Synagogue

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

Côte St. Luc and Hampstead councils have passed bylaws designating where protests can take place in their respective municipalities, in what CSL calls a “safe setback perimeter.”

The bylaws are inspired and built on the injunctions obtained by Spiegel Sohmer senior partner Neil Oberman for Federation CJA and the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue protecting 27 Jewish institutions by stating that anti-Israel protests cannot take place within 50 metres of the sidewalk at each institution. The injunctions were obtained following a March 4 blockade by pro-Hamas protesters at Federation CJA and a March 5 hours-long protest at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue.

The Hampstead nuisance bylaw amendment, passed in its final version at a special April 17 council and regarding provisions involving peace, public, order and safety, says that on its territory, “no assembly or other gathering may be held within 100 metres of any place of worship or any school on public thoroughfares, in parks and places or other areas of public property.”

“Council is of the opinion that citizens who exercise their freedom of religion have the right to do so in complete security and peace,” the Hampstead and CSL bylaws draft bylaws say. “The imposition of a minimal distance from places of worship and from schools for manifestations is necessary and reasonable for ensuring public safety and maintaining public order, while respecting the rights and freedoms involved.”

More specifically, Mayor Jeremy Levi said the amendment will “ban hateful, intimidating, and hostile pro-Hamas demonstrations within 100 metres of places of worship and schools. Violators will face a $1,000 fine.” Levi told The Suburban last week that the bylaw applies to a gathering of 10 or more people.

The fine in CSL will be a minimum of $100 and a maximum of $1,000, and for an organization, minimum $200 and maximum $2,000. In Côte St. Luc, the bylaw, also an amendment of their nuisance bylaw and passed in its final version April 10, “forbids for any person or group to demonstrate or protest in such a way that disturbs the peace, public order or public safety within a radius of 50 metres from the sidewalks of any building in IR – CC – CD and IN zone as defined in By-law No. 2217, Zoning Regulation of the City of Côte Saint-Luc.”

Thus, the bylaw protects all schools in CSL, hospitals, any religious institution and commercial establishments, where some religious institutions are now located. Councillor Steven Erdelyi explained that while the city is happy that the injunctions protecting Jewish institutions were granted and extended recently, “the concern is that, one day, the judge could decide not to renew the injunction.”

Mayor Mitchell Brownstein said there have been discussions about how the police can best assist the city in protecting institutions. “The police are the enforcers. We set up the perimeter with the bylaw. The police would know, based on the terms of the bylaw, what to do. If there’s noise, such as loudspeakers, or chants outside of an event, we would point the police to our noise bylaw and say that they’re disturbing an event going on inside a synagogue and they should shut it down. The police rely on us as municipal leaders to direct them to the relevant law that they can then enforce, whether it’s a ticket, arrest or just ensure the peaceful enjoyment of the neighbourhood. People are free to demonstrate, but they have to do so respecting our bylaws and other laws.”

Oberman told The Suburban he could not offer an opinion on the CSL and Hampstead bylaws for reasons of lawyer privilege, “but anything that enhances and protects the community should be supported, maintained and enforced.” n