Lawyers Allege Toronto Police Used 'Heavy-Handed' Charges to Quell Bike Lane Protests
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire · Based on a photo by dbking from Washington, DC (CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons)
Legal representatives for four arrested protesters claim police actions and release conditions are designed to suppress political dissent.
Four individuals arrested during October protests against the removal of a 1.2-kilometre section of bike lanes on Bloor Street W. in Etobicoke are facing criminal charges, as first reported by CBC Toronto. The charges include mischief, obstructing police, and theft under $5,000.
Lawyers for the accused allege that Toronto police utilized "heavy-handed criminal charges" to deter future demonstrations. David Shellnutt, founding partner of The Biking Lawyer LLP, argued that protesters were acting to ensure road safety, noting that Cycle Toronto reported 32 deaths among drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and motorcyclists on University Avenue, Yonge Street, and Bloor Street between 2000 and 2020.
Leora Smith of the Community Justice Collective, who represents one of the accused, stated that certain release conditions prohibit her client from participating in any protests on private or public property. Smith characterized this as an infringement on Charter rights to assembly, association, and expression, describing the arrests as part of a "disturbing" trend of using police infrastructure to surveil and suppress dissent.
Toronto police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer told CBC Toronto that charges are based on individual unlawful actions—such as interfering with officers or obstructing work—rather than an effort to discourage protests. Sayer also clarified that while the Hate Crime Unit was involved, it is because that unit is part of Intelligence Services responsible for demonstration-related arrests, not because the cases are being investigated as hate crimes.
One of the arrested individuals, 24-year-old Aly Vanwyck-Smart, who uses a wheelchair, described the arrests as "asinine." A Toronto police news release dated Oct. 16 indicates Vanwyck-Smart was arrested after refusing police orders to leave a curb barrier during road work.