Signs of trouble: Corner Brook residents say they'll defy order to end crematorium protest

A dispute over protest signs is heating up in Corner Brook this spring, despite the fact that the matter that sparked the opposition has been, according to the city, laid to rest. But that's left residents raising questions about their right to free expression and how far a municipality can go to suppress it.

Residents of the Country Road area of the city, on Newfoundland's west coast, who objected to a proposal to build a crematorium in their neighbourhood erected signs on their own properties to show their displeasure.

In late May 2021, city council approved Country Haven Funeral Home's plan to build the crematorium, but residents have kept their signs up — and insist the signs will remain.

This spring, the funeral home filed a complaint to the city that said the signs are injuring their business and are distressful to their clients. 

Mayor Jim Parsons said the city, under legal advice, determined that the signs violate Corner Brook's development regulations and ordered the signs be taken down.

"In this case, the business pointed out correctly that these signs are illegal," said Parsons.

"It was reasonable, I think, for a certain period of time. But after so many months of this, and for a decision that cannot be revoked, I believe that they felt that we should have these signs removed. And it is true that we cannot, under our current regulations, permit these signs or allow them to be there," Parsons said.

The mayor says city enforcement operates mainly on a complaints-based system, so when a report comes in about city regulations being broken, staff are bound under the provincial Urban and Rural Planning Act to enforce the rules, which they did in this case.

What is unclear is specifically which sections of the act or its regulations are being broken by residents who have protest signs on their properties. There is no exact provision that outlines rules for residential property owners who wish to place signs on their own land, so that they are able to apply for and get a permit.

Parsons said what is clear is that a permit is needed to erect a sign on a property, but he said there is currently no mechanism under which such a permit could be issued.

"It does leave people in the lurch. And I think that, after some legal review, it is clear that we would want to change our regulations to allow some type of signage, particularly some temporary signage," said Parsons.

While the debate over the crematorium has been going on for several years now, strongly worded signage became an issue only after council approved the project last year.

Residents maintain they should have the right to erect signs on their own land.

Cathy Peddle, a homeowner who is dead set against the crematorium, insists her signs will stay up, despite the project's approval and her receiving an order to remove them.