The Giller Prize has parted ways with its lead sponsor Scotiabank more than a year after members of the literary community began protesting the bank’s ties to an Israeli arms manufacturer.
The Giller Foundation, which administers Canada’s richest fiction prize, said its 20-year relationship with Scotiabank ended Monday.
But organizers of the No Arms in the Arts campaign say their boycott of the literary institution will continue.
“The boycott will stand so long as the Giller retains the Azrieli Foundation and Indigo Books as sponsors, two entities also financing the ongoing oppression of Palestinians and the silencing of free expression in Canada,” Michael DeForge, organizer with Canlit Responds and No Arms in the Arts, told CBC News in a statement. “One down, two to go.”
Noor Naga, who was shortlisted for the prize in 2022 for her novel If An Egyptian Cannot Speak English, said that she wished the Giller prize hadn’t taken this long to cut ties with Scotiabank. Naga was an early signatory on a letter highlighting Scotiabank’s stake in an Israeli weapons maker and calling for the Giller to drop the sponsor.
“We wish that it hadn’t taken so much out of the entire CanLit community pressuring them, and we’re waiting to see what will happen with their other sponsors,” she said.
The Giller Foundation did not address the protests in its statement about the split from Scotiabank.
“Following discussions, Scotiabank and the Giller Foundation decided that the best path forward was an end to the partnership,” executive director Elana Rabinovitch said in an email.
She declined to comment on the cause for the change or which party initiated those discussions, but in a written statement from the foundation, she said the Giller was “indebted” to the bank.
“Their support has helped transform the Giller Prize into one of the foremost literary awards in Canada, and we look forward to building on that legacy as we move into an exciting new era,” Rabinovitch said.
The foundation said it will “explore new opportunities and collaborations.” Rabinovitch didn’t answer questions about the future of the prize or whether the purse would shrink.
When Scotiabank first joined ranks with the Giller Foundation, the prize was worth $25,000. Over the years, it swelled to $100,000.
The prize carried Scotiabank’s name from 2005 until last September, when the award reverted to its original name — a move Rabinovitch said was meant to keep the focus on “the prize and the art itself,” rather than politics.
Stake in Israeli weapons manufacturer criticized
The Giller Prize has been embroiled in controversy since the 2023 ceremony, when Pro-Palestinian activists interrupted with signs saying “Scotiabank funds genocide.”
The protesters were objecting to Scotiabank’s massive stake in Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems. Its weapons technology has been documented being used in Gaza and the occupied West Bank by Israel.
The ceremony was held in November 2023, less than a month after Israel declared war on Hamas following an attack by the militant group which killed 1,200 people in Israel and saw scores of Israeli hostages taken.
More than 11,000 Palestinians had already been killed in the subsequent bombardment of Gaza as of the 2023 ceremony, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. More than 46,000 have been killed by the latest counts, many of them women and children.
Elbit Systems, an Israeli weapons maker, has come under scrutiny for the use of its drone technology in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Here is what’s behind Scotiabank’s estimated $500-million stake in the company — and why protesters are calling for the bank to divest.
Several of the protesters were arrested, and CanLit Responds formed to support them. It included past Giller winners such as Madeleine Thien and Omar El Akkad, as well as Sarah Bernstein, who took home the award that night. Charges against most of the protesters were withdrawn in December 2024.
Since then, the group launched a boycott against the Giller as part of the No Arms in the Arts campaign and protested outside last year’s ceremony.
Michael Ondaatje, Suzette Mayr and other past winners have also called for Scotiabank to divest from Elbit Systems.
A Scotiabank representative said by email the bank had no comment on its split from the Giller, aside from the foundation’s statement. In 2023, Scotiabank was the largest foreign shareholder of Elbit Systems, but since then has cut its stake at least three times.
Links to Azrieli Founation, Indigo
Protesters also object to the Giller’s partnerships with Indigo, over CEO Heather Reisman’s charity that supports Israel Defense Force officers from abroad, as well as the Azrieli Foundation, in part for its connection to Israeli real estate company Azrieli Group, which has a stake in Bank Leumi. The United Nations Human Rights Office has included Bank Leumi on a list of businesses involved in activities relating to settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Both Indigo and the Azrieli Foundation are still listed as sponsors on the Giller’s website.
Naga said Rabinovitch and the Giller Foundation have not acknowledged the calls to cut ties with Indigo and the Azrieli Foundation. It suggests they’re only cutting ties with Scotiabank in an effort to “save their reputation, rather than a sort of genuine political awakening,” she said.
Avik Jain Chatlani, who pulled his debut novel This Country Is No Longer Yours from Giller consideration last year, said he has no plans to submit future works.
“The Giller Foundation was made aware of this in November of 2023. We’re now in February of 2025 and they’ve done this very quietly, after months and months of pressure,” he said.
“It’s an insincere move.”
