Montreal Debates Bylaw Fining Insults to City Employees Up to $2,000

Montreal city council is considering a proposed bylaw that would allow fines for members of the public who insult police officers and other municipal employees while they are on duty.

The proposal would cover intimidation, harassment, threats, verbal abuse and insults directed at city workers. A first offence could bring a fine ranging from $350 to $1,000, with higher penalties for repeat offences.

Protecting municipal workers

Montreal’s administration says the proposed rules are a response to growing hostility faced by staff. According to CBC, the administration has cited increased incivility, aggression and threats of violence toward municipal employees, reporting that incidents involving those behaviours rose by more than 250 per cent between 2019 and 2025.

Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada has framed the measure as a line between expressing frustration and directing hateful conduct at an employee.

“Let’s be clear, you can be mad and say, ‘Why the hell are you giving me a ticket?’ It won’t stop you from sharing your emotion,” she said. “But going to the point where you’re intimidating ... then there’s a line where it can be misogynistic and it can be hateful.”

According to CBC, Martinez Ferrada has also pointed to the case of Mohamed Bekkali, who was arrested in July after filming himself hurling misogynistic insults at a police officer during a June 2025 traffic stop.

Service could be refused

The draft reaches beyond fines. The Winnipeg Free Press reported that it includes provisions allowing municipal employees to refuse service to someone who misbehaves.

That prospect puts the proposed bylaw at the centre of a broader question: how should the city protect workers facing abuse while preserving residents’ ability to challenge public authority, including police?

Similar bylaws already exist elsewhere in Quebec, including in Quebec City, Laval, Longueuil and Sherbrooke.

Civil liberties concerns

Several civil liberties groups and community organizations have condemned Montreal’s proposal, arguing it infringes on freedom of expression and could invite arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement because police hold significant power over the people they encounter.

“Allowing SPVM officers to issue fines for comments deemed offensive, but not threatening, significantly exacerbates the power imbalance between law enforcement and the public,” Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association’s Quebec spokesperson, said in a statement.

The CCLA, the Ligue des droits et libertés, Hoodstock and the Saint-Michel Legal Clinic have raised particular concerns about the potential effect on people who already experience excessive police surveillance and racial profiling.

Lynda Khelil, a spokesperson for the League for Rights and Freedoms, said the city was proposing a measure that “unjustifiably infringes on freedom of expression and will create more problems than it will solve.”

Calls for clearer limits

Critics are not only opposing the bylaw’s premise. They are also calling for public consultation and tighter definitions of the conduct it would prohibit.

Fo Niemi, executive director of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations, said a measure with significant implications for civil rights and civil liberties should be studied before being adopted. He has called for more precise language around harassment and intimidation, warning that non-verbal conduct could also be caught by broad wording.

The debate now rests on whether Montreal can draw a workable distinction between protecting staff from genuine abuse and preserving the right to voice anger, criticism and dissent toward public officials.

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