Lawyers ask court to suspend Montreal bylaw banning insults against city employees

MONTREAL · Lawyers asked Quebec Superior Court on Thursday to suspend a recently adopted Montreal bylaw that bans insults against city employees, including police officers. Those seeking an injunction argued the rule infringes on Charter rights, while city representatives countered it protects public workers and all Montrealers. The bylaw prohibits insults, harassment, threats, abuse, intimidation, and offensive and aggressive behaviour. It carries fines of $300 to $1,000 for a first offence and up to $2,000 for subsequent offences.

Justice Eleni Yiannakis heard arguments from lawyers representing the Association for Progressive Jurists and the St-Michel legal clinic. Before the hearing, Yiannakis stressed she would rule only on the injunction request, not on the bylaw's constitutionality. Lawyer Sibel Ataogul told the court the bylaw is too broad and encroaches on fundamental freedoms like freedom of expression. She argued terms like "offensive behaviour" and "insults" are too vague and go beyond shielding employees from violence.

"The city went very far," Ataogul told the judge. "Do we really want to live in a society where incivility...is penalized with an infraction?" She noted that because the rule is penal, offenders face arrest, detention and a public record even if acquitted. Ataogul said existing laws already address violence, harassment and threats, and the Supreme Court has ruled people "have the most basic right to say something offensive." The group has filed a separate constitutional challenge to be heard later.

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Lawyer Dardia Garcelle Joseph argued the bylaw will mainly apply to interactions with police and harm marginalized people. She suggested the city's true intention is to protect police officers by applying the rule to all municipal employees. Joseph said the city has publicly acknowledged its police force has a racial profiling problem, and the bylaw will disproportionately harm racialized citizens who are stopped more often. "The effects (of the bylaw) are predictable," said Garcelle Joseph.

The bylaw was drafted after a video of a young man hurling misogynistic insults at a police officer went viral. The man later said he was a victim of racial profiling and has been charged with defamatory libel. City lawyer Michelle Picard stressed the bylaw is in the public interest and protects every Montrealer. She noted several other Quebec municipalities have similar, uncontested bylaws. Picard said there is no need for an injunction as people "continue to express themselves like they always have, we just ask that they be respectful."

Ataogul countered that when individual fines have been contested, judges across Quebec have not agreed on what constitutes an insult, including whether the word "racist" qualifies. Picard pushed back against claims of hidden motives, saying there has been a marked "deterioration of public debate" that must be addressed. She said the bylaw covers nonverbal behaviour and that freedom of expression is not absolute. "It protects the search for truth, personal expression and democratic debate," Picard said. She also accused the applicants of arguing the case's merits instead of the legal criteria for an injunction. Justice Yiannakis told both sides they lacked proof to support their arguments, saying they took claims of racial profiling and increasing incivility as given without real evidence. With the bylaw in place for only 22 days, the judge said it can be difficult to demonstrate it has caused serious harm. Yiannakis said she will deliberate and issue her judgment at a later date.

With files from The Canadian Press, CityNews and CBC News