Quebec suicide prevention group loses legal challenge against municipality over ticketing

A Quebec religious group has lost a constitutional challenge after getting fined for going door-to-door in Waterloo, Que., to share its message about suicide prevention.

The municipality fined Groupe Jaspe several hundred dollars for violating a bylaw requiring non-profit groups to obtain a permit for "selling, collecting or soliciting."

The group argued in a municipal court that the bylaw infringes on its freedom of religion and expression as enshrined in Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Claude Tremblay, founder of the Magog, Que.-based group, lost his son to suicide.

He says it is his religious duty to go door-to-door to prevent others from taking their own lives.

Tremblay has not said whether he plans to appeal the ruling.