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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, A ug us t 23 ,2 01 8 | 18 "postcards" in Oakville. She said they plan to de- liver upward of 30,000 of the graphic leaflets to Oakville homes. The group's goal is to end abortion in Canada, and de- spite claims they are active year-round every year, they appear to really make their presence known during the lead-up to a federal election. Gilman says the group us- es graphic imagery because it is an effective way of get- ting their point across. "The history of social re- form indicates that utilizingform indicates that utilizingf pictorial evidence of injus- tice is the most effective way of changing minds. We have commissioned independent pollsters to test our results and found that abortion vic- tim photography dramati- cally changes the way people think about abortion," she said. "Furthermore, we have been privileged to see many women cancel their abor- tions because they encoun- tered the truth of who the preborn are and what abor- tion does to them." The group is not particu- larly concerned about who sees these images. During an Aug. 7 meeting of Oakville's planning and development council where the matter was discussed, Ward 3 Coun. Nick HutchinsWard 3 Coun. Nick HutchinsW noted that recently an anti- abortion group set up post- ers displaying this graphic imagery at Towne Square in full view of several children.full view of several children.f Gilman dismissed con- cerns about children seeing these graphic images, stat- ing that if people are con- cerned about children see- ing these images, shouldn't they "be more concerned that children are becoming these images?" During the Aug. 7 meet- ing, councillors said they have received numerous complaints about these leaf- lets and public displays, and voted unanimously to havevoted unanimously to havev the director of municipal en- forcement, in consultationforcement, in consultationf with the town solicitor, as- sess options to regulate the display of extremely graphic banners and signs in public places as well as the distribu- tion of print materials to pri- vate residences. These options include the prohibition of such displays and print materials. Town staff is expected toTown staff is expected toT report back to council on this matter at some point in 2019. Council is also calling on the provincial government and other Ontario munici- palities to take similar action and are requesting Canada's justice minister consider adding graphic anti-abor- tion imagery to the list of ob- scene publications that can- not be displayed in public. Oakville Mayor Rob Bur- ton brought the motion for- ward. "The peace and quiet and enjoyment of our residents in public spaces has been dis- rupted again, as it appears to be every couple of years or so, by people behaving in a very unfortunate and dis- agreeable way," he said. Ward 4 town and regionalWard 4 town and regionalW Coun. Allan Elgar seconded the motion. "This is really something we need to do in Oakville. This is upsetting an awful lot of people," he said. "Children, for sure, but also parents of children and those who have had issues having children." Ward 5 Coun. Jeff KnollWard 5 Coun. Jeff KnollW also discussed the graphic imagery. "Every time these things end up in the mailboxes or the signs show up on the streets, the phones light up and the emails pour in about situations where children have seen these and then had nightmares," he said. "I had one experience where a child had night- mares several nights in a row and the mother was lit- erally crying on the phone to me. It is so upsetting to so many people and the time has come to do something about it." Gilman argues the Cana- dian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects her group's ability to display this graphic anti-abortion imag- ery. "We will evaluate the situ- ation with our legal counsel regarding the most appro- priate step forward to ensure the voices of these innocent victims are heard," she said. GRAPHIC IMAGERY PROTECTED BY CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS: GROUP SPOKESPERSON NEWS Continued from page 11 "The peace and quiet and enjoyment of our residents in public spaces has been disrupted again, as it appears to be every couple of years or so, by people behaving in a very unfortunate and disagreeable way." - Oakville Mayor Rob Burton