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You better be careful, you better not cry. You better not put up decidedly unfestive signs along the parade route, I’ll tell you why: because people will call the police.
Well, maybe not as catchy as the original, but that’s what happened in Brantford, Ontario, last weekend during the city’s annual Santa Claus parade.
Brantford police confirmed with CBC News that they received calls from upset residents, as well as complaints online and in person, after someone at a home along the parade route posted anti-Santa signs in their windows.
Brantford is about 100 kilometers southwest of Toronto. Saturday’s daytime parade attracted about 30,000 spectators, according to the Brantford Expositor.
According to multiple social media posts purporting to show the house, the colorful signs read (and kids, look away): “Santa is fake,” “Santa isn’t real,” “Your parents are Santa,” and “Your family buys your presents.”
They have since been removed, according to police.
“An officer spoke with the person responsible and the signs have been removed.” Robin Matthews-Osmond, corporate communications manager for the Brantford Police Service, told CBC News in an online statement.
“While it is not illegal to be a ‘Grinch,’ we encourage everyone to embrace the spirit of the season and help foster a positive and welcoming community, especially during events like the Santa Claus Parade,” he said.
Matthews-Osmond confirmed the signs were not illegal due to free speech laws and the fact they were on private property.
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“Absolutely disgusting”
The online reaction to the signage was swift and merciless, with people calling it “evil” and “absolutely disgusting.”
“You can’t crush someone’s spirit or ruin something for someone else just because you don’t like something,” someone commented on a Facebook post from The Canadian Gothic podcast.
““How miserable do you have to be to actively try to ruin someone’s childhood?” someone wrote in an Instagram post.st by CCanadian lifestyle network 6ixBuzzTV.
But as shocked as some people may be, it is not a criminal act or a hate crime to tell children that Santa is not real, said Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair in Internet Law and E-Commerce at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law.
“I don’t think it’s illegal either, although perhaps a municipal bylaw against a riot could be applied in a given circumstance,” Geist told CBC News.
“But even then, it would be subject to challenge on Charter grounds protecting freedom of expression.”
A Brief History of Santa Spoilers
That being said, there have been cases where people have been arrested for trying to spoil Santa.
In 2018, Texas police arrested a 31-year-old man who told children that Santa wasn’t real outside a church hosting a breakfast with Santa event. Police said the man, who was protesting with two other people, refused to leave and continued to cause a disturbance, for which he was charged with criminal trespassing, according to The Associated Press.
In Kingston, Ontario, police charged a man who was allegedly telling children that Santa Claus didn’t exist during the city’s annual Santa Claus parade in 2012.
He was reportedly walking up and down the street telling children his beliefs until his arrest. He faced charges of causing a disturbance while intoxicated, violating probation and public intoxication.
Then there’s Richard Dildy, a Toronto man who was arrested in 1979 after protesting inside and outside the Toronto Eaton Centre, yelling at Christmas shoppers that Santa isn’t real, according to Toronto Today.
Dildy was arrested again during 1980 Toronto Santa Claus Parade for shouting “There is no Santa Claus,” the post said. They gave him a $50 fine.
