Immigration Minister Marc Miller says comments made by Ontario Premier Doug Ford appearing to suggest immigrants were behind recent attacks on Jewish institutions are “silly.”
“It’s stupid to say it, to blame the immigrants. No one blamed the immigrants for the convoy of truckers,” Miller said at a news conference in Montreal.
“People have the right to protest when they do. There are legitimate ways and there are certainly illegitimate ways. And those illegitimate forms certainly include attacks, deliberate attacks against Jewish institutions.”
Miller also condemned these attacks, including the shootings at Jewish schools in both Toronto and Montreal this week.
“If you have problems with the Israeli government, confronting the Jews in this country is not the solution. Frankly, if that’s your answer, I don’t want your vote,” Miller said.
Speaking at a vaccine manufacturing announcement in Toronto on Thursday alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Mayor Olivia Chow, Ford accused people of bringing “problems from all over the world” to Ontario following an incident in which a Toronto Jewish girls’ school was shot up. On Wednesday.
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“I have an idea. Before you plan to move to Canada, don’t come to Canada if you’re going to start terrorizing neighborhoods like this. It’s that simple,” Ford said Thursday.
“You want to come to Canada, you are an Ontario resident and you get along with everyone. I don’t care what background, religion or race you come from. You know, diversity is our number one selling tool around the world.”
In an emailed response to Global News, the Toronto Police Service (TPS) said they are still investigating the shooting and have no suspects at this time. The TPS added that they do not track the immigration or citizenship status of suspects.
On Friday, Ford stood by his comments, which provincial opposition leader Marit Styles called “racist” and “xenophobic.”
Ford told Global News on Friday that he supports the comments and that his phone has been “exploding” with people saying “he’s right.”
“I stand by what I said. We are tired of lawlessness by anyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re here, new, or whatever. It’s very, very clear. My phone blows up in every community saying, ‘You’re right,’” Ford said after an announcement in Brampton, Ont.
Miller is not the only federal cabinet minister to condemn Ford’s comments. The Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Disabilities, Kamal Khera, came to X to share his thoughts.
“These horrible anti-Semitic incidents need to stop. And xenophobic and unfounded attacks against immigrants are not the solution,” he wrote.
Incidents at Jewish schools, places of worship and businesses have been on the rise since the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. According to Statistics Canada, Jews have been the religious group most targeted in hate crimes reported by police, with 502 incidents in 2022.
Muslims are the second most targeted group, with 108 hate crimes reported by police in 2022. According to a November 2023 Senate report on Islamophobia, a further 1,723 crimes in 2021 were motivated by racial or ethnic hatred involving Muslims. .
– with files from Aaron D’Andrea of Global News.
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