Latest news with #placesofworship
CBC
02-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Police say they will continue increased presence outside Toronto area places of worship after Colorado attack
Police in Toronto and north of the city say they will maintain a heightened presence around places of worship after the attack in Colorado on a group calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Toronto and York police say they are closely monitoring the situation in Boulder and their officers will remain visible at places of worship, community centres, schools and other faith-based locations. U.S. authorities said Sunday that a man armed with a makeshift flamethrower and other incendiary devices attacked demonstrators in Boulder who were drawing attention to Israeli hostages. Eight people were injured in what the FBI described as a "targeted terror attack" after the arrest of a 45-year-old suspect in the case. Police across the Greater Toronto Area had previously increased their presence around synagogues and other faith-based locations after two Israeli Embassy staffers were fatally shot in Washington, D.C., last month. Both Toronto and York police say they want to ensure a safe and inclusive region for everyone.
CTV News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Toronto City Council passes ‘bubble zone' bylaw to limit protests around vulnerable institutions
Toronto City Council has voted to create a bylaw that would limit protests outside places of worship and other vulnerable institutions on a case-by-case basis. The motion would create a 50-metre buffer around the spaces following an application from the property owner and would be in effect for a year, subject to renewal. The motion passed 16-9, with a slew of amendments, following several hours of debate. The original bylaw proposal written by the city manager called for a buffer of 20 metres to be created for a period of about six months, if an institution attested that it had been subject to a protest that 'impeded' access to the property in the previous 90 days. Council rejected a proposal to increase the buffer to 100 metres, but did pass a motion from Coun. James Pasternak to increase it to 50 metres. Council also passed a slew of motions from Coun. Rachel Chernos-Lin to increase the initial coverage time from six months to a year; to drop the requirement of having been previously targeted; and to request police support for bylaw officers charged with enforcing the rules. The bylaw will limit protests outside places of worship and other places like hospitals, schools, daycares and libraries if requested by the owners of those facilities. The city said it would need to spend $1.6 million for 12 bylaw officers to enforce the rules. Another $200,000 would go towards public education. Those who break the bylaw could face a fine of up to $5,000. The bylaw will go into effect on July 2. Council sees passionate debate The city manager was asked to craft the bylaw, in consultation with the city solicitor, in Dec. 2024. Since then, a number of public consultations were held to gather input for the proposal. Sixty-three per cent of respondents said they were either strongly unsupportive or somewhat unsupportive of the law. Speaking before council on Wednesday, Mayor Olivia Chow acknowledged that the city has to balance competing priorities. 'On one hand, there are community concerns around attending places of worship and a lot of fear for their safety. On the other hand, we have to protect the Charter rights to freely assemble and expression,' she said. Protests in the city have increased in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war and Toronto police said earlier this year that they responded to 2,000 'unplanned events' in 2024. It's unclear how many of those protests took place outside of the institutions described in the bylaw. Coun. James Pasternak, speaking at city hall, said he believes the law would not impact freedom of speech. 'It doesn't take any rights away. It doesn't take away the right to protest, the right to picket, or the right to free speech. And all it's doing is extending rights to those who want to walk into vulnerable institutions,' he said Wednesday. Coun. Brad Bradford echoed those remarks, calling the bylaw an 'additional tool' that could help 'clear out and protect' places of worship that he says have been targeted with hate, harassment, intimidation and violence. Several councillors said they had heard from constituents who said they no longer feel safe in some parts of the city because of some of the protests. Meanwhile, Coun. Gord Perks argued that 'everybody has the right to express themselves.' 'If we don't encourage the right to protest, we lose all the democratic rights that have been built up in Canada over time,' he said. Coun. Chris Moise said he was 'concerned' the bylaw could violate people's Charter rights. As such, he put forward his own motion to defer a vote on the proposed bylaw until Ottawa introduces a federal bill related to accessing places of worship, something Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would table in the run up to last month's election. The motion was defeated. Similar bylaws have been passed in Vaughan and Brampton, after large-scale, and in some cases violent, protests broke out near synagogues and temples, respectively, last year. Those bylaws limit protests to 100 metres from a place of worship and owners of those institutions do not need to apply for an access area to be established.
CBC
22-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Toronto city council debating controversial 'bubble zone' protest bylaw today
Social Sharing Toronto councillors are set Thursday to debate a staff-recommended 20-metre "bubble zone" bylaw aimed at restricting protests around places of worship, daycares and schools. It's a measure that comes with controversy. Some faith leaders and councillors who support the bylaw say it doesn't go far enough to protect vulnerable groups, while others say such a bylaw will infringe on people's right to protest. Speaking at a news conference Wednesday spearheaded by Coun. James Pasternak, leaders from an assortment of faiths threw their support behind the bubble zone idea — but said the proposed bylaw still needs changes. Rev. Ron Matheson of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada told reporters that Torontonians should be able to go to places of worship without the threat of harassment, intimidation and fear. In the last year and a half, he said, he has seen hate hurled at vulnerable groups "with glee." "It's shocking. The city of Toronto I moved to in 1995 was a safe place where this would not have been necessary, but it is necessary now," Matheson said. "Our world is changing, our country is changing — but we can do something about it." The latest recommendations from city staff come after months of demonstrations in front of hospitals, places of worship and cultural centres following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, and the subsequent bombardment of Gaza from Israel. The proposed bylaw would not mean blanket ban across the city but would instead operate on a request-based system and allow vulnerable institutions to apply for a 20-metre buffer zone that would be in place for roughly six months. Similar bylaws enacted in Vaughan, Brampton For a buffer zone request to be approved, the owners of any institutions would have to demonstrate how they've been affected by a protest within the last 90 days. After the six-month period is up, the application could be renewed, the proposed bylaw says. If passed, Toronto would follow in the footsteps of other cities including Vaughan and Brampton, which implemented similar measures last year after waves of protests and clashes sparked calls to prohibit such events near buildings considered to be social infrastructure in the eyes of the city. WATCH | Reaction to proposed ban on protests near places of worship: Toronto considers ban on protests near places of worship 5 months ago Duration 7:42 Police and bylaw officers are expected to warn people in these zones before issuing fines, allowing them the chance to leave the area voluntarily. If the buffer zone bylaw is passed in Toronto, the maximum fine would be $5,000. Staff say a 20-metre buffer is a "reasonable perimeter" that will protect access to the facilities, while being "minimally impairing" on Charter rights. Others disagree. At Wednesday's news conference, Coun. Dianne Saxe called the bylaw proposed by staff an "insult to the Jewish community" that will "not provide any protection," while Coun. Brad Bradford said it was "totally inadequate." Groups warn of infringement on right to protest Bradford took issue with the application process putting the onus on groups to have to apply for protections, and called for a bubble zone distance more in line with those seen in Vaughan and Brampton, at 100 metres. Pasternak said he could see a range of 50 to 100 metres, accounting for the realities of a "tight urban environment." "I don't want people who have been subjected to this to have to come and fill out a form and say, 'We have been victimized, we need protection,'" Bradford said. "That should be available to them and it shouldn't be a big, bureaucratic process." In Vaughan and Brampton, the ban automatically applies to places of worship and no application is required. Conversely, a joint letter sent to the city last week from The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Centre for Free expression says the bylaw "represents a significant risk to peaceful expression and assembly, and is not necessary in light of existing police powers. "The police already have broad powers to protect access to property and to intervene in the event of a threat to human physical safety, including during protests," the letter reads. "Therefore, a new bylaw is simply unnecessary." Coun. Paula Fletcher, who represents Toronto–Danforth, was one of several councillors who attended a rally last month pushing back against the proposed bylaw, saying at the time "it's a very fine line that we have to walk" when it comes to people's Charter rights. Staff say the city is expected to spend roughly $1.6 million to hire 12 staff and purchase the vehicles and laptops required to administer the bylaw. It says another $200,000 will be needed for public education as part of the proposal. If approved by council, the bylaw would come into effect on July 2.
