Local News
Quebec premier urges Montreal mayor to take a harder line on rioters after a weekend of violence
(Nov. 27, 2024) By Joel Ceausu (Canadian Jewish News) François Legault wants Valérie Plante to get her house in order.
Speaking to reporters in Quebec City on Nov. 26, the premier talked about the violent demonstrations over the previous weekend in Montreal, where fires were started, and Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) officers were assaulted at a joint demonstration in support of Palestine and protesting a visiting NATO parliamentary assembly.
“These thugs, they will be punished, they will be arrested. There will be consequences for what they did, for what they are doing now in Montreal.” After the National Assembly passed a unanimous motion condemning the violence, Legault said it’s time for the mayor of Montreal to deal with demonstrators who set fires, smashed windows, and attacked police officers.
François Legault wants Valérie Plante to get her house in order.
Speaking to reporters in Quebec City on Nov. 26, the premier talked about the violent demonstrations over the previous weekend in Montreal, where fires were started, and Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) officers were assaulted at a joint demonstration in support of Palestine and protesting a visiting NATO parliamentary assembly.
“These thugs, they will be punished, they will be arrested. There will be consequences for what they did, for what they are doing now in Montreal.” After the National Assembly passed a unanimous motion condemning the violence, Legault said it’s time for the mayor of Montreal to deal with demonstrators who set fires, smashed windows, and attacked police officers.
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“A lot of Quebecers are appealing to me, but it is not the Quebec government or the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) that remains responsible for the territory of Montreal. It is the City of Montreal, it is the SPVM.”
A visibly frustrated Legault said he spoke with Plante earlier in the day, “and I told her, it’s time to restore order in Montreal, and I offered to send the SQ. There has to be a very clear message sent to these thugs, that they are going to be punished.
“I expect that there will be a lot more than three arrests in the coming days,” Legault said.
Three arrests were made Friday for obstruction, assaulting a police officer and mischief.
Quebec’s public safety minister François Bonnardel told French-language television the number of arrests will rise, among “rioters and anarchists” who participated, and reiterated what the SPVM has said for more than a year, that arrests are typically more easily made after an incident rather than in the midst of chaos, which could inflame a situation.
That strategy in particular has angered many Montrealers, who have noted that the dissuasive effect of a robust police response during incidents has been all but invisible over the last year.
On the weekend, SPVM chief Fady Dagher said he’s also confident more arrests will be made, and that the groups responsible for the chaos are very well known to Montreal police, who will be going over abundant surveillance camera footage over the next days and weeks.
Also on Tuesday, Bonnardel—along with Westmount-Saint-Louis MNA Jennifer Maccarone and three other opposition —introduced a motion, affirming that the National Assembly strongly condemn the violent acts and antisemitic acts that took place during the demonstrations of Nov. 21 and 22 in Montreal; condemn any attack targeting the Jewish community; condemn “any form of support for Hamas”; and recalls the right to demonstrate freely and peacefully.
“Finally, that it reiterates, as unanimously stated on Oct. 3, 2024, that the National Assembly does not condone civil disobedience.” The motion passed 103 to 0.
On Friday night, just a few hours after police restored order, Montreal Opposition Leader Aref Salem said “Like many, I feel bad for my city tonight. These intolerable acts serve no cause. The right to protest does not justify chaos. For its part, the Plante administration’s silence resonates, aggravating Montreal’s wounds.”
Plante posted on social media on Nov. 23, that “the outbursts of last night’s demonstration are shocking and have no place in a peaceful metropolis like Montreal. Neither chaos, violence or mayhem against shopkeepers are tolerated and I thank the SPVM who made several arrests yesterday.”
Then on Monday, the mayor tried to quell some of the growing criticisms of her management of the city’s unrest for more than a year, saying, “Antisemitic gestures, destruction, violence and brutality against the police or fellow citizens have no place. It’s not how to express yourself.”
She says, “shameless thugs” broke windows, set cars on fire and wreaked havoc, adding, “it’s the last thing we want to see, and the last thing we want in a city like Montreal,” before praising the SPVM and their high level of training and skills in crowd control and handling rowdy demonstrations. “I am proud of the police we have here in Montreal,” she said. “And the work will continue.”
Plante said that over several months, she has read comments “and received messages from families, from communities, Arab-Muslim, but also from the Jewish community, and I think we must reiterate, as I have always done, that acts and words we heard during the weekend that were clearly antisemitic have no place in Montreal.”
Plante’s comments also came two days after Rabbi Adam Scheier of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, who was standing silently filming a demonstration downtown as he drank coffee from the Second Cup—as a show of support for the coffee chain, which quickly cut ties with a Jewish General Hospital franchisee due to her antisemitic expressions amid a prior protest—was asked by police to leave the area for fear that the presence of a kippah-wearer would incite demonstrators.
The right to demonstrate is a constitutional right, Plante affirmed, “but not to the detriment of a community that is made to feel that they do not belong.”
Rioters, she said, were there to provoke. “They are known to police… and the demonstration was no longer about housing, the economy or support for Palestine.” They exploited the situation, she said, infiltrating a demonstration “where there were citizens, parents with strollers and children. These were professionals… and they stole the demonstration from people who came out of conviction and did so peacefully.”
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First year medical student Tim Rozovsky founds new association for local Jewish medical students
By MYRON LOVE In the face of a concerning surge in antisemitism over the past nearly three years, I am happy to report a good news story in that regard. Tim Rozovsky, the founder of the new Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba, reports that he and his fellow Jewish students enrolled in the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine are not experiencing any significant issues involving antisemitism.
Hopefully, the matter of the notorious Med school Valedictorian who used his podium to attack Israel was a one-off.
“My goal in forming the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba,” says the first year medical student, “was to create a safe, supportive environment for my fellow Jewish medical students.”
He reports that the current first year class at the school has eight Jewish students – an increase over more recent years – with maybe a dozen more in the other years.
For a new medical student, Rozovsky already has an impressive resume. He was born in Russia and grew up in Israel. After the completion of his army service in 2018, the then-22-year-old rejoined his parents, Dr. Katya and Alexander, who had moved to Winnipeg a few years before.
Prior to coming to Winnipeg, Rozovsky had completed a personal trainer program out of The Academic College at Wingate in Jerusalem. Some readers may know the young man from his work as a Master Personal Trainer at the Rady JCC.
Shortly after arriving here, he enrolled in a kinesiology program at the University of Winnipeg. He graduated with a BKin Honours in 2023 and did post graduate work at the University of Manitoba. Last fall, he received his MSc in Physiology and Pathophysiology – earning two gold medals, along with 32 awards and scholarships in the process.
Rozovsky says that it was his mother who inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. Dr. Katya Rozovsky is an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and an attending radiologist, specializing in pediatric diagnostic imaging.
(Tim also adds that his wife, Irina Gelzin, whom he married about a year ago, is training to be a nurse.)
Insofar as the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba is concerned, Rozovky reports that the group gets together multiple times a year. One of its programs was a joint Chanukah celebration with the Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba.
There was also a joint program with the Christian Medical and Dental Students’ Association of Manitoba.
“More recently, we have been helping prospective Jewish medical students with their applications,” he says. “Hopefully we will be able to get together over the summer with the incoming Jewish students.”
As to his own future plans, Rozovsky notes that it is too early for him to be deciding on a specialty. “My goal,” he says, “is to work hard and get good grades and become the best doctor that I can be.”
Local News
Gray Academy to Represent Manitoba at National Reach for the Top Competition
By NOAH STRAUSS Posted June 6) Gray Academy’s Reach for the Top team is headed to Moncton, New Brunswick, to represent Manitoba at the National Reach for the Top tournament.
Reach for the Top is a Canadian school league that quizzes teenagers on a variety of different topics, from science and history to pop culture. Reach started out in 1961 in Vancouver, where a local CBC station broadcasted the new show; it eventually became a national broadcast starting in 1966. Alex Trebek, who famously hosted Jeopardy!, started out by hosting Reach for the Top.
Gray Academy’s very own team, made up of Grade 7 and 8 students, will travel to Moncton, New Brunswick, to compete as Team Manitoba. By winning the provincial Reach tournament, they secured their spot in the national competition.
Faculty members at Gray Academy are very supportive of the program. The Jewish Post spoke with three different staff members at the school. Coach and high school teacher Danielle Miller says she is excited for the trip; although she will not be accompanying the team herself, shehas coached them all year.
“This year we had over 20 students come to the club to join us, they practice twice a cycle at lunch,” Miller said. Due to the large turnout this year, two teams had to be formed. At lunch practices, students split into two teams of four where each player has a buzzer. The two teams compete to see who can answer the most questions correctly.
One of the two teams did exceptionally well at various tournaments throughout the year and will be traveling to nationals as the sole team representing Manitoba.
Co-coach Micah Doerksen described Reach as a great academic competition where young minds are tested on various topics through quick,fast-paced questions.
High school guidance counselor Lindsey Leipsic said, “We have athletes, non-athletes, we have students who are really involved and students who are not as involved at school, and we have quiet leaders, and we’ve seen friendships be built in Reach.” Some of her favorite memories of Reach involve seeing students from across Winnipeg come to Gray Academy and bond with one another. Lev Chisick, who is competing at nationals, agreed, saying, “Moncton is going to strengthen our school spirit and make us a better team.”
As the junior team makes their way to Moncton, the senior team will head to provincials. Later this week, students from the senior team will travel to Virden, Manitoba, to compete at the provincial level. The team qualified after placing high enough at their most recent tournament, which took place at St. Paul’s.
Confidence is high as the school heads into these final tournaments. When Nath Goldenberg, who is also competing at nationals, was asked what he is most looking forward to, his answer was short and sweet:“Winning.”
