Ontario’s Solicitor Normal Michael Kerzner has issued an “urgent” letter to the Toronto Police Chief and to the chair of the town’s police oversight body, the Toronto Police Service Board, demanding they do a greater job of implementing the prevailing legal guidelines banning hate, intimidation and harassment-related offences.
Kerzner, whose division is in control of police forces throughout Ontario, despatched the letter on Dec. 30, 4 days after about 100 anti-Israel protesters invaded the Eaton Centre shopping center. The afternoon incident occurred on Boxing Day when protesters, many masked and carrying keffiyehs, interrupted a household Christmas mild present within the privately-owned landmark.
Movies from the scene present unfurled banners accusing Canada of serving to present the army weapons which organizers allege Israel makes use of to kill Palestinians in Gaza. Two of the group’s leaders chanted via megaphones and urged the gang to name for “Intifada right now!” Toronto police arrived on the scene however no arrests have been made earlier than the protesters departed, based on reviews.
“What prompted my letter today to the chief of police and to the police service board was two years worth of harassment, intimidation, and hate that’s been directed to not only the Jewish community, but to law-abiding citizens of Ontario that make up the 99.99 per cent of the population that simply wants to go about their lives and live safely in their own homes and communities,” Kerzner instructed The CJN in an interview.
The letter urges Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw and Shelley Carroll, the chair of the Toronto Police Service Board, to make use of the obtainable instruments already at their disposal to fight “hate motivated crime, public order challenges” and defend group security.
Based on Kerzner, there may be an urgency to “underscore the need for firm, consistent and visible enforcement”.
Whereas Kerzner’s letter pointed to the current Eaton Centre incident as one problem, it additionally made point out of the Toronto Jewish group, particularly what he calls the “ongoing and intimidating marches through residential neighbourhoods near Bathurst and Sheppard.”
Kerzner can also be the Conservative MPP for the using of York Centre, house to many Jewish residents. Since Oct. 7, 2023, the using has been a principal goal for anti-Israel hate crimes, together with photographs fired at a Jewish women’ college thrice, synagogues which have been vandalized, and a Jewish deli firebombed. In the meantime anti-Israel protesters have been permitted to display repeatedly in and across the Bathurst and Sheppard intersection close to Jewish properties and companies, and to disrupt annual Jewish group walk-a-thons and festivals.
Final 12 months, an 18-year outdated Toronto woman was given a 12 months’s probation and 40 hours of group service after she pleaded responsible to mischief for grabbing the Israeli flag held by an aged Jewish man at that intersection in August 2024. The extra severe cost of assault was dropped. The sufferer, Joel Sacke, 88, needed to be taken to hospital for his accidents after he was thrown to the road. He has suffered psychological trauma as nicely.
The Minister’s letter lamented the impression which these and different occasions have had on residents of the town, and that features a protest deliberate by anti-Israel teams for this New 12 months’s Eve concentrating on the Metropolis of Toronto’s official fireworks and musical programme, the place Mayor Olivia Chow is anticipated to attend.
“Canada shouldn’t be the outlier the place intimidation and disruption are tolerated till it’s too late. Police and metropolis officers can set clear boundaries prematurely, implement restricted zones, stop obstruction, and intervene when conduct turns into intimidating and towards the… pic.twitter.com/LXWeZf10em
— CIJA (@CIJAinfo) December 30, 2025
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‘Fear and anxiety’
“These incidents have left many residents living in a state of heightened fear and anxiety, concerned about a lack of visible [police] response and feeling unable to move freely and safely in public spaces or within their own neighbourhoods,” Kerzner wrote. “When such incidents occur repeatedly and without visible consequences, it substantially undermines public confidence in the rule of law and in the institutions responsible for upholding it.” He reminded the police that the Ford authorities has supplied police forces throughout the province with further assets, together with the brand new Group Security and Policing Act, which got here into impact April 1, 2024. As such, he stated there may be loads of coaching, legislative authority, monetary assist and different means to deal with the rise in hate crimes and challenges to public order and group security. Kerzner acknowledged that forward of releasing his letter, he had spoken a number of occasions that day with Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw. Late Wednesday, Dec. 31, the Toronto police division issued a prolonged written response to Kerzner’s remarks. “Frontline officers are trained to make difficult decisions and operate within the limits of the laws as they are written, while upholding the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Those decisions are based on evidence and legal thresholds, not commentary,” the TPS media relations spokesperson Stephanie Sayer instructed The CJN. Since 2023, the Toronto Police Service stated its officers have managed greater than 800 demonstrations associated to the battle within the Center East, “resulting in nearly 500 arrests and more than 1,000 criminal charges related to protests and hate crimes.” Simply weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas assaults on Israel and Israel’s army response in Gaza, the force’s small Hate Crime Unit was tripled in measurement, to twenty-eight officers, in November 2023. The police assertion additionally threw a few of the duty again on completely different ranges of presidency to assist them do their jobs higher. That features regulation reform, (probably such because the Carney authorities’s new tighter bail provisions and Invoice C-9) plus extra again finish assist from the province “to provide strong prosecutorial support to ensure charges laid by our officers are tested in court.” “Make no mistake: our officers are the most professional and experienced in Canada in this environment. We will continue to enforce the law and keep Toronto safe,” the assertion reads. The assertion follows an identical one, albeit milder in tone, despatched to The CJN in mid-December, when requested about the identical concern. “The Chief has been clear that he is extremely concerned about the rise in anti-Semitism (sic),” wrote Stephanie Sayer, the supervisor of media relations in her Dec. 16, 2025 e mail to The CJN. “We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Jewish community against terror and hate.” Citing police statistics, Sayer stated then that just about 800 hate-related charges have been laid since Oct. 7, 2023, together with ten instances of public incitement of hatred, which had by no means been performed earlier than. When police have cheap grounds, they convey charges, she stated. Nevertheless, she defined it’s difficult, and in some instances, police should seek the advice of first with the provincial Legal professional Normal’s workplace to get approval earlier than a cost may be laid. “Officers will continue to lay charges whenever they have the grounds to do so, and as a Service, we will continue to advocate for clearer, more prescriptive hate-crime laws to give officers the tools they need to keep our communities safe,” she added.Invoice C-9
The Canadian authorities’s proposed laws to assist crack down on hate crimes, Invoice C-9, was launched within the Home of Commons final fall. The “Combatting Hate Act” would outlaw intimidation and harassment of religion teams exterior their locations of worship and group centres, however go away it to municipalities to implement. The invoice provides a brand new class of hate crimes, codifies a definition of hate, and in addition bans some hate symbols. The regulation would additionally take away the requirement of getting the approval of the Legal professional Normal’s division earlier than sure severe hate crimes may be laid. Presently, the federal Opposition Conservatives are towards the invoice, saying it infringes on free speech, when there are already current legal guidelines that simply must be enforced. Additionally they fear it might be weaponized towards the Jewish group, and towards different spiritual teams, which is why a number of spiritual leaders together with some rabbis have additionally opposed the brand new regulation. Nevertheless, supporters together with 5 Jewish advocacy teams imagine Invoice C-9 will give police clearer tips on learn how to implement hate speech and hate-motivated crimes. The invoice was given second studying in Parliament after which despatched on to the Home of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights for additional research, however didn’t proceed to the following stage earlier than lawmakers left Ottawa in December for the prolonged Christmas break. For Ontario’s Solicitor Normal, had Invoice C-9 handed speedily it might have gone a good distance in the direction of serving to police cope with what’s to return New 12 months’s Eve. Kerzner is essential of the political place taken by his federal Conservative counterparts. “Bill C-9…I believe would have redefined a much clearer threshold on what is hate speech. And unfortunately, the Conservative opposition in Ottawa did not want to see it passed before the Christmas break,” Kerzner stated. “It’s stuck in committee. And I asked myself, if that piece of legislation had passed and had received royal assent, what greater clarity would that have given police officers and police services to make more arrests knowing that there would be a successful prosecution?” However, even with out the brand new tips, and with New 12 months’s Eve hours away, Kerzner has a message for the protesters threatening to disrupt the festivities, and in addition for Toronto police commanders. Whereas Kerzner maintains he isn’t legally permitted to provide orders to police, he expects his letter will remind them of their duties whereas hundreds of individuals end up to mark the 2026 New 12 months. “Well, if they cross the line, if people cross the line, I hope people are held to account and arrested. If you cross the line, be prepared to be arrested. It’s as simple as that,” he instructed The CJN. “What I’m hoping is they don’t disrupt our quiet enjoyment. What I hope that happens is that they understand they can be part of the 99.99 per cent and not the .001 per cent.”Jewish leaders react to Kerzner letter
The federal Conservative MP for York Centre, Roman Baber, known as Kerzner’s letter “a long overdue, but welcome recognition” by the province. In a social media put up, Baber, who has publicly opposed Invoice C-9, doubled down on his current requires police to only implement the prevailing legal guidelines towards intimidation and threats, significantly on the weekly anti-Israel protests in his using. “We don’t need Bill C-9 to stop the disorder at Sheppard & Bathurst, the Eaton Centre or anywhere in Canada. Enforce the Law!” Baber posted on X on Dec. 30. In November, Baber launched a personal members invoice that may add a brand new crime to Invoice C-9–selling terrorism. A protracted overdue, however welcome recognition by Ontario that intimidation & threats may be addressed by enforcement of current legal guidelines. We don’t want Invoice C-9 to cease the dysfunction at Sheppard & Bathurst, the Eaton Centre or wherever in Canada. Implement the Legislation!https://t.co/vr8a77JOhb — Roman Baber (@Roman_Baber) December 30, 2025 CIJA, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, a Jewish political advocacy group, additionally known as on the Toronto police to make sure residents and households can benefit from the metropolis’s New 12 months’s Eve actions. “We are living in an environment that has continuously permitted hate and calls for violence to spread without consequences, which has emboldened extremism to the point where those who engage in intimidation and hate do not fear repercussions,” wrote Josh Landau, a CIJA Ontario spokesman in a social media put up Dec. 30. Landau stated an identical anti-Israel New 12 months’s Eve protest occurred in 2024 at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre, and a few folks felt afraid, averted the realm altogether or left early. He stated the protestors had known as for violence and displayed symbols related to recognized terror organizations. “Canada should not be the outlier where intimidation and disruption are tolerated until it’s too late,” Landau stated, probably referring to the Dec. 14, 2025 terrorist assault in Australia which killed 15 Jewish folks attending a beachside Hanukkah celebration. “Police and city officials can set clear boundaries in advance, enforce restricted zones, prevent obstruction, and intervene when conduct becomes intimidating and against the law.” In mid-December, Toronto’s police chief instructed an area radio station that he’s significantly involved in regards to the rising menace of youth radicalization, and officers are urging members of the family or others locally to report “extremist behaviour” earlier than it escalates. On Dec. 19, Toronto police, the Peel Regional police and the RCMP introduced a joint operation ensuing within the arrest of three younger Toronto males on almost 80 charges together with kidnapping ladies, weapons, impersonation of law enforcement officials, and threats to the Jewish group. Two of the trio are suspected of getting ties to ISIS, a terrorist group. On Dec. 7, roughly 100 mezuzahs have been eliminated by unknown suspects from the doorways at at Toronto seniors housing advanced run by the Metropolis of Toronto. On Christmas Day, a second mezuzah incident within the space was found. Jewish residents of a North York condominium advanced at 3181 Bayview Avenue reported their mezuzahs had been torn off or broken from the doorways of three items on the penthouse degree. Toronto police arrived to research. The hate crime unit was knowledgeable. Kerzner declined to remark in regards to the mezuzah investigations as a result of it’s now a police matter, however he did throw down a gauntlet for Shelley Carroll, who except for being chair of the police providers board, can also be the town councillor for the municipal ward the place the latest mezuzah incident occurred. “What I believe needs to take place in the case of Toronto is there has to be some soul searching at the Police Service Board, led by chair Shelley Carol, so that she understands the seriousness of my letter today,” Kerzner stated. “And I expect her and the board to consider the contents of my letter today and to provide discussion with the command leaders as to what measures will they be taking to address my concerns.” The CJN contacted the board for a response however didn’t hear again. Kerzner’s letter additionally talked about the union representing Toronto’s 8,000 uniformed officers and civilian staff, the Toronto Police Affiliation, saying his authorities strongly helps their work. Forward of his letter being revealed, the president of the police union, Clayton Campbell, earlier instructed an area radio station it’s “understandable” the general public is anxious when protests happen in “high-traffic public spaces” in the course of the holidays. Campbell stated his members are conscious of the potential demonstrations concentrating on New 12 months’s Eve occasions, as monitoring these areas “presents a significant demand”. “Our members are focused on keeping city-wide celebrations safe, following reports of potential demonstrations this New Year’s Eve,” Campbell stated, in a social media put up on X on Dec. 30. One among Kerzner’s colleagues at Queen’s Park, Michelle Cooper, lately tabled a personal member’s invoice within the Ontario Legislature urging her authorities to create a particular prosecution unit for hate crimes. Hate and antisemitism don’t have any place in Ontario. That’s the reason I tabled my first Personal Member’s Movement, stating that the federal government of Ontario ought to set up a particular prosecution unit for hate crimes. pic.twitter.com/mLSMDjEApF — Michelle Cooper (@MichelleC_PC) December 19, 2025 With recordsdata from Jonathan Rothman
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