Montreal city council to debate bylaw banning insults against municipal employees

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada says she hopes a bylaw banning people from insulting police officers and other municipal employees will be adopted. 

City council was set to debate the proposed bylaw at its Monday meeting.

If adopted, residents who insult city staff could face fines between $300 and $1,000 for a first offence. Subsequent offences could result in fines up to $2,000. 

Yves Francoeur,  head of the police union, has said union members have been pushing for such a bylaw for years. But lawyers and civil rights groups worry the bylaw could infringe on the constitutional right to freedom of expression.

“Giving the middle finger, it’s not what will give you a ticket,” the mayor said before the council meeting. “Let’s just be honest. There’s bigger issues in terms of the attitude of some citizens.” 

The draft bylaw’s current wording would ban insults, harassment, threats, abuse and intimidation, as well as offensive and aggressive behaviour.

It also includes provisions saying city employees could refuse to provide services to someone who misbehaves. However, the bylaw doesn’t define what could be construed as an insult.

The debate around banning insults resurfaced in March, after videos of a man insulting a police officer with misogynistic comments went viral. The man was charged in July with defamatory libel under the Criminal Code and had pleaded not guilty.

However, critics have said the bylaw could hinder de-escalation efforts and harm those who are victims of racial profiling, in crisis, or experiencing homelessness.

Four community organizations sent the mayor a letter on Sept. 17 expressing their concerns. These organizations include rights and freedom groups, a legal clinic and an anti-racism group based in the borough of Montréal-Nord, where a police patrol unit was disbanded for racist misconduct.

“The proposed regulation does not merely prohibit violent behavior or conduct that threatens  physical integrity, which is already prohibited by the Criminal Code,” they wrote. “It bans expressions that are not threatening simply because they are likely to cause discomfort, for example, ‘offensive’ behavior.'”

They also argued the rules could be applied arbitrarily because it would be left to police officers’ discretion to issue fines. And they warned against giving police more powers in the wake of the “shameful acts of racism by certain (Montreal police) officers” in Montréal-Nord.

“I hear the concerns,” Martinez Ferrada said. “I’m a racialized woman myself … But it doesn’t mean that if we have those concerns, that we do not act.” 

Another lawyer, Sibel Ataogul, has proposed offering free legal help to citizens contesting the bylaw.

Other municipalities in the province, including Quebec City, Laval, Longueuil and Sherbrooke, already have similar bylaws.

The Canadian Press reported in June that some of these municipalities have issued thousands of fines over the past six years.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2026.

By Erika Morris | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.