Ontario Premier Doug Ford has suggested immigrants are to blame for the shooting of an empty Jewish school in Toronto over the weekend, despite police saying they have little information on the suspects.
Toronto police have said two suspects fired shots shortly before 5 a.m. last Saturday at Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School and that no one was injured, though there was damage to the building.
Police say their hate crime unit is involved in the investigation, but that it is too early to say if the shooting was motivated by hate or antisemitism and they have not arrested anyone yet.
Ford says the province will throw “every single resource” to fight antisemitism and all other forms of hate.
He says the perpetrators of the school shooting must be caught and thrown in jail.
The premier says people should not come to Canada if they’re “going to start terrorizing neighbourhoods like this.”
“You’re bringing your problems from everywhere else in the world, you’re bringing it to Ontario, and you’re going after other Canadians, as the prime minister said: unacceptable,” Ford said at an unrelated event in Toronto on Thursday.
“I got an idea: before you plan on moving to Canada, don’t come to Canada if you’re going to start terrorizing neighbourhoods like this. Simple as that. You want to come to Canada? You want to be a resident of Ontario? You get along with everyone.”
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said the city has brought together police, community leaders and local councillors to conduct “safety walks” as a pilot project to examine the surroundings of places of worship and schools.
“So whether it’s shatterproof glass, fencing, lighting, or trimming of bushes, or, cameras, we assist because we have the knowledge, we know what’s the best practices,” she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2024.
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