At an interfaith meeting against hate and antisemitism Thursday, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow was interrupted several times by people in attendance who said the city is failing to act to adequately protect the safety of its Jewish community.
Speaking at City Hall, Chow told a room of politicians, advocates, faith leaders and people from the community that antisemitism had no place in Toronto when she was cut off by a man asking what she was doing to stop it.
“I want to see action being taken,” said the man, Yaron, who later identified himself to CBC Toronto by his first name only.
“We’re here because you’re not doing anything,” he said. “My kids are suffering.”
The man’s daughter, Healey, had addressed the room with prepared remarks shortly before, saying she had just graduated from a Toronto elementary school where she said antisemitic language was becoming more common, with little response from teachers or administration.
The meeting, officially the “Interfaith Summit on Antisemitism and Hate,” was organized by city councillors as “an opportunity for those affected by antisemitism and other forms of hate to voice their concerns,” according to a Thursday news release.
Hate crimes on the rise in Toronto: police
Since last year’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas, and the ensuing war in Gaza, antisemitic hate crimes in Toronto have been on the rise.
Toronto police have received 200 reports of antisemitic hate crimes this year, a spokesperson said in an email Thursday, representing nearly half of all reported hate crimes. Police say that’s about a 40 per cent increase compared to this time last year.
This week, TTC CEO Greg Percy wrote a letter to Toronto’s police chief saying the agency has “noticed an exceptionally high concentration” of hateful graffiti targeting the Jewish community on subway trains and terminal stations.
Chow says city is acting against antisemitism
At Thursday’s summit, Chow tried to continue her remarks over shouts from people in the crowd, but continued to be interrupted. Other people in attendance began joining in and grilling the mayor on her track record responding to hate against Toronto’s Jewish community. They said the city was responding with talk only to attacks on Jewish schools and businesses
Chow said the city has been taking antisemitism seriously, increasing the budget of Toronto police this year when they asked for more resources and directing city staff last year to look at ways municipal policy can be strengthened to combat hate crimes and make it easier to report them.
As reports of hate-motivated crimes skyrocket, CBC’s Ioanna Roumeliotis explores how the divisiveness of the Israel-Hamas war is playing out on the streets of Toronto and gets exclusive access to the police hate crimes unit to find out how it’s responding.
Chow said Toronto’s city manager is expected to come to the next scheduled council meeting with a report that will include recommendations on implementing community safe zones around potential targets for hate crimes, such as schools and places of worship.
Chow also apologized again for missing this year’s Oct. 7 vigil at Mel Lastman Square, for the victims of last year’s attack by Hamas on Israel.
“I should’ve been there. There’s no excuse,” she said.
Several people in the crowd shouted that they were still concerned for their safety, saying they were seeing antisemitism at rallies in the city, as well as in graffiti in their neighbourhoods and on transit.
They said they felt the city and other levels of government, as well as police and bylaw officers, were all pointing at each other to take responsibility.
Coun. James Pasternak, who was seated near Chow, told the crowd that the response to hate crimes in Toronto has been “a total institutional failure on how to handle the situation,” saying all levels of government and law enforcement could do better.