MONTREAL — Cote St. Luc cab driver Arieh Perecowicz finally got his day – actually, two days – in Municipal Court last Wednesday and Thursday in his lone crusade to overturn six tickets now totalling more than $1,600 for carrying a photo of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, two mezuzot and other verboten items in his west-end taxi.
But incredibly, the case is not likely to be resolved until at least a year from now, Perecowicz, 66, told The CJN after court adjourned April 22.
One day of the trial took place last fall, and two additional days were already set aside for June, ostensibly to finish up the case.
But last Thursday, Municipal Court judge Dominique Joly scheduled an additional two days in December, another two in January 2011, and yet another for next April.
Perecowicz, who has been driving a taxi for 44 years and is handling his own defence, said Joly set aside so many dates because at least one day will be needed to question each of the inspectors who ticketed him.
He said Joly was “furious” on Wednesday after she asked the parties to sit down and try to resolve their dispute in order to avoid a trial, only to have them return 90 minutes later and ask her to clarify her instructions.
The trial then proceeded.
Perecowicz’s problems date back to December 2006, when he was issued his first ticket for allegedly breaking Section 98 of the city’s taxi bylaw prohibiting taxis from carrying “objects or inscriptions” that are “not needed” to operate the vehicle.
Besides the religious items, Perecowicz also had a poppy, a Canadian flag, photographs and newspaper clippings in his taxi.
The prosecution’s case is that Perecowicz was fined for breaking the bylaw, that the objects in his car posed a hazard to passengers in the event of an accident, and, as one inspector testified last fall, that his cab was “dirty.”
Perecowicz’s defence is that, while he’s willing to keep his cab cleaner, the regulation is unconstitutional because it infringes on his religious freedom.
He’s also alleging the tickets were issued in retaliation for his protesting the prevalence of unlicensed taxis in the city. No other cabbie, he is also arguing, has ever been issued a ticket for breaking Section 98, even though most taxi drivers carry personal items in their vehicles.
Perecowicz also has filed a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Commission, but he said that body won’t address his case until the trial is over.
So far, Perecowicz said, he is satisfied with how the proceedings progressing.
“I feel very well,” he said.
