By THE LONDON FREE PRESS
Added: Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 UTC

Thanks to Brian for the link.

Reposed from:
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2009/02/25/8522801-sun.html

An American agency has refused to allow ads promoting atheism on London (Ontario, Canada) transit buses, insisting yesterday it is arbiter on what advertising can be shown on the buses.

The rejection by Lamar Advertising has put London on a possible collision course with an atheist group whose signs, already on Toronto public buses, read: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

The rejection has also raised questions about who should have the final word on London transit ads -- transit administrators, the political appointees who oversee the system or a company, Lamar, based in Baton Rouge, La., that maintains 170,000 U.S. billboards.

The request for the London bus ads was made this month by a group called the Canadian Atheist Bus Campaign.

London is only the latest stop in a broader campaign that began in England by atheists concerned about religious ads that promised eternal damnation for non-believers.

Identical atheist ads later ran on buses in Washington D.C. and were added this month to buses and subways in Toronto and will soon be displayed in Calgary.

"We want to bring atheists into the mainstream," said Justin Trottier, president of a non-profit group that started the bus campaign in Canada, the Freethought Association of Canada.

But most Canadian transit services approached have rejected the ads: London, Kingston, Ottawa, Halifax, Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna.

Asked about the rejection in London, a Lamar official who heads its eastern Canadian operations, Steve Copeland, said his firm steers clear of ads that are too controversial, especially since bus passengers are a captive audience.

"We've been here so long we know what works and what doesn't . . . its our decision," he said.

Copeland said he doesn't want to repeat a mistake made a year ago in London, when he allowed a pro-life group to advertise on buses only to see a flood of vandalism and ad complaints.

"It just didn't work . . . It's not a personal decision," he said.

But who makes the decision is a matter of debate.

London Transit general manager Larry Ducharme says he should make the final call after input from appointees on the transit commission.

But a member of the commission says appointees should decide.

"(Ducharme) may be CEO, but isn't the commission the ultimate arbiter?" Coun. David Winninger said.

London Transit contracts out bus advertising to Lamar. The contract prohibits ads that offend community standards, demean or degrade individuals or groups or violate laws.

But those standards aren't defined and that has left Lamar to decide what's acceptable.

For example, Lamar allows transit ads by the Western Fair casino, but would reject ads for Internet gambling since Lamar's parent company prohibits them on American billboards, Copeland said.

Asked if that distinction and rationale makes sense, Ducharme said: "You've asked an excellent question."

Winninger says he may raise the issue at today's transit commission meeting.

TAGGED: ATHEISM, CAMPAIGNS, LAW