MONTREAL — The Quebec Press Council has rejected a complaint that an editorial cartoon published last year in La Presse was anti-Semitic or discriminatory.
Giovanni Bruno complained to the council about the June 18, 2007, cartoon by Serge Chapleau, which depicts Action Démocratique leader Mario Dumont as a chassidic Jew with earlocks, wearing a huge shtreiml.
He is saying: “…and next week, I will be courted by the nude cyclists of the Plateau. Don’t miss that!”
The headline is “Mario Dumont courted by the Jewish community.”
The cartoon was prompted by a story the paper had carried on the front page a few days earlier about its discovery that retired Liberal senator Leo Kolber had hosted Dumont, the new opposition leader, and other Jewish community leaders at a private meeting at his home.
In its decision, the council said: “While the cartoon may have shocked the plaintiff, it did not contravene the code of ethics, and Mr. Bruno has not demonstrated in what way this cartoon would be anti-Semitic.”
Bruno also charged that La Presse editor André Pratte had resorted to “falsehoods and half-truths” in his response to B’nai Brith Canada’s public denunciation of the cartoon, a complaint the council also dismissed.
Pratte had responded that the cartoon’s message was not directed at the Jewish community, but rather at Dumont.
La Presse lawyer Philippe-Denis Richard argued before the council that the cartoonist had the right to use satire to depict Dumont’s visit with the Jewish community. His intention was to convey Dumont’s readiness to look anywhere for support.
The news that Dumont had had dinner with Kolber prompted other cartoons in Quebec newspapers. Le Devoir depicted Dumont wearing a T-shirt bearing “MK” and “pareve,” saying, “I am now certified kosher.”
Sherbrooke’s La Tribune had Dumont with dollar signs in his eyes as he greeted two men wearing kippot and earlocks, and carrying briefcases.
