Following a shooting at a North York elementary school for Jewish girls over the weekend, members of the public, the Jewish community, supporters and politicians including Mayor Olivia Chow met at the school on Monday morning for a solidarity rally.
Shortly before 5 a.m., multiple suspects in a dark-coloured vehicle were observed pulling up in front of Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School near Dufferin Street and Finch Avenue West, Toronto police said. Once there, two suspects fired multiple shots and then got back in the vehicle and fled.
The shooting resulted in no reported injuries but left the front of the school damaged.
Police say it’s too early to say for sure if the shooting was hate-motivated, but politicians are condemning it as an antisemitic act.
Calling for “strength and solidarity,” speakers including Olivia Chow commented on the incident.
“This is a place for a lot of joyous learning, with young children, and a place to deepen their understanding of the Jewish culture and faith, a place to learn math, science, history,” she said, noting that teachers and students deserve to attend school safely.
Chow also addressed the incident at a separate conference on Monday morning and said she wants to send a message to the kids and families affected by this brazen incident that the city and police are “working hard to make sure they’re safe.”
“I want to provide comfort and support to the families. I also want to put a message out, that antisemitism has no place in our city. And to those cowards that did the shooting that we will catch you.”
Chow added that despite the pouring rain, crowds of people showed up to the rally, sending the message that the Jewish community and those affected are “never alone.”
“The city is with you to say no to hate and to protect people. And we do know Jewish communities are resilient and very strong,” she said.
Daniel Held, chief program officer at the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, said the rally was meant to show “what it means to live with tolerance and peace and love for one another.”
”(The shooting) was a deliberate attempt to spread fear across our entire Jewish community, to make us cower and hide who we are, but as you can see here today, the attackers completely failed,” he said.
“We are more united than ever. We are more committed than ever to support each other. We are more determined than ever to fight antisemitism wherever it happens.”
Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce called on everyone in the province and beyond to rally behind the Jewish community and stand up against hate.
“We stand together, we stand strong because there is no bullet that can shatter our resolve as a country to stand up against this pernicious hate,” he said.
“Our work will not end until every child in our province is able to go to school and play in our streets without the fear of being attacked simply for being a Jew. The Canada we know and we love is a nation of people who come together for every faith and heritage.”
Vidal said he was told there had been an incident at the school.
“It was pretty shocking,” Vidal told the Star. “I think it’s very sad that people target schools where children are innocent and just create this extra fear and chaos for no reason.”
Vidal said the incident “concerns us very much” and that students, parents and staff were feeling “a bit scared.”
Insp. Paul Krawczyk, with the Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force, told reporters on scene Saturday that the neighbourhood will see an increased police presence and that officers will be going door-to-door and business-to-business to see if anyone has information about the incident, or if they have any videos of the area.
York Regional Police also announced early Sunday that they will be boosting police presence around Jewish education centres and places of worship after Saturday’s incident in North York.
“This measure aims to enhance the safety and security of our communities,” York police said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau posted a statement on X Saturday night, calling the incident “despicable” and “a brazen act of antisemitism.”
“Its perpetrators need to be brought to justice,” Trudeau wrote.
“We’d never felt unsafe. Children are happy to come to school, and we have great neighbours. It’s sad that in a country like Canada, we have to feel afraid to practice our religion and to open up schools. Just because we’re Jewish,” Vidal said.
With files from The Canadian Press, Sheila Wang, Abhiraj Lamba and Mahdis Habibinia