Montreal Cabbie Can Display Religious Objects in his Cab

By Michael Kaminer March 25, 2011

Is a rabbi’s picture dangerous?

That’s what Montreal police seemed to imply by fining and ticketing cabbie Arieh Perecowicz, who’d racked up more than $1,000 in fines “for having pictures of his daughter and a rabbi in his cab, along with a Canadian flag, two small religious symbols and a Remembrance Day poppy,” according to the Montreal Gazette.

And after fighting the citations for nearly five years, Perecowicz yesterday emerged victorious, with the charges dropped and the chief of the Montreal Taxi Bureau conceding “that religious objects are permissible as long as they don’t constitute a security hazard or proselytizing,” the Gazette wrote. “The deal includes specific written acknowledgment by the chief of the Montreal Taxi Bureau that religious objects are permissible,” the newspaper reports.

Perecowicz, a cab driver for 44 years, got the first such ticket in 2006 – “two days after he gave a television interview criticizing the Taxi Bureau for not doing enough to crack down on the illegal transport of seniors by unlicensed cabbies,” the Gazette notes.

“My goal in pursuing my contestation of the many tickets I received was to ensure for myself and for other drivers that our freedom of religion and expression was protected,” Perecowicz said in a written statement, according to CBC.

“The City has gone a long way in recognizing the risk to our fundamental freedoms if such practices continued. I am relieved and happy to put this saga behind me and consider the settlement a victory for all Quebecers.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO