TORONTO — 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 had ended as of Monday.
"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 split or which party initiated it.
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" following the split, and 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 for the winner.
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.
Pro-Palestinian activists began protesting the Giller at the 2023 ceremony, and members of the literary community joined their cause within hours.
The ceremony was held in November 2023, less than a month after Israel declared war on Hamas over an attack in which the militant group kidnapped scores of Israeli hostages. Israel says 1,200 people were killed in Hamas' initial attack.
Gaza's health ministry says more than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the subsequent bombardment, many of them women and children.
The Giller protesters jumped on stage at the 2023 ceremony, objecting to a Scotiabank subsidiary's stake in Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems.
Several of the protesters were arrested, and a group called 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.
Since then, the group launched a boycott against the Giller as part of a campaign called No Arms in the Arts and protested outside last year's ceremony.
Charges against most of the initial protesters were withdrawn in December 2024.
CanLit Responds did not immediately provide comment on the Giller Foundation's separation from Scotiabank.
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.
Protesters also object to the Giller's partnerships with Indigo, for its CEO's charity that supports Israeli 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.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2025.
Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press
