By Joel Goldenberg
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante has decided that she and the island-wide agglomeration council will not act on B’nai Brith Canada’s complaint that the council broke its own rules in allowing a barrage of anti-Israel questions to be directed at Hampstead Mayor Jeremy Levi, in December and January.
Levi, who defended Israel’s right to defend itself in a video shot by anti-Israel activist Yves Engler and in social media postings, was not present at the December meeting, where seven anti-Israel questions were asked, and did not respond at the January meeting, where nine questions were asked. At the first meeting, the questioners told agglomeration officials they were asking about subjects like road conditions.
Plante said “it’s the house of citizens; citizens are allowed and they are welcome and we should be happy that they take the time and leave their home to come and ask questions. To me, this is democracy.
“Freedom of speech in these spaces are part of our values, and within our laws. As elected officials, it often happens that we get uncomfortable questions. I get a lot of questions that are uncomfortable and emotional from citizens. It is difficult, but it is also my job to welcome comments, questions. And right now, I know it might be difficult because of the conflict happening in the Middle East, but I think we should value the fact we are a democracy where any citizen can ask a question.”
Plante also said Levi acted on his right not to respond to the questioners. Former Projét Montréal majority leader Alex Norris — dropped from that role late Thursday — also mentioned questioners’ right to freedom of speech during that meeting.
Levi replied at that meeting, “If I understand correctly, Councillor Norris, what we’re saying is, we recognize that there are rules, but we’re not going to follow the rules.” Norris did not respond.
B’nai Brith’s complaint to the Quebec Municipal Commission about the December meeting said the agglomeration allowed questions that were supposed to be about city-related topics and were instead about the Israel-Hamas War and the situation in Gaza. The CMQ responded that an investigation is unnecessary. B’nai Brith filed a second complaint about the January meeting, which was also rejected.
Levi responded to the news of Plante’s refusal to act by posting on Facebook that, “It’s rather ironic that in the last two Montreal agglomeration council meetings, 16 individuals have attended under the guise of championing free speech, only to use it as a platform to criticize my exercise of the same right. Mayor Plante’s argument that allowing people to flout agglomeration rules in the name of free speech might have had some validity if it weren’t for Councillor Norris repeatedly suggesting that complaints be filed against me for exercising my own rights.
“If Mayor Plante genuinely supports free speech, she should consider making Agglomeration rules more accommodating to the range of topics discussed. Hampstead sets an example in this regard. Unlike Montreal, we don’t restrict questions to a 90-second limit, limit them to two per person, or confine the question period to 30 minutes. Council meetings in Hampstead sometimes involve passionate debates with individuals, making us perhaps the only municipality on the island of Montreal with such lenient rules for participants. During each question, I intentionally exercised my right to remain silent. However, this right was consistently undermined by Councillor Norris, who encouraged individuals to file complaints against me whenever I chose to remain silent.”
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs posted its reaction to Norris no longer being majority leader.
“Alex Norris’s disqualifying conduct at the Montreal Agglomeration Council, including allowing its use for repeated antisemitic attacks against Hampstead Mayor Jeremy Levi, was deplorable. Today, we are pleased to see he lost his position as a leader.” n