Authors Demand Giller Prize Sever Partnership With Scotiabank

Canada's most prestigious literary prize was awarded on November 18 amid controversy. The Giller Prize ceremony is normally broadcast live on CBC, but this year, it was pre-recorded. This was not for technical reasons, however, but rather because protesters had disrupted the ceremony the previous year. They demanded that the bank withdraw its investments from Elbit System, Israel's largest arms producer.

The actions targeting the literary prize have grown out of a wider campaign against Scotiabank to condemn its $500 million investment in Elbit Systems. Scotiabank is the largest foreign investor in Elbit.

This massive investment, beginning in October 2022, sparked outrage with many activists who were aware of the history of Elbit Systems' weapons being “battle-tested" on Palestinians, Lebanese and Syrians. In response to pressure from the campaign, Scotiabank has incrementally divested from Elbit Systems, selling off shares in each quarter of 2024, down to $112 million according to the most recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

The Canada Palestine Association launched the campaign against Scotiabank officially in June 2023. Since then, their coordination led to actions picketing 18 of the bank's branches on March 15 and 35 branches on June 25 and shut down multiple branches in the Lower Mainland of B.C. on October 2.

The campaign has called for people to move their savings and close their Scotiabank accounts to protest the bank's war profiteering. “I think that it is the most minor thing we can do is be mindful of our economic binds that are directly involved in the ongoing genocide in Palestine” said Emily Fedoruk, host of the “No Arms in the Arts: People's Tour” book club event.

When asked why she thought the Giller Prize had moved from a live show to a pre-recorded one, Fedoruk said that “it seems obvious that it was to avoid the appearance of protesters at the event.”

The “No Arms in the Arts: People's Tour” book club event was organized as a picket line at the Center A gallery in Vancouver on the night the award ceremony was broadcast. The gathering featured a number of authors and writers who read excerpts from their own work and from Palestinian authors.

Two of the featured writers, Jen Currin and Lydia Kwa, are among the 20+ authors who have withdrawn their works from consideration from the Prize. They are asking that the Giller Foundation drop its partnerships with Scotiabank, the Azrieli Foundation, and Indigo. 

In July, the Giller Foundation recommitted to their partnership with Scotiabank, stating: “While we respect all viewpoints that have been shared, we are confident in the integrity of Scotiabank and in our partnership. And while we appreciate the range of views that have been shared, the foundation is not a political tool.”

Despite this recommitment, the Giller Prize dropped the Scotiabank name from its title two months later.

CanLit Responds, a group of arts and cultural workers, replied to the Giller Foundation's statement on July 16: “What is clear is that the Gillers are a political tool, and a very valuable one for companies laundering their image after investing in arms and oppression.”

The group concludes: “These calls for divestment from the literary world aren’t about achieving some sort of moral purity, or taking a rhetorical stand. Scotiabank remains the largest foreign shareholder in Elbit Systems. Indigo’s leadership—Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman—continue to subsidize IOF 'lone soldiers' through their HESEG charity. The Azrieli Group continues to do business on West Bank settlements deemed illegal under international law.”