Photo credit: Toronto Sun
A “mass-deportation” protest in Toronto on Saturday did not succeed as the organisers had planned.
Toronto Today reports that the rally, which took place in Christie Pits Park, was organized by a group called “Canada First.” The crowd of about 100 participants fled their initial meeting point because they were surrounded by hundreds of counter-protesters
In the days leading up to the event, Canada First rally organizer Joe Anidjar predicted that his ranks would outnumber those coming to oppose his message. But the opposite was the case.
There were several thousand counter-protesters at the park, and they outnumbered Canada First protesters by at least 10 to one.
A counter-protester, Catherine Crocket, said she was thrilled that the Canada First demonstrators were “chased off” down Bloor Street. “I feel like we’ve achieved victory,” she said.
Christie Pits Park is a historically significant site. In 1933, an antisemitic riot was held there. On Saturday, Crockett held a sign that read, “Christie Pits, Nazi free since 1933.”
For about an hour, several protesters and counter-protesters engaged in skirmishes. A spokesperson of the Toronto Police Service said six arrests were made at the demonstration.
Before the demonstration, while speaking with the media, Anidjar claimed the purpose of his rally was being misunderstood by the opposition.
In late August, after learning of the planned rally, Councillor Dianne Saxe published a letter decrying the event. She called it a “hate demonstration.”
She wrote, “This rally does not represent what we stand for as a city or as Canadians. Rather, it’s reflective of an effort by its organizers to seek and gain undeserved notoriety through inundation, puffery, and stoking division.”
On Saturday afternoon, several counter-protesters carried signs calling the Canada First protest participants Nazis and fascists. As Canada First protesters left the park as a group, a group of counter-protesters chanted, “Go home, Nazis!”
However, Anidjar said they were mistaken.
He said, “I’m not saying no to immigrants, I say we need to slow it down. [This movement] is about putting Canadians first-putting our people first for a change.”
Although some are saying immigration encourages crimes, according to the International Centre for Criminal Reform and Criminal Justice Policy in Vancouver, BC, evidence suggests immigrants are “much less involved in criminal activity” than Canadian-born citizens.
Also, a 2024 report from the American Immigration Council found that the presence of immigrants in American communities does not increase crime, but can in fact strengthen public safety.
