Councillor defends irate 4 a.m. call
Independent city councillor Jeremy Searle has come under fire once again, this time for calling one of his constituents at 4 a.m. to leave an irate message and for repeatedly using the term rape to describe the proposed Cavendish Blvd. highway extension at a public meeting.
Searle, the councillor for the Loyola district in Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, responded he is the one who is being attacked, either by “Jewish fanatic groups” or by people affiliated with opposition parties candidates running against him in the municipal election.
Searle’s early-morning phone call came following an email sent by N.D.G. resident Andrew Bernstein.
“Give me one good reason to vote for you in spite of your welldocumented record of public anti-Semitic remarks …” Bernstein wrote. “Given the atrocious state of the roads, of traffic safety … I do not see any value that you have brought to our neighbourhood. Your anti-Semitism hardly makes it better.”
Bernstein was referring to news reports about an April 2016 borough council meeting during which Searle accused a rabbi and citizen of employing the “Jewish guilt approach … a role taken on by the Jewish community and used for all it can be worth,” in their arguments supporting a development project.
Searle responded to Bernstein’s email with two of his own in which he asks if Bernstein is “some sort of self-unveiling fascist doing a personal ‘outing.’ ” and adds: “I have never uttered an anti-Semitic word in my life.”
Searle followed the emails with a call at 4 a.m., leaving a message saying: “It’s only 4 in the morning but I figure that people who send me hate mail can be called any time of the day because they hate and what does it matter? I am calling to let you know I received your hate mail and you are now being investigated by the Montreal police hate mail division. How dare you suggest I am antiSemitic? Shame on you.”
Searle called again, in the afternoon, and left a similar message.
“His response was way over the top,” Bernstein said. “And frankly, from a guy that is 63 years old, very immature.” He doesn’t intend to call Searle back because “I learned all I needed about the man from his messages.”
Searle said Friday he was justified in calling Bernstein because “he sent me hate mail” and accused him of anti-Semitism with no proof. He added he had not in fact filed a complaint with police.
“I think Mr. Bernstein is a member of the Chabad community (that was promoting the development project in N.D.G.), I think that he works with the rabbi, I think he is trying to interfere with the election,” Searle said
Bernstein said none of that is true.
Searle acknowledged he used the term rape repeatedly to categorize the effects the proposed Cavendish Blvd. extension would have on his district at a public debate last Monday, even after he was asked not to equate sexual violence with roadwork by an audience member who said she was a victim of sexual assault, and by others.
Searle said the complaints came from members supporting opposition candidates “spouting off” who don’t know one of the definitions of the word is “to spoil a territory.”
“These are juvenile, smallminded people with no education. …. The Cavendish extension will bring 5,000 to 10,000 more cars a day in . ... It is the rape of the community.”
Searle got into trouble in April 2014 for equating Quebec’s separatist movement with the emerald ash borer beetle, saying the movement should be “eradicated.” He issued a public apology after initially refusing to do so.
He has been accused of being drunk at council meetings, on one occasion kissing a female councillor.
He says this year’s campaign for re-election is going well and that he has already put up 975 election posters in his district of 39,000 constituents.