We’re Jewish lawyers in Montreal and our city may be breaking the law

In recent weeks, a group calling itself “Collectif Montréal, ville contre l’apartheid et le génocide” (“Montreal, City Against Apartheid and Genocide”) has launched a campaign pressuring mayoral and borough candidates to sign an “anti-apartheid pact.” Ironically, this “pact,” which claims to oppose “racism, sectarianism, discrimination and oppression,” would in practice commit the City of Montreal to sever all institutional ties with Israeli entities: cancelling municipal contracts, withdrawing pension investments, and boycotting Israeli artists, researchers and athletes.

According to the group’s social media posts, candidates from several parties, including Projet Montréal, have signed on. Some even boast about it publicly.

Let us be clear. This is not symbolic. It is an attempt to institutionalize division and to turn the resentment of some Montrealers into municipal policy. For those of us who wear a Star of David, this is no longer just a political issue. It directly affects our safety.

A city has no foreign policy In law, the matter is clear: a municipality cannot conduct foreign policy. Municipal powers are strictly defined under the Loi sur les cités et villes (Cities and Towns Act). Montreal has no legal authority to impose sanctions on a state or to engage in any form of parallel diplomacy. Those powers belong exclusively to the federal government.

Even the Government of Quebec, which maintains administrative and economic relationships abroad in areas such as culture, education and trade, cannot decide to impose state-level sanctions or boycotts. It may collaborate, but it cannot boycott. As a creature of the provincial government, Montreal is therefore even more limited.

Beyond that jurisdictional issue, no public institution in Quebec may adopt a policy that discriminates on the basis of nationality. The Charte des droits et libertés de la personne du Québec (Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms) expressly prohibits it. Refusing a contract or collaboration because a person or organization is Israeli would very likely amount to institutional discrimination.

An obvious but important clarification: our point does not concern individual consumer choices, but rather the adoption of municipal policies that target people based on national origin.

Words from our politicians have consequences. Since October 7, 2023, antisemitic incidents in Montreal have increased sharply: hateful graffiti, threats on campuses, assaults in the street. Wearing a kippah or a Star of David is enough to make someone a target. In this climate, hearing municipal candidates speak of “genocide” in Gaza is not neutral or harmless.

“Genocide” is not a protest slogan. It is a legal concept born from international law in the aftermath of the Shoah, the extermination of six million Jews, and it describes the deliberate intent to destroy a people. Yet some have tried to convince the public that the Jewish state is guilty of this crime, even though the International Court of Justice has not yet ruled on the merits. Law demands rigour and slogans do not make facts. Shouting the word in the streets does not make it true. It distorts the meaning of the term and trivializes the Shoah, the very event that gave rise to it.

Criticizing a foreign government is legitimate. But engaging a city in a boycott based on nationality crosses the line between freedom of expression and discrimination. Montreal must remain a shared, pluralistic and open space, not an extension of a foreign conflict. When our institutions begin to decide which peoples or nations are “acceptable,” it is not only our politics that fracture, but our society itself.

We are lawyers, Jews and Montrealers deeply attached to this city. We believe in justice, and we believe in the rule of law.The rule of law is our bulwark. It is the barrier that prevents resentment from turning into exclusion, and exclusion from turning into discrimination.

Our municipal candidates should remember that before they sign.And we, the citizens, should remember it before we vote.

Written by Me Sarah Ettedgui.

Supported by Me.Frank Schlesinger,Me.Ronald H. Levy,Me.Nancy Cleman, Me.Gary Rosen, Me.Johanna Elhadad,Me.Audi Gozlan, Me.Joel Banon, Me.Judith Cohen,Me.Alyssa Yufe,Me.Jennifer Sabbah, Me.Frederick Pinto,Me.Patrick Bensoussan,Me.Dorith Toledano,Me.Leon Benmergui,Me.Jason Hadid,Me.Saguy Barchichat,Me.Steven Kravitz,Me.Jennifer Ana Chriqui,Me.Andrew Kliger,Me.Robert Steinman,Me.Virginie Illouz,Me.Eva Derhy,Me.Raphael Amram,Me.Jonathan Cohen,Me.Barry Cohen-Olivenstein,Me.Michael Elfassy,Me.Laurent Gryner,Me.Benjamin Dahan,Me.Dov Charness,Me.Julia Nakache,Me. Cory Klumak,Me. Daniel Prudkov,Me. Joseph-Gabriel Cohen,Me.Nathan Cohen,