Shuttle Bus Driver Barred From Montreal Airport After Anti-Semitic Insult Goes Viral

The control tower at Trudeau airport is seen in Montreal on Dec. 8, 2015. The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz

MONTREAL—After an airport shuttle bus driver was caught on tape uttering an anti-Semitic insult, the corporation running Montreal’s international airports said it will revoke the license of the bus operator if the driver enters the premises again.

The organization Stop Antisemitism said in an X post on Oct. 8 that a Montreal airport bus driver had threatened to “decapitate a family of Jews like Hamas.” That threat was not captured on tape, but the post was accompanied by a video of a bus driver giving two middle fingers and saying “you Zionist piece of [expletive.]”

“Heartbreaking to see what’s happened to Canada,” said Stop Antisemitism.

The post went viral and caught the attention of ADM Aéroports de Montréal, the private not-for-profit corporation running the Montreal-Trudeau and Mirabel airports. ADM requested additional information about the incident in an X post.

Stop Antisemitism subsequently told The Epoch Times it had connected the individual who had provided the tip with airport security.

Meanwhile, ADM said it takes the situation “very seriously” and that “hateful conduct” has no place on its premises. “This unacceptable speech is in no way related to the values of our organization or our airport community,” communications director Anne-Sophie Hamel told The Epoch Times.

Hamel said ADM conducted an investigation to identify the bus driver and the company he works for, given he is not employed by the airport. She noted that 13,000 people work to provide services to passengers at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, with most of them being employed by outside providers.

Hamel said the driver was finally identified as a sub-contractor for multiple hotels running shuttle services to the airport.

“We have contacted the partners involved and requested that this individual not be allowed to work on our airport premises, failing which their operating licence will be revoked,” she said.

The incident at the airport took place around the second anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The attacks and Israel’s military response in the Gaza Strip have led to an increase in anti-Semitic attacks in Canada and elsewhere. Montreal has seen multiple cases of Jewish institutions being shot at or firebombed.

Montreal has also seen numerous rallies in support of Palestinians and against Israel, including one last week to mark the Oct. 7 massacre.

The provincial government has hardened its tone in recent weeks in relation to the increase in protest activities, including street prayers by pro-Palestinian Muslims, such as in front of Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica.

Quebec Premier François Legault, in his opening speech to the provincial legislature in late September, said he would stand firm against “radical Islamists” who seek to impose their values on Quebec’s society.

The ruling CAQ said in late August it will table a bill this fall to ban street prayers in a bid to reinforce secularism. “The multiplication of street prayers is a serious and sensitive issue in Quebec,” Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge said.

The CAQ is also mulling a ban on face coverings, for security purposes and also in relation with secularism.