Canadian mayor opposed to pro-Palestinian protests allowed to appoint 'special constables'

Pro-Israel mayor Jeremy Levi in Canada’s Quebec Province recently received permission to build a municipal security force following a call by Liberal Party of Canada MP Marco Mendicino to establish "protective zones" around members of parliaments' offices.

Levi is mayor of Hampstead, one of Quebec’s wealthiest municipalities, and a vocal supporter of Israel’s war on Gaza. He has repeatedly called for the arrest and deportation of pro-Palestinian protestors.

Levi was recently granted the power to appoint special constables “in emergencies for a period not exceeding seven days”. The special constables will have the authority to “prevent and repress offences under the municipal by-laws in all or part of the municipality's territory” under Quebec law.

What differentiates police officers from special constables is that the latter are sworn peace officers who have been granted police powers to enforce specific legislation in a specific context or area.

Mayor Levi has said the plan for special constables was in reaction to protests against Canada’s complicity in Israel’s war on Gaza, according to a report by The Canada Files. 

The plan was first ignited when eight lawmakers in Montreal signed a proposal to place armed guards at Jewish schools, synagogues and community centres due to security concerns after clashes between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian supporters in Montreal, and incidents of violence against synagogues and Jewish schools. 

“Our community are feeling extremely anxious and vulnerable and not protected as they should be,” Levi, one of the signatories of the document, said. 

MEE contacted Mayor Levi and the Hampstead municipality for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Toronto’s Mendicino, one of Canada's most pro-Israel voices, initially called for protective zones as part of the former public minister’s safety plan. According to the plan, anyone who harasses or intimidates people within 100 metres of their constituency would be subject to harsh criminal penalties. 

In an interview with David Herle of The Herle Burly political podcast, Mendicino is quoted as saying that “more threats, more intimidation, more harassment" can "lead to harm both online and in the community", referring to the pro-Palestinian protests across the country.

The decision of the Hampstead municipality to allow the mayor to form the special constables was met with backlash on social media, including from people living in the Hampstead constituency of Quebec.

One social media user said the police were already intimidating enough.

As if the canadian cops aren't genocidal enough (they are, ask the Indigenous people imprisoned in our borders) but it turns out thats just not monstrous enough for mayor levi https://t.co/AbzczMZtA6

— 🔻critics of the Palestinian resistance be gone (@CatsBeComrades) July 31, 2024

Another user said that "Zionism is seeping" into Canada.

quebec i need you to start some sort of fucking revolutionary because zionism is seeping its way into our country.

we can't have this.

don't let canada become another israeli-funded fucking country. https://t.co/LWRV9QDm2J

— payton (@littlepaytay) August 1, 2024

During the height of the protests from December last year to January this year, Mendicino also called for banning the pro-Palestinian protests on a Toronto highway overpass, which is far from any constituency office.

Mayor Levi recently campaigned with Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre and was given a “Friend of Israel” plaque by the Israeli consul general, Paul Hirschson.

He also said that pro-Palestinian protestors and their call for divestment from Israel, including his alma mater McGill University, “offers a complimentary crash course in terrorism and hate".