See, this is what I find weird... What original intention is there to flying geese? I can kind of understand if there was a religious complaint, like I don't know, not wanting your work associated with a religion you don't believe in (even that I find kind of odd) or pursuing secularism in public artwork... but sometimes things are just silly.

Well, I probably didn't explain the circumstances very well. Robert Snow (the artist) is one of the most important contemporary artists in the world and the work, which is called Flightstop, was a commissioned sculpture. The owner of the Mall wanted the prestige of a Robert Snow work in the mall (the Eaton Centre was something of an architectural marvel when it opened in the 1970s). In Canada, any modification to a painting, sculpture or engraving is deemed to prejudice the author. The mall knew it was buying a work of art from a highly respected artist. If they had just picked up ornamental geese from a store somewhere and hung them up they probably could have done whatever they wanted with them.

There is actually an Wikipedia article about the case at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_v._The_Eaton_Centre_Ltd.