Atheist billboard ads rejected in Vancouver

An atheist group is considering a human rights complaint after it says a billboard company refused to run its advertisements in Vancouver.

The Centre for Inquiry Canada created a billboard design depicting a smiling woman alongside a few phrases written in a biblical style.

Jenn 13:1, it reads. "Praying wont help. Doing will.

Below the group's name, the ad says: "Without God. We're all good."

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Pat OBrien, board member for The Centre for Inquiry Canada, said the organization submitted the ads to Pattison Outdoor but was told they were unacceptable.

They didn't really give us a good reason why they turned us down. In fact when we asked for some guidelines, they said they didn't have any guidelines that they could give us.

But Randy Otto, president of Pattison Outdoor, told CBC News his company has nothing against the organization or its ads.

They took a stand which said, here it is, you run it as it is or we'll take our ad and go away. And now they're suggesting that taking their ad and going away is somehow a violation of their human rights, he said.

I mean, I guess they can certainly do what they want.

Otto said changes to the ad were requested to reflect company guidelines, but he did not know specifically what changes to the ad were requested.

According to Pattison Outdoors website, the company is Canada's largest out-of-home advertising company with a market share of over 45 per cent.