Chris Selley: No municipal bylaw will calm the anti-Israel rabble
On Thursday Toronto city council passed a bylaw allowing schools, daycares and places of worship to apply for a 50-metre 'bubble zone' in which protesting would be prohibited. The impetus, obviously, is the anti-Israel protesters who have been targeting synagogues since Oct. 7, 2003. They and their supporters naturally complained bitterly about this new bylaw — a violation of the Charter, they said confidently. (Typically, council voted down a motion that would have made public the legal advice it had received on the matter.)
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That said, it seems doubtful any of the synagogue protesters are much worried about this development. Several have proven themselves perfectly willing to be arrested for their cause (though Crown prosecutors have often been uninterested in pursuing charges). The idea they would defer to Toronto's bylaw officers is risible.
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The idea Toronto bylaw officers would even wade into this is somewhat dubious, frankly, though council approved funding for 12 new officers. 'Toronto bylaw officer' is not a byword for 'robust, consistent and judicious enforcement.' In an extraordinary illustration of who really runs City Hall, in January, Toronto's executive director of licensing and standards announced to council's budget committee that he was thenceforth refusing to have bylaw officers deal with unlicensed marijuana retailers.
'These officers do not have arrest powers and are not permitted or trained to use force while carrying out enforcement activities,' Carleton Grant, who remains in his position, told the committee. 'This makes the enforcement of unlicensed cannabis dispensaries challenging and presents health and safety risks to officers.'
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And wading into a baying mob demanding global intifada 40 metres in front of a bubble-zoned synagogue is … what, exactly? A fun day out?
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But Jewish Canadians have freedom of association as well, not to mention freedom of worship. On its face, a 50-metre no-go zone seems reasonable. If it's unreasonable, then the Criminal Code is also unreasonable — perhaps even more so. Section 176 reads as follows: 'Everyone who wilfully disturbs or interrupts an assemblage of persons met for religious worship or for a moral, social or benevolent purpose is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.'
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