On my recent trip to Montreal, I took a bit of time to explore through the newest parts of the metro system, extending under the Rivière des Prairies to Laval. As an avid railfan with not much to see in the way of passenger rail in Calgary, this was pretty exciting.
This picture was the last I took before I was interrupted:
A janitor pushing his wheeled trash bin along the third platform at Henri-Bourassa station called out to me. He kindly told me photography was prohibited and that I’d better put away my camera before security showed up to give me a ticket — or worse.
I was very touched by his genuine concern — but unfortunately he was terribly misinformed.
Montreal Transit Corporation (MTC) regulations state a permit is required for commercial photography on its property. There are also bylaws governing passenger behaviour: If I decided to plant a tripod at the top of an escalator in the middle of rush hour, the MTC would be well within its rights to give me a ticket for obstructing traffic. But there are no specific rules regarding photography in the metro.
Luckily, I had a friend with me at the time. A few years ago, he had an unfortunate run-in with MTC transit cops and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police while trying to take photos at Sauvé station. Because of the darkness of his skin, it was presumed he was a security/terrorist threat. They held him for hours as they checked his background — they found nothing because there was nothing to find. He was eventually let go. He made a lot of noise about it in the media and eventually got an apology.
My friend, the janitor and I had a long conversation about just how wrong the janitor was. (My cousin was there, too, but he doesn’t speak French and stayed the heck out of it.)
“If we let anybody just take pictures anywhere, it could be dangerous,” the janitor argued at one point. “They could plant a bomb somewhere and hurt a lot of people.”
That assertion caught me off guard.
“What do bombs have to do with taking pictures?” I asked. “Someone could very well plant a bomb without ever having taken a photo.”
My friend chimed in: “What would you do with all the tourists at the busy stations downtown snapping pictures everywhere?”
This went on for a long while. We rehashed the same arguments over and over again. At some point I decided to shut up and let my friend do the talking. The janitor eventually went on his way and we continued our exploration of the Montreal metro. We were left wondering how many other misinformed transit workers are going around harassing photographers who discreetly take photos and do their best to stay out of the way.
Ricky Leong 
Thanks, it’s much appreciated. At least I wasn’t thrown into a detention cell. 🙂
Photography is treated like it’s some sort of minor felony. I don’t photograph people; I photograph buildings and public places, but I’ve had people run out of buildings and yell at me, or people stop me in public places and heckle me because I’m carrying a professional-looking Nikon. There’s some feeling of outrage about violating people’s privacy because you’re carrying a camera.
The funny thing is that for years I had a tiny camera about the size of a deck of cards, and because of its small size I used to take pictures easily wherever I wanted to without anyone noticing. It’s only because I now have something that screams “camera” that I’m a nuisance, even though I’m not doing anything.
Just thought I’d let you know that you aren’t alone…
And it occurred to me there are so many ways to take pictures now. A friend of a friend showed me his new cameraphone … it’s a Sony Ericsson phone with a bonafide 3 MP phone on the backside of the handset. How will the MTC busybodies deal with those, I wonder?
I wonder why, but it seems to happen frequently. I’ve heard at least 10 times the same story this year. On a side note, if I was a terrorist, I know where I’d put a bomb and it wouldn’t be there. There’s so many places that aren’t protected in the Metro, and you don’t want to know where it is… lol
Thanks for posting this. As a visitor to foreign countries, I have no idea what is legal and what isn’t. I know my American rights, but abroad, I’m always a little wary about what I can and cannot photograph.