Municipal By-Laws, Naturalized Lawns, And Charter-Protected Expression

"What is a weed? A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Introduction

A recent Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision in Ruck v. City of Mississauga, 2026 ONSC 73 [Ruck] has brought the interplay between the Charter, municipal regulation, and environmental activism to the front lawns of Ontarians. In Ruck, the Court found sections of the City of Mississauga's Nuisance Weeds and Tall Grass Control By-Law infringed the applicant's freedom of expression under section 2(b) of the Charter, were not saved under section 1 as reasonable or justified, and must be struck down. The Court's decision in Ruck is the latest chapter in the story of municipal regulation and naturalized lawns that we have discussed in previous articles, including "Making Sense of Municipal Regulation of Naturalized Lawns" and "The Courts, the Constitution, and Naturalized Lawns."