MONTREAL — Arieh Perecowicz couldn’t have been happier. It’s been almost five years since he was issued the first in a slew of tickets for having prohibited items in his taxi – including Jewish religious objects – based on a taxi code bylaw.
But an out-of-court settlement hammered out between his lawyers and the city, announced last Thursday, made it clear that he could keep his mezuzah.
And so could all other cabbies with religious items.
“It’s a huge victory for me,” said Perecowicz, 66, who sat on the news of the impending deal for about a week. “It was a long and difficult wait.”
The directive, issued by the head of the Montreal Taxi Bureau, prohibits city taxi inspectors from ticketing cabbies who display religious objects in their taxis, as long as they don’t use them to proselytize and they don’t constitute a risk to passenger safety.
In Perecowicz’s case, they included two mezuzot and a photograph of the Lubavitcher rebbe.
Even if inspectors perceive a physical risk, they must have citations approved by a superior.
“That is a huge deal,” Perecowicz said. “Before, they had complete discretion.”
The deal was negotiated between the city and Mark Phillips, Perecowicz’s lawyer with the firm Borden Ladner Gervais, which agreed to take on the case pro bono in a Charter appeal in Quebec Superior Court.
As part of the settlement, Perecowicz is dropping the appeal of his Feb. 17 conviction in Montreal Municipal Court, which means he still must pay more than $1,000 in fines, but four outstanding tickets are cancelled.
Perecowicz said he decided to accept paying the fines because even though Judge Dominique Joly ruled that he didn’t “discharge his burden of proof” in his freedom of religion and expression defence, “she never actually addressed whether religious items are allowed or not allowed in taxis.”
Abby Shawn, a lawyer and chair of Quebec Jewish Congress’ human rights committee who closely followed the case along with QJC community relations director Enza Martuccelli, was “very pleased” with the deal.
“It’s interesting because it’s taking place against the backdrop of reasonable accommodation that’s being debated in Quebec,” she said.
“This is a way of saying that having religious symbols is a ‘reasonable accommodation.’ It gives life to the debate and answers we haven’t had before.”
The Quebec Human Rights Commission, where Perecowicz has lodged a separate religious freedom complaint seeking $25,000, is also expected to hand down a decision soon.
