"We have to be open-eyed that the [Liberal-led Canadian] government is not a reliable partner."

"Security is foundational, but insufficient. I don't want to be a hostage in my own shul the rest of my life."

"In terms of standing up for Jewish rights -- for Jews to be proudly and openly Jewish, and proud Zionists -- that's something we have to support ourselves. It's not that long ago that prime minister Trudeau stood up and proclaimed he was a Zionist. But his successor did not say the same thing, and that's telling."

Rabbi Adam Cutler, Adath Israel synagogue, Toronto

 

"[Carney] scattered crumbs of concern, and acted like it was a feast."

"[The Prime Minister was] playing a politically charged 4D chess game. He moved his knight, and now we respond, as a Jewish community by moving our queen."

"[Whereas Carney] came on our turf to lecture us, to have us listen to our own problems [community leaders as a group should meet Carney on Parliament Hill and] have him sit and listen to us, while we tell him the real roots of the problems, and offer our own recommendations. All with the cameras on, too."

Matthew Taub, director Unapologetically Jewish advocacy group

 

"The prime minister's speech at Toronto's Holy Blossom synagogue on June 1 was the latest in a] series of slaps in the face [from the prime ministers to the Jewish community.] It's all up to us now. I would like to see the community proactively mobilized, for sure."

"I think that what we're failing to do is show up in large numbers ... I think that this is partially the failure of our own leadership."

"When the encampments went up, what was the reaction? Handwringing and feeling terrible. But the number of people who actually showed up to confront the people involved in the encampment was minimal."

"It's just that our own numbers stay home. Maybe it's exhaustion, but we're not, to be honest, doing our part to defend ourselves."

"If we want to have standing the community, it's not going to be given to  us. We have to stand up and demand it."

Michael Teper, president, Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation 

A poster against antisemitism seen on International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Markham, Ontario, Canada, on March 22, 2025. (Creative Touch Imaging Ltd/NurPhoto via Reuters)

 

The Jewish community is still reeling with abandoned hope in the wake of the prime minister of their country of birth abandoning his responsibility to serve and protect all the people of the country without fear or favour, equally and with the full powers of his executive position. They heard a speech recounting everything they already know; that their community is in grave danger; that threats have given way to dangerous violence; being visibly Jewish in the larger Canadian community has brought out the vitriolic hatred of antisemites, spurred to expression by a burgeoning Muslim population now representing 5 percent of the Canadian population; 10 percent in Toronto, according to 2021 figures.

 

That number has grown even larger in the past five years, with the total Muslim-Canadian population now approaching two million as opposed to a Jewish-Canadian population of 400,000. Where demographic voting blocs are concerned, clearly there is an advantage in catering to one that has four times the ballot box potential of the other. So, while Mr. Carney decried the shootings and fire-bombings at Jewish houses of worship and schools, the vandalism at community centres and Jewish-owned businesses, never once did he hint at the source of these -- like the campus anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian camps harassing Jewish faculty and staff -- Muslim-incited.

 

Photo Credit: Matt Gurney

 

"Canada's civic compact is failing Jewish Canadians", said the prime minister, yet from his attitude of condemnation and empathy, never did he hint at the foundational cause; the importation of cultural/religious Jew-hate courtesy of immigrants, refugees, illegal migrants and student visas emanating from the Middle East and North Africa -- emigrants bringing with them part of their heritage that rejects Canadian social norms and values. One can commiserate with the plight of Canadian Jews, but never betray the source of their affliction. 

 

"We have nothing to expect from this government. They've made it very clear they're not interested in supporting the Jewish community. They've made it very clear that they don't really even see much of a problem", stated Amir Epstein, director of pro-Israel advocacy group Tafsik, based in Toronto. It has been during the past decade, matching the latest tenure of the Liberals as government in Canada, that the Canadian-Muslim population has approached such heights of community size. And never has the federal government intervened even once to do its part to put a stop to the venomous racist campaign demonizing Israel and Jewish Canadians.

 

In May alone the prime minister admonished Israel, had a 'cordial phone call' with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to congratulate him on the PA's ripening (absent) democratic credentials, then a call to Israeli President Isaac Herzog that left much to be desired in terms of friendly relationships of mutual trust. The icing on the cake was Louise Arbour's choice as the next governor general, who as UN human rights chief, UN Watch pointed out her repeated singling out of Israel as a 'human rights abuser' reflecting her sympathies with Palestinian victimhood.

 

A large anti-Israel protest in Ottawa in August. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia

 

Her support for a regional human rights charter equating Zionism with racism helped Israel bashers feel entitled and diminished the impact of Israel's responses to terrorist violence as a self-defense reality. Rabbi Yael Splansky of the synagogue where Carney's speech took place had her own solution as an offering to remedy the situation: "Every peace-loving, democracy-loving Canadian ought to make antisemitism their concern and make their voices heard by their own elected leaders The Jewish community has been doing this work for years, but we cannot do it alone. Because antisemitism has been allowed to seep into Canadian waters, only a groundswell response can turn back the tide."

 

And there are other potential responses that could go a long way to solving these problems: Ottawa should "name the problem clearly .. antisemitism in Canada is being driven in significant part by anti-Israel and anti-Zionist hatred." The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs suggests: "ensure that terrorist organizations, their proxies, and their adherents cannot operate here. Public funds should not support organizations that initiate or promote hatred against the Jewish community. This must include addressing the weaponization of national institutions, including the Canada Revenue Agency and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights." 

 

Following his speech on antisemitism at Toronto's Holy Blossom synagogue June 1, 2026 Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Jewish leaders including (left) Noah Shack, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, and Anna Shternshis, head of the Jewish Studies department at the University of Toronto. Carney said Canadian Jews are being "brutally targeted by hatred". (Photo by Ellin Bessner/The CJN.)

 

"This isn't a time to shrink back, but to further engage elected officials. It's time for all of us to be active and make sure that they're hearing directly from us, and that we are doing our part in the equation to push them to do their part."

"Regardless of what party they're from, regardless of what part of the country you're in, their job is to listen to you, and represent you in the Parliament or the legislature or city hall."

Noah Shack, CEO, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs 

"[Canada is now] one of the centres of antisemitism globally. [There was a noticeable] rising trend in antisemitism [following the October 7 terror attacks on Israel, causing a] dramatic spike."

"It created a lot of concern in Israel. It drew the attention of the highest political levels in spite of the fact that we are, at the same time, busy with the war."

"We really came to realize that Canada has become one of the centres of antisemitism globally that we need to monitor much more closely." 

"The concern for security is something that's completely unprecedented. I never thought that would be an issue that we'll be dealing with at such a level in Canada. Unfortunately, it is, so what I'm doing about it is to draw the attention of all relevant governments: federal, provincial, municipal." 

Israeli Ambassador Iddo Moed, Ottawa Legation 

 

"What our message needs to be to our leaders is that if nothing is done, then you're sending a message: 'They can go ahead and go to the next level'."

"It's the literal broken windows theory."

Rabbi Daniel Korobkin, Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto synagogue 

Israel’s Ambassador to Canada Iddo Moed looks at bullet holes in windows at the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto synagogue in Vaughan, which was recently shot at, Thursday March 12, 2026. Photo by Peter J. Thompson/National Post

 

Three synagogues were shot at in Canada in less than the space of a week. Jewish groups have been warning for years that there would be increasingly violent action taken against Jewish institutions, given the constant deliberately provocative marches by pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas groups in Canada who have continued to harass and threaten Canadian Jews, while proclaiming the global Intifada that would destroy Israel. The marchers not only had the impact of victimizing Canadian Jews, but they also took it upon themselves to illegally block roadways and intersections, amidst displays of mass street prayers.

 

During the several years that Canada's Islamist cohorts organized marches, violations of public spaces, took over university campuses and threatened and harassed Jewish students and faculty, there were also shootings at Jewish day schools, synagogues, community centres, and private Jewish-owned businesses. Places of business were vandalized, fire-bombed and boycotted by vociferous antisemites. And while police were present at these daytime gatherings to maintain public order,  nothing was ever done to deter ongoing events of the same nature.

 

Jewish institutions have had to invest in security measures including fencing, metal detectors and private security guards along with other property reinforcements against intrusions. Governments at every level, from municipal to provincial to federal have essentially spouted the same tired expressions of 'this isn't Canada', and 'this will not be tolerated' and authorities express indignation over the rise of virulent antisemitism, while also decrying 'Islamophobia'. Cheap words and absent actions.

 

Members of the Jewish community, GTA police services and politicians gathered outside a North York synagogue to stand up against antisemitism after three synagogues were shot at over the span of a week. (Spencer Gallichan-Lowe/CBC)

 

Ambassador Moed appeared at one of the synagogues north of Toronto that had been shot at; the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto (BAYT) synagogue. The synagogue's front doors suffered ten shots shattering its windows. There were no injuries suffered at any of the three targeted synagogues. The ambassador spoke of the attack's intention to signal intimidation of synagogue members, and by extension, the population of Jews in Toronto, knowing they are targeted and the potential that this indicates, of serious physical harm, apart from the aggravated mental stress.

 

In an interview, Ambassador Moed who was originally from the Netherlands and acted there as the Israeli ambassador as well, and as such was well familiar with the Netherlands' well earned reputation for antisemitism, explained that he was shaken by his experience in Canada. The threats that Canadian Jews face, he realized during his tenure in the country, he assesses as "incomparable to anything in the past".

 

When he was assigned to Israel's diplomatic mission in Canada he anticipated ambassadorial business as usual; business development, community relations, expanding trade and strengthening bilateral ties. Nothing prepared him for the reality of witnessing harassment of Canadian Jews and Israelis in the country. Israel's government has become all too aware of Canada's growing ill reputation as a country steeped in antisemitism; partially a result of its immigration/refugee/migrant-intake laxity.  

 

Beth Avraham Yosef of Toronto synagogue in Vaughan was one of two synagogues that were shot late Friday night. (CBC)

"Part of my visit here is to share with [Canadian political leaders] our grave concern, to share with them our perspective, that we see a clear escalating trend. We see that all the red lights are blinking. We see that all the warning signs are there. We are not sure that we've seen the end of this."

"This is sort of a global trend, and its expressions in Canada are one of the worst. Today we are speaking about the country [Canada] where most shooting incidents took place against Jewish institutions in the world."

"We are talking about [the Jewish] community which is the fourth largest diaspora that feels terrorized."

"It feels abandoned."

Israeli Ambassador to Canada Iddo Moed 

Jihad: From Lethal Violence to Stealth Persuasion

"The process of settlement is a 'Civilization-Jihadist Process' with all the word means."

"The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating the destroying the western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions."

"It is a Muslim's destiny to perform Jihad and work wherever he is and wherever he lands until the final hour comes, and there is no escape from that destiny." 

An Explanatory Memorandum for the Muslim Brotherhood's Goals in North America  

Jihad: Holy or Unholy War?
John L. Esposito
The concept and practice of jihad have been critical in the history of
Islam.1 From the rise of Islam and the creation and expansion of the Muslim
community, jihad has played a central role in Islam. Jihad (exertion or struggle)
is sometimes referred to as the Sixth Pillar of Islam. Throughout history, (as in
other faiths) sacred scripture has been used and abused, interpreted and
misinterpreted, to justify resistance and liberation struggles, extremism and
terrorism, holy and unholy wars.
The importance of jihad is rooted in the Quran’s command to struggle (the
literal meaning of the word jihad) in the path of God and in the example of the
Prophet Muhammad and his early Companions. In its most general meaning,
jihad refers to the obligation incumbent on all Muslims, individuals and the
community, to follow and realize God’s will: to lead a virtuous life and to extend
the Islamic community through preaching, education, example, writing, etc.
Jihad also includes the right, indeed the obligation, to defend Islam and the
community from aggression. Throughout history, the call to jihad has rallied
Muslims to the defense of Islam.
Since the late 20th century, the word jihad has gained remarkable
currency: used by resistance, liberation, and terrorist movements alike to
legitimate their cause and motivate their followers. The Afghan Mujahiddin, the
Taliban and the Northern Alliance, have waged a jihad in Afghanistan against
foreign powers and among themselves; Muslims in Kashmir, Chechnya,
Daghestan and the southern Philippines, Bosnia and Kosovo have fashioned
their struggles as jihads; Hizbollah, HAMAS, and Islamic Jihad Palestine have
characterized war with Israel as a jihad; Algeria’s Armed Islamic Group has
engaged in a jihad of terror against the government there and Osama Bin Laden
and al-Qaeda have waged a global jihad against Muslim governments and the West.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the century-old Egypt-based totalitarian, political, exterminationist leader in Islamist conquest for the universal elevation of Islam and the subjugation of all people on the globe -- to submit to a religion conceived by an Arab businessman in the 7th century Mecca of the Middle East who diligently mined the prophets, holy concepts, and sacred human values of the Hebrew Holy Book to freely lift those precepts and philosophical, historical antecedents to be used in the conceiving of Muhammad's own rendition of a holy scripture, the Koran, which he held to supercede those of two predecessor religions; Judaism and Christianity, as God's 'final word' -- must be recognized for the danger it is.

 

 

Since that inception in 1928 the Muslim Brotherhood has spread its tentacles throughout the world, with countless branches, both those dedicated to violent action -- in the Middle East, Africa and Asia -- and stealth persuasion -- in Western democracies; throughout Europe and the Americas, to use any and all methods between the two extremes to achieve the goal of Islamist domination. Recognizing its threat to their own status as governments, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood. It is past time for the West to catch up.

 

Moderate Muslim-majority countries are under attack by the Muslim Brotherhood's offshoots, just as Western countries are; the methodology differs, as do the techniques, but the end result is the same. Convert or die. Alternately, convert or live under Islam as taxed-and-tolerated inferiors. 

Islam is  now the fastest-growing religion on the globe, likely to overtake Christianity within the next several decades. Where Christianity sees slumping followings, Islam's is expanding. And as it expands it also exports itself everywhere across the world.

 

Through immigration, migration, and refugee claimants, Islam is infiltrating everywhere. Muslims have a tendency to obey Koranic instructions to hold themselves separate from those of other, or no religious affiliations. And since Islam is an entire way of life, subscribed by the strict tenets laid down for Muslims through their holy scriptures, there is no assimilation within another culture, their values, acceptance of a different history, and above all, laws, other than Sharia.

 

Observant Muslims heed their obligation to procreation. Through the scimitar, the Koran and the cradle, Islam grows its ummah unrelentingly, the global presence of Muslims, either in Muslim-majority countries or through the limitless diaspora. And wherever Muslims congregate to become part and apart of an established presence in non-Muslim countries they agitate for Sharia law, arguing that their numbers reaching majority status demands it. 

 

Oddly enough, for a strictly religious people, the incidence of crime among the Muslim population tends to be higher than for other groups. Illegal and criminal activities from human smuggling to trafficking in arms and prohibited substances such as recreational drugs go a long way to funding Islamist terrorism. Tellingly, Islamist groups have become proficient in their use of Western social and cultural concepts of fairness and equality, professing allegiance with social groups they have nothing in common with, and have no regard for, but to use them as helpful supports.

 

Appealing to the human rights due them, Islamists use the guise of victimhood to persuade social progressives abroad that they disproportionately suffer discrimination because of their religion, because of their culture and inherent beliefs, because of their skin colour, because their history is unappreciated, despite that Islam is a religion of peace. That criticism of Islam merely as a result of its proclivity to produce hordes of terrorists plaguing the world community in a violently constant replay of its founder's militancy of persuasion is 'Islamophobic', shaming the timid and the unaware to silence.

 

As the engine of Islamist totalitarianism the Muslim Brotherhood which has succeeded in inserting itself as an honourable representative of Islam throughout the West, with its machinations of its offshoots like    CAIR and its countless 'humanitarian charities' that purport to support the poor and the undertrodden in developing nations while siphoning the funds toward terrorism, it requires governments throughout the world to finally recognize its role in destroying what the Western world represents as democratic unions supporting human rights.

 

 

Canadian Security Intelligence Service Report

"Worryingly, nearly one in ten terrorism investigations at CSIS [Canadian Security Intelligence Service] now includes at least one subject of investigation under the age of 18."

"Fortunately, only a small number of youth or adults with extreme views resort to violence. But when they do the consequences are devastating."

"[CSIS has helped to disrupt 24] violent extremist actions [that led to arrests of terrorism peace bond charges in just over three years]." 

"[Our agency is focusing more resources on] particularly alarming [cases involving plots by Iranian intelligence to repress -- and sometimes kill -- critics and dissidents of the regime in Canada]."

"In more than one case, this involved detecting, investigating and disrupting potentially lethal threats against individuals in Canada." 

CSIS Director Daniel Rogers 

Dan Rogers appears at the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions hearings, in Ottawa. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press)

Young people in Canada, warns the director of Canadian Security Intelligence Service, are increasingly radicalized online, resulting in rising violent extremism, markedly among those under 18 years of age. Motivated to extremism by a variety of ideologies among which are antisemitism, xenophobia, misogyny 'extreme interpretations' of religion or accelerationism [an inclination to accelerate the collapse of society], spreading with the momentum of social media's vast influence.

 

Teens and even children appear more susceptible to believing what they see and hear online; the allure and excitement of the socially forbidden; violent extremism seems like an adventure to their immature minds, drawing them into a never-ending cycle of the ever-increasing volume of viciously anti-social tropes. Speaking before an audience of government and police officials, academics and reporters in his first annual speech, Mr. Rogers attested to his increasing concern of the spread of extremism within the Canadian public.

 

A minor in Montreal was arrested, alleged to be planning an attack for Daesh (Islamic State); another, a 15-year-old in Edmonton suspected by police of planning to commit attacks on behalf of an online transnational violent group. 60 people have been injured, 29 killed in Canada in the past 11 years as a result of some attacks that were carried out before they could be apprehended. Many more were disrupted with the intelligence assistance CSIS provided. 

"Chinese spies have tried to recruit Canadians with access to government plans, intentions, information and military expertise, through social media and online job platforms."

"Both of those countries [China and Russia], and others, have a significant intelligence interest in our Arctic and those who influence or develop its economic or strategic potential."

"It's no surprise, then, that CSIS has observed both cyber and non-cyber intelligence collection efforts targeting both governments and the private sector in the region."

"CSIS will be challenged to adopt technology and use data in new and more significant ways to keep Canadians safe and to secure an advantage for Canada."

CSIS Director Daniel Rogers 

 CSIS assisted in the arrest of two 15-year-olds in Ottawa, plotting to commit a mass casualty attack against the Jewish community. Information leading to the arrest of a man planning a Daesh-inspired attack on the New York Jewish community saw CSIS contributing important information. China's reputation for spying on Canada to appropriate state, military and intellectual property continues unabated. Chinese agents entering Canada, he pointed out, increasingly target the private sector. While both China and Russia engage aggressively for more intelligence and influence in the Canadian Arctic. 

 

Canadian soldiers prepare for a surveillance mission in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, as part of the annual Operation Nanook on Sept. 6. The exercise sees the small team inserted onto a remote mountain top with no additional support, honing their survival skills for multiple days. (David Common/CBC)

"Non-Arctic states, including the People’s Republic of China, seek to gain a strategic and economic foothold in the region. Russia, an Arctic state with a significant military presence in the region, remains unpredictable and aggressive." 

"National governments are still targeted for sensitive intelligence, military and economic secrets but so too are corporations and other levels of government whose data, technological innovations, influence and access to resources can shift the balance of advantage." 

"We benefit greatly from intelligence and security sharing by the United States, and we contribute back, So I think it’s still strong."

"Today, while the goals are similar, the targets are more varied. Some of the world’s most advanced and emergent technology is now held by private sector and academic institutions."

CSIS Director Daniel Rogers 

The Chinese vessel Xue Long, seen here in East Antarctica, is believed to be dual purpose, meaning it’s primary role is research but what it surveils can also be used for Chinese military purposes. (Andrew Peacock/Reuters)

Providing Evidence of Violent Repression by Government a Criminal Offence in Tanzania

"The killings were pre-planned to target regions that are known to be politically active, those that are critics of the ruling party. "

"Following people to their homes and killing them amounts to a massacre."

Tanganyika Law Society President Boniface Mwabukusi

 

"People in the government are in shock... there's disbelief,"

"Nobody has the guts to talk... that's the sad part of it. But people do whisper."

"We really don't know what to do. Do we want more demos? No, because the youth are going to be executed again." 

"[Hassan's son, Abdul, has] a private militia and most of the people believe that's the one involved in the abductions from the beginning."

 "Why are you abducting a 20-year-old kid just because they criticized you? You're the president, for crying out loud!" 

Government official, unnamed for protection

 

"There's a very, very tiny cabal who is informing and influencing the president and running the country."

"It's unprecedented and very un-Tanzanian. [Everyone else] has been completely frozen out."

"The only explanation is deep-seated paranoia... and now it's out of control."

"[Those with power] know one tool... a very brutal, crude, authoritarian tool."

"What's clear is that Tanzania will never be the same again." 

Former presidential adviser

President Samia Suluhu Hassan was inaugurated on 3 November 2025 at Chamwino, Dodoma, following her re-election with 97.66% of the vote. Photo: Tanzaniainvest

 

Hundreds of young Tanzanian protesters have been massacred in the wake of the country's recent election. They were out protesting at the behest of the country's opposition party, reflecting a broad general consensus that the vote that gave President Samia Suluhu Hassan a massive win was rigged. In many areas of the country people were unable to cast their ballots. Internet had been shut down. Some candidates had been arrested and imprisoned. The unrest and resistance against the outcome of the election had spread across the country.

 

And everywhere there have been reports of extrajudicial killings, not only of those who have gone out to publicly and vehemently protest, but people who happen to be passersby caught in crossfires, or just people going about their business shot by police; a report of a woman in her car with her children having been shot dead, just one example. In other instances police arriving at the home of those they pinpoint as troublemakers, shot dead.

 

It speedily became generally acknowledged that a small, vociferous and threatening cabal around the president have taken control of government reaction to what has amounted to a popular uprising in the making. Of a population of around 70 million people, Tanzania is majority Christian, with a large minority Muslim population. President Hassan is the country's first Muslim president, purportedly elected on October 29 with 98 percent of the vote. 

 

Tanzanian authorities are facing growing concern over killings during crackdowns on protests surrounding last week's election   Still from video ABCNews

 

It took no time at all for the protests against the election results, and charges of  repression to surface. The country's politicians are reputed to be in shock over the violence that has ensued, with claims surfacing that at least a thousand people have been killed. Many of those politicians, while stunned with disbelief, are silent in the face of what appears to be control grasped by hardliners in support of the new president.

 

Bloody images of the dead have appeared on social media; their ubiquity spurring even wider protests. While President Samia Suluhu Hassan is now officially Tanzania's new leader, the reality also is that key opposition leaders were either disqualified from running or were incarcerated, keeping them out of contention. Protests were speedily crushed while communication was cut off, given a five-day Internet blackout. 

 

The United Nations human rights head Volker Turk announced on Tuesday that: "There are ... disturbing reports that security forces have been seen removing bodies from streets and hospitals and taking them to undisclosed locations in an apparent attempt to conceal evidence". 

  

Demonstrations in Dar es Salaam. Photo: Vellum

 

A Tanzanian government senior official, fearing for his life, should his name be attached to any explanatory revelations given to the Western press, spoke on condition that his name be withheld. He spoke of two suspected sites of mass graves located near Dar es Salaam, and at Kondo and Mabwepande. The levers of power and repression appears to be in total control of a group supporting President Hassan, confirmed those in government willing to speak under cover.

 

Eyewitnesses came forward discreetly to describe their experiences in seeing people shot at point-blank range by police and armed men otherwise unidentified. A bystander was shot in the head by a soldier on election day in Dar es Salaam. Three people were lined up and shot "five or six times" in the legs by police the following day, one of the eyewitnesses said, unburdening himself of a nightmare experience.

 

Independence day, on December 9 has been highlighted by the country's political opposition for country-wide protests.  President Hassan's son Abdul Halim Hafidh Ameir, her private secretary Waziri Salum, head of the intelligence service Suleiman Abubakar Mombo, and a member of the East African parliament, Angela Kizigha, comprise the principals surrounding and supporting the president, according to discreet government sources.  

 

Funeral for an opposition youth leader killed during election protests   AFP

 

"There is extreme fear for everyone."

"If it wasn’t for the massive efforts of brave activists sending videos to us, and the people recording them on their phones, the world would have no idea of the scale of the killings."

Kenyan activist Mwanse Ahmed 

 

"Avoid sharing images or videos that are disturbing or demeaning to someone’s dignity."

"Doing so is a criminal offense."

Tanzanian Police 

Placement of Homeless Shelters in Urban Toronto

629 Adelaide St. W., which Toronto plans to use as a 50-bed emergency shelter with estimated operating and leasing costs of $45 million over 10 years. It is close to St. Mary’s Catholic Elementary School. Photo by Peter J. Thompson/National Post

"If you're wondering what it's like to live in Toronto..."

"[Instead of] assuring the neighbourhood their concerns would be heard [Mayor Olivia Chow] bemoaned the fact that the neigbourhood had been tipped off! These things are supposed to be secret, so no one can oppose them!"

"Our community is frustrated by the complete lack of communication with the city."

"We would like to have our concerns heard and know the risks involved. What we have right now, through, is crickets."

"Our community understands the need for homeless shelters. This is not up for debate. It is important, however, that when choosing the site for a new shelter, it has to work for both the residents of the community where it is located, and the people who will be using the shelter."

Jennifer Hedger, Scarborough, Ontario

"People are demanding to be heard."

"They think it's incredibly unfair that they are having this decision undemocratically forced on them."

"They're not saying don't do this. What they're saying is give us a seat at the table."

"They're concerned about safety."

Kevin Vuong, Area Member of Parliament

Montreal’s École Victor-Rousselot is just down the street from Maison Benoit Labre transitional housing and inhalation centre. Photo by John Mahoney/MONTREAL GAZETTE

In the larger of Canadian cities such as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa the demand for beds has soared owing to a skyrocketing increase in immigrants seeking refugee status. Just as their presence has become a weight on all social services while their sheer numbers impact deleteriously on the need to focus on the plight of Canadians who have fallen on hard times, the need to further provide illegal migrants invoking refugee haven in Canada has placed unsupportable stress on already-overworked and inadequate homeless shelters. 

In 2024, a quarter of a million people entered Canada to apply for refugee status, some 20 times the number for all of 2014. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) released The Shelter Safety Study revealing, among other issues that the annual number of incidents of interpersonal violence taking place in Toronto shelters had increased by 293 percent between 2011 and 2021, at a time when daily service users increased by 66 percent. In addition, incidents including violence rose from about 2,000 per year in 2011 to 10,000 in 2021.

An estimated half of the unhoused population in Toronto struggles with a substance use disorder, compelling reason for the city to be upfront with residents and business owners on where planning for shelter placements are set for, before they become a fait accompli, to be absolutely fair to  nearby residents who learn to their dismay through a grapevine, and not consultation or official statements that their neighbourhoods are slated to host homeless shelters ... and all too often in close proximity to schools.

Toronto’s 25 Augusta Ave. St. Felix Respite Centre gained international attention when a mother of three posted videos of the open drug use and graphic violence her young family was witness to. Photo by Peter J. Thompson/National Post

A troubling lack of transparency and the city's documented inability to follow through on its commitment to see that the facilities are well managed and don't present as a danger to residents makes residents extremely and understandably upset, sending them in droves to confront city officials, demanding accountability. The unsettling situation isn't Toronto's alone. Hundreds of residents gathered at Richmond, British Columbia's city hall protesting a proposed injection site they were told nothing about, to be placed in their neighbourhood.

In Montreal, a coalition came together when parents, residents and businesses found themselves blindsided with news of a building under construction meant to be used as a shelter with a supervised injection component. Located a mere few metres from a fenced-in park used for recesses and lunch breaks by an adjacent elementary school.

 

In November 2024, Kanata residents in Ottawa’s west end protested plans to erect “sprung structures” — giant platformed tents — at a park-and-ride lot. Photo by Ashley Fraser/Postmedia News

The Ottawa suburb of Kanata saw protests against the plan by the city to erect a series of sprung structures" (giant platformed tents) at a local commuter park-and-ride for the purpose of accommodating asylum seekers. Residents complained that no community consultation had taken place prior to the announcement. In Peterborough, Ontario the Police Chief stated his force would no longer encourage drug users to relocate to the injection site; henceforth anyone caught using illicit substances outside of the site would be subject to search, their drugs seized, and they possible arrests.

In Scarborough, east Toronto, residents concerned of safety learned through a tip-off, that a respite centre was meant to be placed on one side of the St.Mary's Catholic Elementary School, and a supervised injection site would be placed on the other side of the school. A situation that saw concentrated drug activity in the immediate area. "We see it already. We find needles and condoms at the school", complained one outraged parent. 

A representative of the Catholic school board who supervised three city schools stated: "There's no amount of community liaison you can do with these centres that stops the problems -- which is what children see". School custodians had to be trained to deal with needles, condoms and human waste. No choice was left eventually but to erect massive security fences. "The school is starting to look like a prison -- not super-max but definitely medium security."

Professor Michael MacKenzie whose work at McGill University in psychiatry and pediatrics studies "the trauma-informed treatment of mental health and addictions". He wrote a column titled "A case study on how not to build community trust", setting the record straight on what he and his neighbours close to a site had been experiencing: groups of people injecting drugs, assaults, a man with his pants down masturbating in front of a neighbour's window in broad daylight, and sex acts on the sidewalk.

A supervised injection site opened in 2017 near St. Mary’s Catholic Elementary School in Toronto, forcing the board to train staff to deal with needles, condoms and human waste and, eventually, erect tall security fences. Photo by Peter J. Thompson/National Post

"You think it's safe when a bullet comes flying out of one of these sites in Toronto to kill a mother?"

"You think it's safe to have people using heroin and crack and cocaine next to a playground?"

"[Supervised injection sites] They're drug dens. And they've made everything worse everywhere they've been done."

Leader of the Parliamentary opposition Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre