Jewish leaders support limits on ‘nuisance’ protests, others voice concerns

Leaders of Winnipeg’s Jewish community support a proposed bylaw that would ban “nuisance” protests. But leaders from other religious communities have concerns.

“The Jewish community needs to be protected,” said Belle Jarniewski, executive director of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, of the Safe Access to Vulnerable Infrastructure bylaw.

“We have a right to feel safe,” she said. “I can’t understand how anyone can unreasonably be against it,” she said.

The bylaw, if passed, would set limits on how close nuisance demonstrations can be to certain types of buildings, including places of worship, schools, childcare centres, and other designated facilities.

This would include protests such as those held at the Asper Jewish Community Campus during Folklorama the past two years, along with the one last April when Gray Academy — which is also at that location — held an event with two Israeli soldiers who had participated in the war in Gaza.

The need for this bylaw “has been a long time coming,” she said, adding she sees it as a way to protect all places of worship and other places that might be targeted, such as abortion clinics.

Jeff Lieberman, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, also welcomes the proposed bylaw, calling it an “important step by the city.”

“Hate has no place outside community centres or houses of worship, and the vitriol and threats that were hurled at Folklorama last year were the tipping point,” Lieberman said. “Families shouldn’t have to walk past screaming mobs just to get into a community centre, and kids shouldn’t be asking why people are yelling threats at them.”

Richard Robertson is director of research and advocacy for B’nai Brith Canada and speaks for the local chapter of that organization. He also supports the bylaw, but feels it could be fine-tuned to be more specific.

Winnipeg, he said, could learn from the city of Oakville, Ont., which passed a similar bylaw last year that is “very clear about what type of conduct is a nuisance, along with more comprehensive parameters.”

In Oakville, the bylaw only applies within 50 metres of any place of worship and is in effect one hour before and one hour after scheduled ceremonies or services. It is designed to prevent protests from impeding access to a building, Robertson said.

“This doesn’t mean protests can’t occur,” he said. “It just means people can’t be obstructed or impeded.”

Leaders of other local religious communities understand the need for people to feel safe at places of worship, but have concerns.

David Driedger is leading minister at First Mennonite Church. While the bylaw could be used as justification to call the police to protect his church, he wonders what, exactly, would “constitute a nuisance, and who would determine it.”

There can be a tendency to view all disruptive demonstrations as a nuisance, depending on who feels inconvenienced, Driedger said.

“If someone demonstrated against my church, the question is under what circumstances I would call the police and what does this bylaw give me that I don’t already have?” he said, adding he believes current laws are sufficient to handle concerns related to protests.

Tasneem Vali is a volunteer with the Manitoba Islamic Association. She also worries that the definition of what a “nuisance protest” entails is too generic and non-specific under the proposed bylaw.

“It would mean any public protest, march or gathering could be subject to police interference and fines,” she said.

Tanis Moore, sensei at the Manitoba Buddhist Temple, also wonders about the definition of nuisance.

“I have taken part in many different peaceful protests and I feel that it is our right to do this. I would not like to see my granddaughter grow up in a place where we are not allowed to do this,” she said.

Also concerned is Ramsey Zeid, a leader in the local Palestinian community. “We feel targeted by this bylaw,” he said, noting the call for the bylaw arose after the pro-Palestinian protest at Gray Academy.

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Of that protest, Zeid asked how Ukrainian Winnipeggers might have reacted if someone brought in Russian soldiers to speak about their invasion of Ukraine.

“People would be outraged,” he said, adding that groups in the city also have a responsibility not to provoke others by holding events or programs that will upset Winnipeggers.

“If the Grand Mosque hosted an event with Hamas fighters, I would be protesting that, doing everything in my power against it,” he said.

The city’s executive policy committee is set to consider the bylaw at its Feb. 17 meeting before sending it to Winnipeg city council for final consideration on Feb. 26.

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John Longhurst
Faith reporter

John Longhurst has been writing for Winnipeg's faith pages since 2003. He also writes for Religion News Service in the U.S., and blogs about the media, marketing and communications at Making the News.

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