Article
Bahira Abdulsalam: I Will Repeal Toronto’s Bubble Zone Bylaw
Every family in Toronto should be able to walk their child into school, drop them off at daycare, or go to their place of worship without fear. I believe that without reservation. I also believe that the right to protest peacefully is one of the things that makes this city free. We do not have to choose between the two. Toronto’s bubble zone bylaw asks us to, and that is why, as mayor, I will move to repeal it.
What council passed
On May 22, 2025, Toronto City Council adopted item CC30.5, the bylaw that created bubble zones. It passed 16 to 9. Under it, schools, daycares and places of worship can apply for zones of 50 metres around their sites that restrict protest activity. Breaking the bylaw can bring a fine of up to $5,000.
City staff had proposed something narrower. Their version allowed 20-metre zones, and an institution had to show it had been affected or targeted by a protest within the previous 90 days. Council widened the zones to 50 metres and removed the requirement to show any prior incident. A bylaw designed to answer specific problems became a general restriction on where people may gather and speak.
Council was warned
Before the vote, council received confidential legal advice from the City Solicitor. The Toronto Star later obtained that advice and reported what it said: “While the bylaw likely infringes the Charter, the city can argue the limits it would place on expressive rights are reasonable limits.” The City’s own lawyer told council the bylaw likely infringes the Charter. The advice was written for the narrower staff version. Council then passed a broader one.
I am an engineer. When a structural review tells you a design is likely to fail, you do not add more load and hope for the best. You fix the design. Council was told where the weakness was and chose to make it bigger. Toronto taxpayers may now pay to defend that choice in court.
Who brought us here
This did not come from nowhere. In May 2024, Brad Bradford moved to create bubble zones, asking the province for legislation to allow them around places of worship, schools and other institutions. A year later, he voted for the bylaw. Mayor Olivia Chow voted for it too.
Both are asking Torontonians for their trust in this election. Both supported a bylaw their own City Solicitor warned likely infringes the Charter. Voters deserve to know whether they still stand by it.
Safety does not need this bylaw
Harassment, intimidation and blocking someone from entering a building are already against the law. Police already have the tools to deal with them. If a person threatens a family on the way into a synagogue, a mosque, a church or a school, that person can be charged today, with or without a bubble zone.
What the bylaw adds is not protection from crime. It adds a restriction on peaceful, lawful expression within a set distance of a building. That reaches people who are doing nothing wrong: residents holding signs, neighbours speaking out, and workers and community groups making their case in public. A rule that broad will be applied unevenly, and it will be challenged, and the people it was meant to reassure will be left with a law that may not survive.
Real safety comes from enforcement that works. That means police and bylaw officers who respond when someone is blocked or threatened, clear communication with the communities who feel targeted, and consistent use of the laws we already have. That is harder work than passing a bylaw, but it is the work that actually protects people.
What I will do
As mayor, I will bring a motion to City Council to repeal the bubble zone bylaw. At the same time, I will make sure safe access to schools, daycares and places of worship is protected by enforcing the laws already on the books, without taking away Torontonians’ right to peaceful protest.
Toronto is a city of many faiths, many languages and many opinions. Some of those opinions are loud, and some make people uncomfortable. That is what a free city sounds like. Our job is to keep people safe and keep them free, both at once.
Toronto will NOT be another apartheid.
I am running to fix what we have, not to pile on rules that the City’s own lawyer warned against. On October 26, I ask for your vote.
Toronto needs an engineer.
References
- City of Toronto, Agenda Item History 2025.CC30.5, Proposed By-law Amendment to Provide Access to Social Infrastructure (vote record, May 22, 2025): https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2025.CC30.5
- City of Toronto, Agenda Item History 2024.MM18.16, motion by Councillor Brad Bradford (May 2024): https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2024.MM18.16
- CBC News, “Toronto city council passes controversial ‘bubble zone’ protest bylaw” (May 22, 2025): https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-bubble-zone-protest-bylaw-1.7540321
- Toronto Star, “The confidential legal advice Toronto received on bubble zones”: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/behind-the-scenes-of-torontos-bubble-zone-debate-the-confidential-legal-advice-city-council-was/article_7e52b98d-2544-40ff-9c59-3695d7269111.html
Dr. Bahira Abdulsalam is an engineer, educator and independent candidate for Mayor of Toronto. Her full platform is at bahira.ca.
Toronto needs an engineer. Vote Bahira.
On October 26, vote Bahira Abdulsalam for Mayor of Toronto.
Dr. Bahira Abdulsalam, PhD, P.Eng.
Independent Candidate for Mayor of Toronto
bahira.ca
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