The Giller Foundation has ended its decades-long partnership with Scotiabank.
In a statement shared with the Star, the foundation behind the Giller Prize — the most prestigious literary honour in Canada — expressed its gratitude to the banking institution, and said it plans to “explore new opportunities and collaborations that continue to support and inspire both emerging and established authors.”
“This partnership has been instrumental in elevating Canadian fiction and supporting authors across the country,” the statement read.
Over the past 14 months, the Giller Prize has been targeted by protesters who have sought to draw attention to Scotiabank’s ties with an Israeli arms manufacturer.
The Giller Foundation’s executive director Elana Rabinovitch did not say whether the protests impacted the decision to cut ties with Scotiabank. “We are enormously grateful to Scotiabank for their support over the last two decades,” she told the Star via email.
Scotiabank has sponsored the Giller Prize since 2005. A spokesperson for the bank declined to comment on the end of the partnership
Emails shared with the Star show that Rabinovitch, privately assured authors earlier this year that the organization was parting ways with the bank. But just weeks later, the literary prize appeared to abruptly change direction, publicly doubling down on the partnership.
The 2023 Giller Prize Gala was an early flashpoint in what would become a year of turmoil and division within the Canadian literary world, sparked by the ongoing war in Gaza.
Minutes into the ceremony, held in Toronto in November 2023, two protesters unexpectedly took the stage, interrupting host Rick Mercer with signs that read “Scotiabank funds genocide.” Moments later, another protester began shouting from the floor of the event, drawing attention to bank’s investment in Elbit Systems. “Elbit Systems is supplying the Israeli military’s genocide against the Palestinian people,” the protester said.
Later that evening, as the winner of the $100,000 prize was being announced, the event was briefly disrupted by protesters for a second time. Five people were arrested.
At the time, Scotiabank’s subsidiary, 1832 Asset Management, was the third-largest shareholder in Elbit Systems. Since then, 1832 Asset Management has cut its stake in Elbit Systems. Their security holdings, which were previously valued at about $500 million (U.S), now stand at $111 million, according to the latest filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from November 2024.
Following news of the arrests, hundreds of Canadian writers — including the 2023 Giller winner Sarah Bernstein — signed an open letter in support of the protesters.
In mid-July more than 40 authors, including several past winners of the Giller Prize, signed another open letter calling on the Giller Foundation to end its partnership with Scotiabank and other sponsors which they claimed were “directly invested in Israel’s occupation of Palestine.” The signatories also said they were withdrawing their works from consideration and pledged not to participate in the Giller’s programming until their demands were met. A separate letter calling for a boycott of the prize garnered roughly 300 signatures from members of the literary community.
At the 2024 Giller Gala, a group of authors and culture workers staged a demonstration and “counter-gala” was held outside of the 2024 Giller Prize award ceremony in downtown Toronto, where Anne Michaels eventually won the $100,000 prize.
Weeks later, criminal charges against four people involved in the disruption were dropped.
The Giller Prize was established in 1994 by Canadian philanthropist Jack Rabinovitch in honour of his late wife, Doris Giller, a literary writer and former Toronto Star journalist who died from cancer the previous year. Jack’s daughter, Elana, has acted as the prize’s executive director since 2004.
