MONTREAL, Canada — A veteran Montreal cabbie who's been fined a total of $764 for having photos of his daughter and the founder of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, two mezuzahs and a remembrance poppy in his car is going to court with a special request.
On June 9, Arieh Perecowicz will ask a Montreal Municipal Court judge to delay a ruling on his four tickets until the Quebec Human Rights Commission examines his complaint.
Man Contests Fines for Having Mezuzah, Photos in his Cab
MONTREAL, Canada — A veteran Montreal cabbie who’s been fined a total of $764 for having photos of his daughter and the founder of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, two mezuzahs and a remembrance poppy in his car is going to court with a special request.
On June 9, Arieh Perecowicz will ask a Montreal Municipal Court judge to delay a ruling on his four tickets until the Quebec Human Rights Commission examines his complaint.
He is seeking $5,000 from the city of Montreal for a “discriminatory and unlawful” bylaw, saying it infringes on his freedom of expression, which is guaranteed in the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
Perecowicz, who has been driving a taxi for 42 years, has been fined four times, at $191 a crack, by Montreal Taxi Bureau inspectors under Section 98 of the bylaw, which bans any “object or inscription that is not required for the taxi to be in service.”
He also questions the bureau’s motives, since the first fine, on Dec. 19, 2006, came days after he and other drivers went on local television stations to complain that the taxi bureau was not acting to curtail unlicensed cabs.
The taxi bureau did not respond to numerous requests for comment yesterday.
The bylaw was passed in June 2003, and Perecowicz says none of the roughly 40 drivers fined under this section were singled out for having family pictures or religious icons.
“The objects in my vehicle do not in any way diminish the rights of any passenger and do not interfere with the proper operation of my taxi,” he wrote to the human rights commission.
He says he has never had a complaint from any passenger.
Though he is not a religious person, he insists the small mezuzahs, embedded discreetly in the posts between front and rear seats, are there as a charm, along with a prayer for safety.
(Traditional Jews affix a mezuzah, containing a parchment with several prayers, in the doorway of their house, and in some cases beside every door.)
Perecowicz wrote to the rights commission that the photos, mezuzahs and poppy “are integral to my identity both as a Jew, a father and proud supporter of our Canadian veterans.”
Told about the fines, Rabbi Itchey Treitel, director of the Lubavitch-run Montreal Torah Centre, asked: “What, these guys have nothing better to do?”
Treitel said it is not unusual for a Jew to have a mezuzah in a car or even a private jet.
“It’s been an item of protection from days of old.”
Although not that common in cars, it can be seen by observant Jews as “a form of guidance and strength.”
“Some people keep it in the glove compartment, some will hang it near the door. I’ve seen it many times.”
Gregory Sitaras, president of Champlain Taxis, which has many drivers of Greek origin, noted that many have beads hanging from a mirror or small crucifixes on dashboards.
“Everybody has something like that, but it has to be small.”
Told about Perecowicz’s fines, Sitaras said: “I don’t know of anybody that got a fine because of that.
”The Bureau de Taxi should be looking for drivers who have no permits rather than mezuzahs. I would never punish a driver for that.“
In fact, he said taxi companies are pressuring the city to allow in-cab advertising, which would require an amendment to existing bylaws.
Nicole Marchand, secretary for Amicale Plus, which employs many drivers of Haitian origin, said many have a small Haitian flag or crucifix in their car.
Told about the fines issued to Perecowicz, she laughed.
”It’s stupid,” Marchand said.
abba
Are there people in Chabad that put Mezuzah’s on their car?
stuck in the northen attic
Its funny that in Canada they hate themselves and their own symbols the poppy and the flag.The mezuza is not even the issue. In toronto they made the buses take down support the troops symbols. Self-hatred the whole way
Pentax
I don’t think he is right in this case…
If it’s a rule that you can’t have personal belongings such as pictures and stuff then why should he be any different..
He signed up for a job that has rules
and he is no exception to those rules…
Disgusted
What do you expect from French? Baalei ta’anug and apikorsim — whether in Europe, or in North America, or in French Polynesia. Chometz. (Yeah, yeah, not all of them are the same. I am talking about a general tendency and culture.)
proud jew
to Abba:
yes i have a mezuzah in my car, and when i travel i put one in my suitcase…
mendel
he allso had picture of the rebbe
montrealer
wow!! this story is so typical for canada! just ban everything that you don’t like.
Pentax error
To Pentax,
It seems to me that with all these stories you seem to be the ‘Devil’s Advocate’! You are always ready to defend everything that touches a raw nerve with the rest of us, basing your warped logic on some liberal attitudes. The article clearly says that people of other faiths and ethnicities did not suffer the same treatment. I am convinced now that you are either a self deprecating Jew or not even Jewish!
It is not a crime to be Jewish or proud of it!
Canada
To: Disgusted
who says that guy is french
and just because he is not frum
and he dosent know everything
about a mezuza
you dont have to add in
“What do you expect from French?”
Pentax
To Pentax Error,
Now I agree with you.
I didn’t read the article because
I thought the video would be enough.
It seems that he is being singled out
and the Christian drivers did not have
to remove theirs… So YES it is not
right if he is being singled out.
Though I still think that
if it is a code that he cannot
have pictures in his car then
he shouldn’t and thats it, whether
it is messy or not.
The Mezzuzah on
the other hand is a Religious item
and other people weren’t told to take
it down so he shouldn’t have to either.