Toronto police ban protests on residential streets near Bathurst and Sheppard

Toronto police say protesters will be banned from demonstrating on residential streets near Bathurst and Sheppard, citing “increased volatility and heightened fear” in the community.

In a statement, Toronto police added that demonstrations in residential neighbourhoods present “an unacceptable risk to public safety.” They noted that protesting at the main intersection may continue.

“This is a targeted response to specific concerns and a measured step to reduce the risk of escalation and maintain public safety,” Toronto police said.

“Officers will provide clear direction on the ground. Individuals who do not comply may be subject to arrest for obstructing police.”

At an unrelated news conference, Toronto police Deputy Chief Frank Barredo defended the directive.

“The change is not so much about curtailing charter rights more than absolutely necessary. We understand Charter section 2 that allows for peaceful assembly, allows for expression, so we take limitations on that very seriously and we think at this time that it is a reasonable limitation as afforded to us by section 1 of the Charter to limit the extent to which protests occur,” he said.

Toronto police noted that there have been 20 arrests at the location specific to protest groups.

Barredo said the ban is the appropriate and hopefully effective step to take.

“It may be possible that sometime down the road we may consider something different that might even include an injunction,” the deputy chief said when asked about why Toronto police didn’t get a court order to stop the protests.

He added that Toronto police have sought legal advice on the matter.

“You can still protest right where you have been at Bathurst and Sheppard. You can still move along Bathurst. You can still move along Sheppard. These are main streets,” Barredo said.

“What we are taking issue with and restricting is movement into quiet residential streets where there is nothing more than people living in their homes.”

He acknowledged that the directive could be controversial and polarizing but maintained that Toronto police “are acting in a reasonable fashion at this time.”

Local councillor welcomes ban

There have been weekly protests staged by pro-Palestinian demonstrators at the intersection in the predominantly Jewish neighbourhood for the past two years.

Last week, Toronto police confirmed that their Hate Crime Unit is investigating reports that posters featuring antisemitic caricatures of Jews were paraded around at the intersection last week.

James Pasternak, the local councillor, has been voicing concerns about the protests.

While he said, “it’s long overdue,” Pasternak welcomed the Toronto police’s new directive.

“Look, the conflict in the Middle East is 10,000 kilometres away. To walk through a Jewish neighbourhood and harass the local residents is outrageous and, in most cases, illegal, and it has to be stopped,” Pasternak told Newstalk 1010 on Tuesday morning.

“We have to contain the growing incitement that is taking place. I don’t know why they’re even at Bathurst and Sheppard. There’s no consulates, there’s no embassies, there’s no city squares, there’s no government buildings. They are there to harass the Jewish community,” the councillor added.

Protests in the area have also hurt local businesses, the councillor noted.

“There’s a number of shops on the northwest corner that are being disrupted. This is hurting commercial activity,” he said.

Pasternak is introducing a motion at city council this week, asking among many things, that councillors condemn “any and all hateful chants and the playing of hateful recorded music at protests and rallies in the City of Toronto.”

“Letting this mayhem and lawlessness endure at Bathurst and Sheppard means the ‘rule of law’ has broken down, and the Charter rights of local residents and businesses are not upheld. This trend of hate crimes and the mayhem at Bathurst and Sheppard is a dangerous precedent for the entire city. We need to restore Toronto’s reputation as one of respect, safety and tolerance and our diverse populations,” the councillor said in his motion.

‘Grave violation’ of rights: group

GTA 4 Palestine, one of the organizers of the demonstrations at the intersection, criticized the move, saying in a statement to CP24 that it would infringe “on people’s right to freedom of movement and expression.”

The group added that Toronto police’s reason for the ban has nothing to do with demonstrators and “is an unfair justification” that could put them at risk.

“If you’re citing public safety to violate Charter Rights, then that shouldn’t be based on people’s feelings rather on concrete evidence of that action directly leading to laws being broken,” the group said, adding that the directive is a “grave violation” of their rights.

Despite Toronto police’s claim, the group asserted that no arrests had been made due to the walks to the residential streets, which have only occurred “a handful of times.”

“This is totally arbitrary and a very slippery slope since we don’t know what these lobby groups would want enacted tomorrow and next week,” the group said.

The Legal Support Committee, which a collective of community organizers who support those arrested for organizing and participating in pro-Palestinian protests in the GTA, also slammed Toronto police for “inventing arbitrary rules.”

“Whether you agree with the Bathurst and Sheppard protests or not, these unlawful tactics set a dangerous precedent that will inevitably be used to suppress all forms of public assembly in Toronto,” the committee said in a statement.

The ban raises “profound civil liberties issues,” said the Anti-Racism Program of the Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East Foundation, which expressed serious concerns about it.

“When decisions about where people can protest are shaped by the perceived sensitivity of a community or the political nature of a cause, it creates a hierarchy of rights that undermines equality before the law,” Jamila Ewais, the lead researcher of the program, said in a statement.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) also spoke out against Toronto police’s directive.

CCLA’s fundamental freedoms director, Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, called it an attack on freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly.

“Police already have broad powers under the Criminal Code. Those laws exist precisely to protect public safety, and they can and should be enforced where necessary, including at protests,” said McNicoll in a statement.

“What TPS is doing goes much further. It creates protest-free zones on specific public streets, where any pro-Palestinian protestor – regardless of how peacefully they express their message – can be arrested.”

She added that when police silence peaceful dissent and act as the arbiter of what is acceptable protest speech and location, it’s no longer a healthy democracy.

With files from Joshua Freeman