Police officers form a line with bicycles as protesters gather outside Toronto's Israeli consulate in June.Arlyn McAdorey/Reuters
The union for Toronto’s police service says its officers aren’t getting clear direction from senior leaders on how to handle pro-Palestinian protests, including a Boxing Day demonstration at one of the city’s busiest shopping malls.
The Toronto Police Association, which represents around 8,000 uniformed and civilian members of the Toronto Police Service, was responding after Ontario’s Solicitor-General publicly criticized the force for what he called a lack of action on anti-Israel protests.
This week, Solicitor-General Michael Kerzner took the unusual step of issuing a public letter to the TPS and its oversight board, urging them to “act promptly and decisively” against what he called “hate-motivated” and “disruptive” demonstrations.
Although his letter doesn’t specifically mention any groups, he references “mob intimidation and harassment” at a Boxing Day protest at the Eaton Centre and marches through a prominent Jewish neighbourhood in the Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue area.
Pro-Palestinian protesters have demanded sanctions and other measures against Israel, and some have also called for an intifada – an Arabic term for “uprising” that Jewish groups have condemned as an incitement to violence against Jews globally. However, some activists argue the word refers to solidarity with Palestinians.
Toronto is among the Canadian cities wrestling with how to respond to protests since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas fighters launched a deadly attack in Israel, which was followed by Israel’s invasion of Gaza. In May, city councillors passed a bylaw to restrict protests around places of worship, partly in response to an increase in reports of anti-Jewish hate crimes.
Mr. Kerzner’s office said he was not available for an interview, but shared a copy of the letter he sent Tuesday to Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw and Police Services Board chair Shelley Carroll, which was later posted on social media.
“These incidents have left many residents living in a state of heightened fear and anxiety, concerned about a lack of visible response and feeling unable to move freely and safely in public spaces or within their own neighbourhoods,” Mr. Kerzner’s letter reads.
“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.”
As Solicitor-General of Ontario, Mr. Kerzner is responsible for the province’s public safety, law enforcement and correctional systems. But while he has the authority to issue general policy directives and monitor police effectiveness, political interference in specific police decisions is rare because of the long-standing principle of forces’ operational independence.
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The police union, in response to the letter, said its officers aren’t getting clear orders from their superiors on how these pro-Palestinian protests should be policed.
“All we want is clear and consistent direction to our members and the public about what is lawful and unlawful when it comes to protest activity,” Clayton Campbell, president of the police association, said in a statement.
“Our members are doing their best and in the face of obvious criminal actions, they will make arrests and gather information for future investigations. But there are complex nuances to some of the events we’re seeing and all our members want is clear operational direction and communication from TPS leadership in these situations.”
A spokesperson for Toronto Police, meanwhile, is pushing back on Mr. Kerzner’s suggestion that there’s been a lack of action, and says officers are making arrests when criminal conduct occurs.
Since 2023, the TPS’s Stephanie Sayer said, the force has policed more than 800 demonstrations connected to the conflict in the Middle East – making nearly 500 arrests and laying more than 1,000 criminal charges related to protests and hate crimes. The TPS also says its Hate Crime Unit has tripled in size.
“At a time of heightened global unrest, Toronto Police officers have been on the ground day after day, supported by police leadership, with a clear purpose: protecting public safety,” Ms. Sayer said in a statement.
“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.”
She added that Toronto Police are still advocating for legislative reforms to help officers do their jobs, and called on the province to “provide strong prosecutorial support to ensure charges laid by our officers are tested in court.”
Mr. Kerzner, in a post on X in which he shared his letter, said the province has given police the resources they need to address hate-motivated crime and challenges to the “public order,” and expects them to enforce the law.
“We have made our expectations clear: these tools must be used. Torontonians and all Ontarians deserve to feel safe in their neighbourhoods, in public spaces, and in their daily lives,” he said.