Joanne Schnurr, CTV Ottawa
An Ottawa court will be hearing a case that could make politicians across this country take note.
Ottawa's Mayor Jim Watson is being accused of violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by blocking people on Twitter.
It's a precedent-setting case. Nothing like this has been litigated before in Canada.
At the heart of it: is a politician's Twitter account private or public?
He's well-known for his accessibility, always ready to cut a ribbon, flip a pancake or raise a flag. But Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is facing a court challenge for blocking access to 3 residents on Twitter.
The lawyer representing the 3 applicants filed the Twitter Charter Challenge a couple of days ago.
“I think every Canadian politician should be looking at this case and thinking about their own Twitter practices,” says lawyer Paul Champ.
Those three people are Emilie Taman, a lawyer and professor; James Hutt, a communications professional and Dylan Penner, a media officer with the Council of Canadians. They maintain that Mayor Jim Watson "…violated…the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by blocking them from his Twitter account…" the application reads, “...thereby preventing them from accessing information, expressing their views and denying them access to a platform for public debate.”
“When he chooses people to block because he doesn’t like what they say,” explains Champ, “he's discriminating on the basis of their opinions which really goes to the core of Freedom of Expression and in our view the Charter applies because he's a public official.”
Mayor Jim Watson wasn't granting interviews today on this issue but in a statement defended his decision saying,
"I have the right not to be attacked and harassed by the same individuals on a regular basis."
On CTV Morning Wednesday, Watson said the Twitter account is his own personal account and not an official city of Ottawa one.
“I do it myself every morning,” Watson said, “spelling mistake and all. That’s the difference. If this was the official “Mayor Jim Watson account, obviously they'd have a point but this is personal. I had it before I got into municipal politics.”
This argument may sound familiar. The U.S. President fought a similar battle and lost.
“Clearly we will be relying on the Donald Trump case here,” says Champ, “making similar arguments and hopefully a court here will agree with us that the same principles apply.”
Gilles LeVasseur, a law and business professor at the University of Ottawa says if that happens, it will be a lesson for all political figures.
“Other politicians should care about this,” he says, “because if they're speaking about the state, they can't block citizens because they don't like what the citizens are saying or they are criticizing.”
LeVasseur believes Watson could make this all go away by simply unblocking those 3 people. The case will be heard at the end of January.