Hersh: Bylaw must stop attacking pro-Palestinian protesters

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For more than three months, Ottawa residents of all backgrounds, including Palestinians and Jews, have been peacefully protesting for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The protests follow a fairly similar path through the city’s parliamentary precinct. The numbers are pretty consistent, even now in the colder months, reaching a couple of thousand people each week.

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As protests go in this city, they’re not that unusual: they include what most protests do, like singing, holding signs, and marching.

But on Dec. 23, Ottawa Bylaw and Regulatory Services began a practice it hadn’t seen before: fining protesters almost $500 for using a megaphone.

Since that day, in subsequent marches the regulation has fined at least 12 people, with total fines close to $10,000.

I have attended many protests and rallies in downtown Ottawa and have followed that same path. I have never seen anyone fined for using or holding a megaphone or, as the statutes call it, a “sound amplification device.”

In response to the numerous incidents of fines, bylaw published a three-page memo saying that they “respect the right to protest” and “apply a consistent approach across all protests, ensuring that enforcement is fair and equitable…regardless of its purpose.”

Using the noise ordinance as a tool to selectively target protesters (that’s the only way I can justifiably describe it) who speak out on this issue is neither “consistent” nor “equitable.”

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The organizations also recently released information about how bylaw officers even went to the private residences of two protesters to issue tickets, in one case at 10 p.m.

These protests will continue for the foreseeable future and the statute’s repressive approach will continue to cause problems. This unreasonable approach will only increase tensions in the community as well as at the protests.

These statutory actions not only pose a problem for those protesting a ceasefire, but are also a serious threat to everyone’s right to freedom of expression guaranteed by the Charter. They set a dangerous precedent and have a direct impact on anyone protesting in Ottawa, whether they are members of a union on a picket line or any other activist group or political party.

It appears that bylaw’s recent actions are part of a broader pattern of law enforcement aimed at suppressing criticism of foreign policy as it relates to Israel and policing historically marginalized communities. In Toronto, for example, police have banned “banner dropping” on Highway 401, citing “security concerns on the part of the neighborhood’s Jewish community” – despite the banners falling being a fairly common tactic in activism and despite the fact that these protests have been largely peaceful, with representation from the Jewish and Palestinian communities.

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This pattern of repression is not only limited to law enforcement, but has also extended to different facets of society, such as educational institutions. In early October, an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board student was forced to remove a Palestinian flag from her profile photodecision that was later revoked.

At uOttawa, resident physician Dr. Yipeng Ge was abruptly suspended without warning for pro-Palestinian posts on social media after complainants argued that his posts were anti-Semitic. He was reinstated but has said he will not return.

These incidents, along with Ottawa’s selective enforcement of bylaws, would suggest that not everyone is equal when it comes to free speech in our city.

City Council should take the lead in urging the mayor to mandate bylaws to stop the harassment of pro-Palestinian protesters, eliminate these fines, and advocate for an approach that is truly “fair, equitable, and consistent.”

Failure to do so would continue to foster a troubling double standard and take us down a slippery slope that would undermine all Ottawans’ right to freedom of expression. Statutes must be accountable.

Sam Hersh is a political and community organizer in Ottawa. He is on the board of directors of Ottawa skylinea locally based organization that focuses on municipal issues.

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