The respondents were prevented by airport officials from distributing political pamphlets and recruiting members at a federal airport.
The appeal concerned whether the airport regulations and related governmental action infringed freedom of expression under s. 2(b) of the Charter and, if so, whether the restriction was justified under s. 1.
The Court held that political expression in non-security areas of an airport engaged Charter protection and that the blanket prohibition on solicitation and advertising infringed that freedom.
The restriction was not saved under s. 1, with members of the Court variously emphasizing overbreadth, vagueness, lack of a sufficient objective, and the impropriety of relying on government property rights alone to suppress expression.
