Fast Food Chain Fights Montreal Suburb's Junk Food Ban

The Montreal suburb of Brossard recently passed legislation to limit where new fast food restaurants can open. Proximity to schools, for one, is now a no-no in the South Shore district. One chain has promptly filed a lawsuit to fight the bylaw.

Pizza Pizza, the Toronto-based, franchised pizza brand, alleges that Brossard's refusal to let it open a restaurant across from a high school is illegitimate, since the request was made, and the lease apparently signed, before the adoption of the new regulation. The prospective new restaurant's space was formerly occupied by a Subway. In a statement to La Presse, a spokesperson for L'Association pour la santé publique du Québec condemned Pizza Pizza's lawsuit: "This lawsuit demonstrates bad faith and arrogance. Elected officials in Brossard should be welcomed as champions of sustainable health, and not be sued."