George Katerberg is a retired HVAC technician from northern Ontario. In March 2024, he rented a billboard along Highway 17 near Thessalon and put up a sign displaying photographs of Justin Trudeau, Doug Ford, Dr. Theresa Tam, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, with the messages: "They knowingly lied about safety and stopping transmission" and "Canadians demand accountability."

What followed was a year-long bureaucratic campaign to silence him. This week, the Ontario Divisional Court put an end to it.

Ezra Levant spoke with Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms lawyer Darren Leung on Tuesday's episode of The Ezra Levant Show about the ruling, which declared the Ministry of Transportation's policy banning political messaging on bush country highway billboards unconstitutional.

The Ministry's shifting justifications were, as Leung described, a saga.

First, bureaucrats claimed a graphic on Katerberg's sign — two crossed hammers drawn from Pink Floyd's 1979 album The Wall — was a white supremacy symbol, citing an obscure reference to a 1980s Texas band. Katerberg, who had no idea such a connection existed, removed the graphic and submitted a revised sign.

The Ministry then rejected the revised version, claiming it "may be seen as promoting hatred or contempt" toward the officials pictured.

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"If that's the standard," Leung said, "then no political sign could ever be posted anywhere, because most political signs show some level of contempt towards certain politicians or government policies."

When the Justice Centre filed a constitutional challenge, the Ministry backed down on the hatred claim before quietly rewriting its Highway Corridor Management Manual in April 2025 to introduce a new policy banning political messaging on bush highway billboards while continuing to permit commercial advertising and community messaging.

That modified policy was then used to reject Katerberg's sign again. The Divisional Court was unimpressed.

Justice Schreck found there was "no rational connection" between banning political messages and maintaining the integrity of bush country highways, noting that political billboards are no more distracting or aesthetically objectionable than commercial advertising.

The court also criticized the Ministry's "shifting justifications based on various policies, some of which were not identified," calling the conduct "not to be encouraged."

Section 5.8.2.1(a) of the Ministry's 2025 Highway Corridor Management Manual was declared of no force or effect. The Ministry has been directed to reconsider Katerberg's application in accordance with the Court's reasons.

"The government cannot prohibit political expression while at the same time permitting commercial advertisement," Justice Centre lawyer Chris Fleury said in a statement from the civil liberties group. Katerberg was more direct: "I knew there was nothing wrong with my sign."

Ezra noted the broader significance. "We're allowed to criticize and condemn our leaders," he said. "That's what makes us free."