Joel Ceausu – The Suburban LJI Reporter
A series of proposals to protect the Jewish community during an unprecedented period of anti-Semitic intimidation, harassment and violence in Montreal was met with derision by the mayor of Côte des Neiges—Notre Dame de Grâce.
Gracia Kasoki Katahwa, in whose borough sits numerous synagogues and Jewish schools, the main campus of Jewish organizations, where a Jewish school was shot at, and where posters of kidnapped children were removed by city workers, and a Jewish community organization was firebombed, denounced on social media the suggestion that “Quebec and other provincial governments should allow trained security guards at community organizations, schools, and other locations where the public gather to be armed during this emergency period and set the rules under which such guns can be carried.” She said the solution to hate crimes is not “the addition of more weapons manipulated by private citizens without coordination or direct links to the chain of command of our public safety system.”
Katahwa characterized that one element of the 22-point Community Action Plan on combating anti-Jewish hate in Canada with a focus on Quebec, as “relaxing gun control” and called it “a fallacious proposal,” singling out borough opposition councillors Sonny Moroz and Stephanie Valenzuela for supporting the initial action plan submitted to Quebec Public Security Minister François Bonnardel.
That plan was also endorsed by TMR Mayor Peter Malouf, Côte Saint-Luc Mayor Mitchell Brownstein, Hampstead Mayor Jeremy Levi, Mount-Royal MP Anthony Housefather, D’Arcy McGee MNA Elizabeth Prass and Mount-Royal—Outremont MNA Michelle Setlakwe. Kasoki accused those endorsing the plan of inviting people “to give into fear.”
Since the October 7 massive terrorist attack on Israel and subsequent, immediate explosion of anti-Jewish harassment and violence in cities across the world, particularly in Montreal, many members of the Jewish community have been asking the provincial government to allow armed off-duty police officers to be stationed at vulnerable targeted locations, or to simply allow trained security professionals to carry firearms much as they already do when transporting cash from private commerce in the midst of public roadways, malls, and parking lots in commercial strips, including in the borough of CDN-NDG.
“The last thing our communities need in these very troubled times is to see such serious, grave and delicate issues used for partisan purposes,” said Moroz in a post on X. Ensemble Montréal equally denounced what they call Katahwa’s “misinformation” about the Action Plan to Combat Anti-Jewish Hatred in Canada, particularly in Quebec: “Ensemble Montréal is not in favor of loosening firearm control,” reads a party statement. “Rather than trying to score political points, the Montreal administration should channel all its efforts into finding solutions and taking strong, concerted action to restore solidarity and peace of mind in our metropolis.”
As reported by several media outlets, the Action Plan is in its infancy and a new version will be published shortly. And while the opposition does not support the idea of temporarily introducing armed security guards in Jewish schools, it notes the proposed Action Plan addresses an important problem: “the insecurity and violence experienced by our communities. Ensemble Montréal elected officials are among the signatories, because we believe such a plan is essential.”
Katahwa’s publications are “unworthy of an elected official, whose role is to listen to and analyze the concerns and demands of all citizens and communities, without judgment,” they said in a statement Thursday. “Remember, we must counter misinformation, not encourage it. That’s the vision of Ensemble Montréal, a party committed to honest, humane and inclusive politics.” n