A small Canadian political party that promotes sexual freedom argued on Monday for more freedom in what can be sent through the mail, on Monday.

The Sex Party, based out of Vancouver, complained in Federal Court that Canada Post unjustly refused to distribute their political flyers during the 2006 federal election.

Canada Post described the material as pornographic and refused to distribute it.

The four-page pamphlet showed a controversial painting depicting a sexual act on its front page and the tag, "Politics for a Sex-Positive Future."

The pamphlet outlined the party's political message and was intended to recruit new party members, President John Ince said.

As a rule, Canada Post refuses to distribute unaddressed mail it considers to be sexually explicit.

"Those graphic representations are of persons having oral sex and of phallic symbols and of that sort so it's very graphic nature in the material," Janet Toddington, Canada Post's legal counsel, told CTV News in Vancouver on Monday.

"Children picking up the mail oft times see this material and that's part of our concern."

Ince says his party is arguing that the words in the flyer, and the "abstract erotic art" depicted, should not be considered explicit.

The Sex Party president said Canada Post made a decision that goes against precedent, saying communication for adults cannot be regulated by what is appropriate for children.

"As one judge said, we don't regulate the letterbox for what's appropriate for the sandbox," he said. "We don't think any reasonable person of any age would be uncomfortable by this."

The Sex Party says Canadians need to open the door to a larger discussion about how they view sexuality.

Their political platform, printed inside the undelivered pamphlet, includes changing the education system, repealing "sex-negative" laws surrounding public nudity and prostitution, and supporting a "sex-positive" community.

Ince said he refused to distribute the pamphlet in an envelope because the point was to grab attention.

The Sex Party was founded in 2005, and ran three Vancouver candidates in that provincial election. The flyer was part of a plan to become an official federal party.

The hearing in Vancouver is expected to stretch over three days.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Rob Brown