Canada's Giller Prize has ended its 20-year partnership with Scotiabank. The split, announced Monday by the Giller Foundation, comes after sustained protests, which began after Israel's response to the 2023 attack by Hamas, over Scotiabank's stake in Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems.
"Following discussions, Scotiabank and the Giller Foundation decided that the best path forward was an end to the partnership," said Elana Rabinovitch, executive director of the Giller Foundation, in a statement. Scotiabank, which has reduced its stake in Elbit Systems multiple times since 2023, declined to comment beyond the foundation's statement.
The prize, which grew from $25,000 to $100,000 under Scotiabank's sponsorship, had already dropped the bank's name from its title in September 2024. Organizers have not addressed whether the prize amount will change or who will replace it. The Giller Foundation said it will "explore new opportunities and collaborations," but provided no specifics about future sponsorship plans.
The controversy began when protesters interrupted the televised 2023 Giller Prize ceremony with signs opposing Scotiabank's investment in Elbit. Several were escorted out of the event and arrested. A group calling itself Canlit Responds formed to organize further protests and call for a boycott. Protest organizers subsequently pressured publishers and authors who submitted works for the 2024 prize, and protested outside last year's ceremony, which was broadcast after a tape delay.
The protests are expected to continue. "The boycott will stand so long as the Giller retains the Azrieli Foundation and Indigo Books as sponsors," comics artist Michael DeForge, one of the organizers of Canlit Responds and No Arms in the Arts, told the CBC, referencing the prize's ongoing partnerships with bookseller Indigo—whose CEO, Heather Reisman, has given support to Israel Defense Force officers via her personal foundation—and the Azrieli Foundation, which has been connected to a bank that had funded Israeli settlements.
Authors' reactions to the news were mixed. "We wish that it hadn't taken so much out of the entire CanLit community pressuring them," Noor Naga, a 2022 shortlist nominee, told the CBC. Author Avik Jain Chatlani, who withdrew his debut novel from consideration last year, called the move "insincere," noting the delay between initial protests and the sponsorship's end. Some members of the Canadian literary community, while sympathetic to the protests, believe the protestors overreached, ultimately causing harm to the community at a time when book sales are in decline and financial support for authors is disappearing.
