Montreal– The Independent Press Gallery of Canada strongly condemns the Montreal police’s treatment of Rebel News journalist Alexa Lavoie, who was threatened with arrest and physically obstructed while reporting on a public demonstration in front of the Notre-Dame Basilica. The incident, captured on video by Ms. Lavoie, shows police officers preventing her from filming while ignoring protesters who were actively interfering with her work.
For months, the steps of Montreal’s most iconic Catholic church have been used as a platform for recurring pro-Palestinian—and in many cases, openly pro-Hamas—street prayers and rallies. These ongoing demonstrations have sparked widespread concern across Quebec, prompting Premier François Legault to propose legislation banning all public prayers as a response to what many see as growing religious and political tensions.
Despite the public nature and political significance of these gatherings, Ms. Lavoie was ordered to leave the area by SPVM officers, told to stop “creating an event,” and threatened with arrest for “obstruction” while simply filming. Meanwhile, demonstrators were allowed to block her camera with signs and flags and engage in hostile behaviour, completely unchallenged by law enforcement.
This is not an isolated incident. Rebel News journalist Guillaume Roy was recently assaulted at the same location while reporting, and independent journalist Natasha Graham remains criminally charged after being violently arrested while covering a similar protest—her arrest applauded by radical demonstrators as it happened.
The SPVM has a pattern of targeting independent journalists while turning a blind eye to those disrupting public order. Police do not have the authority to decide what is or isn’t newsworthy, and they certainly have no right to suppress coverage of public events on ideological grounds.
Sheila Gunn Reid
President, Independent Press Gallery of Canada