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A Projet Montréal councillor in Outremont borough is criticizing the borough administration for holding its next monthly meeting on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, on Monday evening.

And it’s at that meeting that the borough council will discuss the dates and times to hold a coming referendum on a borough bylaw that would prohibit the opening of new synagogues, mosques and churches on Bernard Ave., borough councillor Mindy Pollak said in a statement on Friday. The debate will also concern the cost and spending limits for the coming referendum campaign, she said.

Pollak, who is a member of the Hasidic Jewish community, said that it’s not the first “faux pas” by the borough. She said she had asked the borough last November to set council meetings dates to avoid having the October meeting fall on Rosh Hashanah. “Rather than seeking to bring communities together, the borough is sowing division.”

It’s the third meeting called by the borough on a Jewish holiday, she said. Projet Montréal adds that it’s a “lack of respect for the Jewish community, which is directly concerned by the bylaw on places of worship.”

One of the items on the borough council meeting agenda on Monday is the presentation of the results of two Sept. 8 registers that allowed Outremont residents who oppose the bylaw prohibiting the opening of new synagogues, mosques and churches on Bernard and Laurier Aves. to force a referendum.

The borough received 367 signatures on the Bernard register, which means a referendum will be held on the zoning change sometime in November. A similar register for Laurier received only four signatures, so that zoning change is approved.

http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/councillor-criticizes-outremont-for-scheduling-council-meeting-on-rosh-hashanah