A local pro-choice activist has successfully challenged billboard companies over their refusal to display her message, leading to a significant policy change.
Sophie Harms, a self-described pro-choice activist, told AM1150 her campaign was inspired by frustration with the prevalence of anti-abortion billboards in the Okanagan.
Harms initially launched a crowdfunding campaign to support her pro-choice billboard project, which quickly gained traction. However, when she approached four billboard companies, cash in hand, all either ignored her requests or rejected them, calling her message “too controversial.”
“At first, I felt confused,” Harms said. “My message is upheld by Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Then I felt frustrated. It’s frustrating to have something to say, to have the money to do it, and still not be able to follow through on your intentions.”
After updating her supporters about the roadblocks, Harms was contacted by the BC Humanist Association, which connected her with pro-bono lawyers.
The legal team argued that allowing anti-abortion billboards while rejecting pro-choice messaging could constitute sex-based discrimination under the BC Human Rights Code.
With legal pressure mounting, BC Billboards, one of the companies Harms had approached, finally responded. While they refused to run her campaign, they agreed to a policy change: once the contracts for the existing anti-abortion billboards expire in six months, the company will no longer accept campaigns related to either pro-choice or pro-life messaging.
“It’s a positive step because that kind of negative, misinformed information won’t be bombarding people anymore,” Harms said.
For Harms, the victory isn’t about personal recognition.
“I’m just happy that people won’t have to see those billboards anymore,” she said. “You have to think about the perspective of people traveling to Kelowna, which is the only place in the Okanagan that offers surgical abortions. Anyone going there for care had to see that messaging, and now they won’t. Despite abortion being decriminalized in Canada, there’s still stigma, and those billboards contributed to it. I’m happy that’s being addressed.”
The campaign has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the community. Harms said many people have reached out to express relief, sharing how much they disliked seeing the billboards and how hard it was to take action against them.
The Right to Life Society, which sponsored the anti-abortion billboards, has said it respects the decision to take them down but plans to find other outlets to continue its messaging.
“We believe Sophie Harms’ claim that abortion is safe, normal, and common is only 33% true,” they wrote in a statement. “It’s true that about 100,000 pre-born babies are killed by abortion every year in Canada, making it very common. However, it’s not exactly safe. It has some serious physical and emotional risks for the mom, and it’s deadly for the baby.”
Harms responded by emphasizing the limits of free speech in Canada.
“In Canada, freedom of speech doesn’t include discrimination or hate speech,” she said. “I respect that they can see it was wrong for my message to be excluded. I really wish they would stop protesting in front of the hospital.”
While her pro-choice billboards won’t be going up, Harms sees the policy change as a step toward leveling the playing field.
“It’s not really about me,” she said. “It’s about addressing the stigma and making sure people don’t have to face that kind of messaging anymore.”
