Mayor Olivia Chow is defending her handling of protests over the Israel-Hamas war that have rocked the city over the past year, a day after she faced criticism for missing a vigil to mark the anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack which sparked the war.
In a sit-down interview with CP24 Breakfast Thursday, Chow was asked to address the perception that not enough is being done to police alleged hate speech at some protests, including calls for Israel’s destruction.
“The chief of police has the authority to lay charges if it’s a hate crime, and he has done that, and in Canada, the rule of law says that if there is a hate crime being committed, it is the police that make the decision who to arrest and who to charge, not a politician,” Chow said. “You don’t want that right, because you know, that’s what democracy is about.”
Chow told CP24 that “people have a right to assemble” so long as it “doesn’t cross the line.”
But she did acknowledge that there is a debate about where that line should be.
“What is the line is what is being debated right now, and is debated in law and debated in the courts, and there is a healthy debate out in the in the public realm,” she said.
Since Oct. 7, Toronto police have responded to more than 1,500 protests in the city and arrested 72 people.
A number of pro-Palestinian groups in the city have denied that their protests are hateful or antisemitic and have said their focus is on trying to end a war which has left more than 41,000 Palestinians dead.
However, some of the protests have at times included calls for Israel’s destruction, celebration and justification of the Oct. 7 massacre, and alleged hate speech.
Protesters have also targeted Jewish neighbourhoods, synagogues and community spaces, saying they are in fact targeting supporters of Israel rather than Jews per se.
There have also been instances in which protesters have blocked roads and flooded into shopping centres.
Toronto police charged a man with incitement of hatred in April in connection with a pro-Palestinian protest at Nathan Phillips Square, but such charges are rare.
Chow said Thursday her role as mayor is to " bring people together" and that it’s not her job to direct police or to push for charges.
However she noted that she did show up when a Jewish girls' school was shot at and when synagogues have been vandalized. She also pointed out that she condemned an incident earlier this year when protesters climbed on top of Mount Sinai Hospital to wave flags and said it is “totally unacceptable behaviour.”
“In the last year or so it has probably been eight or nine times where I have been very clear to say that hate has no place in the city,” she said.
‘I just count on my staff to tell me where I’m going’
Chow’s comments on Thursday come after she faced criticism for skipping the vigil to mark the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre earlier this week.
In her interview on CP24, Chow was asked how it was that she attends so many events, but missed the vigil, which drew an estimated 20,000 people and 40 other invited dignitaries, including the premier and several councillors.
“You know, at the end of the day on Monday, I wore black,” Chow said. “Mourning the loss of life was top of my mind.”
Chow’s office initially said they didn’t receive an invitation to the event, but organizers shared three emails sent to the mayor’s office, one of them directly to her executive assistant. Coun. James Pasternak also confirmed he asked the mayor ahead of time if she planned to attend.
She told Newstalk 1010 Wednesday that she had a meeting on bike lanes to attend in The Kingsway area and she was exhausted afterward and didn’t know what time the vigil started.
She indicated Thursday that she was surprised to find she didn’t have an event on her schedule to mark the date.
“I just count on my staff to tell me where I’m going. And by late evening, when I finished it (the meeting on bike lanes), I thought, ‘Hmm, this is it?’” Chow said. “So then I may not have made it anyway. But it’s neither here nor there. I regret it not being able to be there. I apologize to the Jewish community and will do better.”
In May, Chow declined to attend a flag-raising for Israel Independence Day, saying it was “a bit divisive” given the war and the constant protests. A month later, she also skipped the “Walk with Israel,” which drew an estimated 50,000 people.
She did point out on Thursday that she took part in a lunchtime event earlier this week to mark the Jewish New Year at city hall. She said she also hosted a Passover dinner at city hall with leaders of the Jewish community, and has spoken out about rising antisemitism.
Toronto police said last week that hate crimes against the Jewish community are up 69 per cent year-to-date and hate crimes against the Muslim and Palestinian communities are up 40 per cent year-to-date.
“There is a lot of intense emotions you see being played out on the street,” Chow said. “My role as the mayor is to build bridges to say that what’s happening in the Middle East is horrific, is terrible, and here in the city, we can see each other, take better care of each other and see if we could come together even more.”
She added that “we need to be very clear that this is a Toronto for all. Hate has no place.”
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs issued a statement Wednesday slamming Chow’s reasons for missing the vigil as “embarrassing” and saying the community was disappointed that she didn’t show up.