front yard vegetation. She turned to the Canadian Environmental Defence Fund for support in challenging that conviction. Councel Murray Klippenstein argued the case in her defense. He showed that the Toronto by-law violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Two of the rights guaranteed by the Charter are Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Conscience. According to Judge Fairgrieve, the first argument of Freedom of Expression was sufficient to overturn the conviction, and Klippenstein did not need to present the argument for Freedom of Conscience.

I have a copy of the Fairgrieve judgement. From it I paraphrase:

Sandy created this "wild garden" to reflect her environmental beliefs.

May I add that Sandy is a wildlife photographer. I have seen her beautiful and sensitive work on greeting cards.

In her summary, Judge Fairgrieve thought that the City should be able to devise a by-law which distinguishes between a property which is neglected and one which is unconventional.

Like me, Sandy had received a previous order to clean up "accumulated debris." Like me, she had complied with that order. Unlike me, she was then given an order to change her method of gardening. By taking this proper legal route, the City of Toronto gave Sandy a chance to defend her beliefs and practices.

I was also given an order to change my method of gardening. But that was in 1990! I appealed that order in 1991 and won by a unanimous decision of a committee of City of Winnipeg Councillors. Since then, I was given various orders for several more or less unrelated issues. In the months prior to the demolition, a City building inspector praised my environmentally friendly methods of conservation and gardening. My City Councillor assured me repeatedly that the two neighbors who objected to my methods would simply have to learn to accept them. He promised that he would personally mediate the matter.

The copyright of the article Naturalized Gardens: Legal in Toronto but not in Winnipeg in Natural Health is owned by Traute Klein, biogardener. Permission to republish Naturalized Gardens: Legal in Toronto but not in Winnipeg in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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