Québec Premier says banning protests isn't off the table? - Metropolis

Welcome to Metropolis, the weekly show where host Kalden Dhatsenpa brings you top-level news from the bottom up in Québec’s “metropole”, Montréal. We start with Hello, Good Byline with Local514 journalist Savanna Craig. Savanna updates us on the evolving stories that are affected by Montréal's still ongoing movement for a ceasefire in Palestine.

Savanna and Kalden discuss the rhetoric behind a common slogan heard at pro-Palestine rallies, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Savanna brings to attention the recent attempts to frame this slogan as well as other pro-Palestinian actions as hate crimes. The Montreal police, the SPVM, put their hate crime unit in charge of an investigation into postering in the Montreal metro system.

Savanna recalls Québec Premier Francois Legault’s remark stating that banning these protests wasn’t off the table. Montréal mayor Valerie Plante has not supported such a ban and spoke in favour of the right to free assembly and the freedom of speech of protestors.

Savanna expands on this by looking at the calls for resignation against Montreal’s commissioner for the fight against racism, Bochra Manaï. The commissioner shared an image of a pro-Palestine demonstration in Montréal and commented “Proud of my Montréal”. Bochra Manaï was called to resign by the Center for Jewish and Israel Affairs. B’nai Birth, a group that is “committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish people and the State of Israel” has called on Manaï to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of anti-semitism. A definition that is hotly contested.

With attempts of arson and firebombs left at synagogues in and around Montréal, anti-semitism is clearly on the rise in Montréal. A recent article in the French language publication Pivot describes the importance of not blaming the rise of anti-semitism on pro-Palestine movements. Savanna and Kalden get in-depth into these distressing trends and the media’s responsibility in avoiding the conflation of one with the other.

As tensions rise on English university campuses in Montréal, an altercation broke out between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli supporters at Concordia last month, and a historic student referendum at McGill had an injunction put on it from the Québec Superior Court. This election saw a record turnout with 78.7% of voters supporting a pro-Palestine policy that called upon McGill to divest from corporations and individuals that contributed to “genocide, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid” in Palestine.

Dru Oja Jay comes onto the show to break down the resignation of Dominique Ollivier, Montréal’s second highest in command in city hall. Her resignation comes after it was found that the public consultations office that she was in charge of was found to have been spending more than it should have been.

Dru and Kalden discuss the rise of migrant labour in Montréal and the identitarian policies that have caused this. The Legault government has compared the rise of immigration in Québec to be “suicidal” for Québec. Yet the province has been relying increasingly on the labour of migrants who are often radicalized. What has led to this?

Last but far from least there is Dru’s recent appearance at the CRTC along with other community media figures to call upon the commission to secure more funding for community media like CUTV.

All this on Metropolis!