The City of Montreal is facing legal action after its employees were caught on camera tearing down pro-Palestine signs ahead of a federal by-election.
The signs belonged to LaSalle-Émard-Verdun pour la Palestine (LEV4P), which is legally registered as a third-party campaign group in the upcoming LaSalle—Émard—Verdun by-election, taking place on September 16.
The incident is the third time since 2008 that the City of Montreal inappropriately removed election signs belonging to Palestine solidarity groups and pro-Palestine political parties, raising questions about why such signs are being targeted.
LEV4P sent a cease and desist letter to the City on August 2. The City initially did not admit responsibility for tearing down the signs, until the group presented CCTV footage of one of the incidents, which was recorded on July 31.
One of the videos, seen by The Maple, shows an individual in a City vehicle pulling up beside a sign attached to a lamp post and using a box cutter to remove it, before driving away with the sign.
Signs belonging to registered third parties are protected under federal election law.
After being presented with the video evidence, LEV4P said, the City insisted the workers had removed the signs in error.
But LEV4P’s lawyer, Manuel Johnson, said the City’s explanation does not stand up. He pointed out that the City was ordered to pay $12,860 in punitive damages in 2018 for a similar incident involving pro-Palestine signs displayed by registered groups back in 2015.
“There’s no more good faith argument when it’s the third time, and when you’ve had a judge severely criticize you for this,” said Johnson.
LEV4P raised and spent approximately $3,000 on the signs, and those torn down by City workers on camera represented only a fraction of those that were distributed throughout the riding — before they were taken down.
The signs highlighted Canada’s complicity in Israel’s war on Gaza, which is being examined as a case of genocide at the International Court of Justice, as well as more generic slogans calling for a free Palestine.
After the City admitted removing some of the signs, it returned 95 signs out of a total of 450. Johnson said that his clients could not simply replace the signs before getting them back from the City since they would be in danger of exceeding third-party spending limits.
In his view, this means the damage has already been done to the democratic process.
“This new violation which the City of Montreal has committed is so serious, and the effect that it can have is a sort of chilling effect,” Johnson explained.
“That’s the danger when public authorities intervene to limit freedom of speech: It can undermine people’s confidence in our democracy. It can undermine people’s confidence in the electoral process.”
Repeated Incidents
The first time the City removed pro-Palestine election signs was in 2008, when municipal authorities removed signs belonging to the Communist Party of Canada candidate Bill Sloan in the Westmount neighbourhood.
Following that incident, municipal authorities signed an agreement with Elections Canada to not allow such an infringement to occur again, according to Johnson.
The second incident occurred in 2015, when the Communist Party and a third-party group promoting Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel put up signs denouncing Israel’s human rights violations and occupation of Palestine.
As with the incident in this year’s by-election, in 2015 the City claimed the removals were good faith errors made due to the disturbing imagery on some of the signs, which depicted the body of a Palestinian boy killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.
The two groups took the City to court, which ruled that the City had intentionally violated the fundamental rights of the citizens who displayed the signs, according to Johnson. It was that decision which resulted in the Quebec Superior Court order for the City to pay punitive damages.
“The city was warned: Don’t do this again,” Johnson said.
He said that during the 2019 federal election, a coalition of labour unions in Quebec registered as a third-party advertiser to campaign on the issue of unemployment insurance. To his knowledge, none of the coalition’s signs were removed by the City of Montreal.
“Our clients are very justified in having some very serious questions about the motivation of the city in taking down these posters,” said Johnson. “We know that the silencing of voices in favour of the national liberation of Palestine and silencing of voices denouncing the genocide in Gaza is something that’s going on across the board.”
He noted that Jeremy Levi, the mayor of the Montreal suburb of Hampstead and a vocal supporter of Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza, tweeted on July 28 that the election signs were “hate propaganda,” and called on Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante to “take a stand and restore order in our city.”
When challenged by LEV4P during a City council meeting about the removal of the signs, Mayor Plante stressed that the previous case took place nearly a decade ago. But Johnson said this amounted to pleading incompetence.
“Even if it was 40 years ago, these are important, precedent-setting cases,” he explained. “I don’t think that is a defence that will hold up in court.”
In an emailed statement sent in French and translated into English by The Maple using an online tool, the City of Montreal said it would not comment on the matter due to the possibility of legal action.
“The City confirms having received a copy of the formal notice from the Lasalle-Émard-Verdun organization for Palestine,” the City said. “Everything is currently under analysis.”
Gaza A Key Issue
LEV4P was set up last fall after the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) launched a call for activists to create local associations in different electoral ridings to pressure MPs to support a ceasefire in Gaza.
“We have a platform, we have a message, but we are not trying to elect anyone,” a LEV4P member named Paul told The Maple. “It’s more the awareness campaign and trying to engage other candidates on that specific issue.”
The Maple agreed not to publish the activists’ full names due to their fear of employment repercussions resulting from their Palestine solidarity work.
Another LEV4P member, Rain, said the group believes it is no accident that only the Palestine solidarity group’s signs have been removed. “To me, it is motivated by the message on our signs.”
Canada’s role in Israel’s war on Gaza has proven to be a potent issue in the upcoming by-election, which was triggered following the resignation of Liberal MP and justice minister David Lametti in January.
Last week, CBC News reported that 52 Arab and Muslim staffers in the Liberal government signed a letter saying they would not participate in the by-election campaign due to Justin Trudeau’s handling of Israel’s war on Gaza.
“We can no longer in good conscience campaign for a party that excludes us and our values,” CBC quoted the letter as reading.
The staffers’ demands included “explicitly condemning Israel for its numerous war crimes and for the genocidal rhetoric from members of the Israeli Cabinet,” recognizing the State of Palestine, and revoking all existing permits for arms exports to Israel, including those that are shipped via the United States.
Editor's note, Sept. 5, 2024: This story has been updated to include the statement from the City of Montreal.
Alex Cosh is the news editor of The Maple.
Member discussion