Canada: Following National Outcry, Moncton City Council Reverses Menorah Stance

By FrumNews.com Reporter

Following immense backlash, both locally and nationally, that has become a national controversy, Moncton council voted unanimously Monday afternoon to resume displaying the Chanukah Menorah outside of city hall, after three days of political fighting.

Several council members apologized for their votes in secret last week, and members of the public in the gallery applauded after the vote.

The annual Menorah at city hall has been lit annually at the past two decades without incident, yet this year in a move of that was seemed as anti-Semitic the council secretly voted to outlaw it on public land. The mayor cited “separation of Church and State,”  while non-Jewish religious holiday decorations were allowed and featured this year.

The Moncton Jewish Community, a group representing about 100 families of Jewish people in the region, released a statement on Friday sharing their grievances with the decision allegedly made by the mayor and city representatives, reported Global News.

“The City of Moncton has informed the Moncton Jewish Community that it will no more set up the Hanukkah Menorah in front of City Hall, a tradition that was started twenty years ago,” the statement said, adding the city cited a 2015 Supreme Court of Canada ruling that banned religious prayers at municipal council meetings as a factor that led to their decision.

Irwin Lampert, a former president of the Tiferes Israel Synagogue in Moncton and a retired provincial court judge, attended a meeting last Thursday where members of the Jewish community were told of the decision that a menorah cannot be put up this year.

Leigh Lampart, who attended the meeting virtually, said he “suspected something was up” when the Shul contacted the city to make arrangements for the annual Chanukah Menorah which has taken place for decades.

“We were invited to a meeting with the mayor and one of the town councillors and a couple representatives from the city, in which a decision was conveyed that this year the Menorah was going to be banned from city hall, as was the nativity scene,” he said.

“We asked ‘Why the decision? And why was the decision taken place behind closed doors?’” Lampart added, saying he didn’t receive a “satisfactory answer” to these questions.

What a shame that Moncton City Hall backed down to antisemitism and is not displaying a menorah for the first time in 20 years.

Conservatives stand with Jewish Canadians against hatred and bigotry.

May menorahs across Canada bring light to the world.

— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) December 4, 2023

Following a national outcry, including a petition with more than 6,000 signatures, Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold released the city’s first public statement since its decision not to allow a menorah to be displayed.

On Monday, Moncton council voted unanimously to resume displaying the Chanukah menorah and nativity scene outside of city hall, after three days of national controversy. Several councilors apologized for their secret votes, and members of the public in the gallery applauded after the vote.

Speaking after Monday’s council meeting, Lampert said he was pleased with the reversal. “Quite often you make a decision with unintended consequences, and I think that’s what happened here,” he said. “I don’t ascribe any ill motives to the council or the mayor. I think it was simply a bad decision made in haste.”

MP and Conservative party leader wrote on X (formerly Twitter) “What a shame that Moncton City Hall backed down to antisemitism and is not displaying a menorah for the first time in 20 years. Conservatives stand with Jewish Canadians against hatred and bigotry.”

“May menorahs across Canada bring light to the world.” He added.