Ontario Premier Doug Ford isn’t backing down from controversial comments he made about immigrants.
In the wake of an attack on a Jewish girl’s school Thursday, Ford said he had no tolerance for immigrants who bring their “problems from everywhere else in the world” and terrorize Canadian communities.
”I’ll tell you we have zero tolerance for this anywhere in Ontario. And it doesn’t matter what race, creed, or religion you’re from. I’d be saying the exact same thing if it were another community. But enough is enough,” he said at a press conference in Toronto.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau chimed in as well, mentioning the need to end both antisemitic and Islamophobic acts of hatred and intolerance in Canada.
“We are seeing that events overseas that are devastating and incredibly difficult to watch should not be spilling over into Canadians hating on other Canadians,” Trudeau said. “We have the right to protest always, but we do not have the right to endanger or inflict violence.”
The shooting at Bais Chaya Mushka, the Jewish girl’s school, was one of three attacks on Jewish schools and places of worship in Canada within the past week.
“You’re bringing your problems from everywhere else in the world, and you’re bringing it into Ontario, and you’re going after other Canadians?…unacceptable,” Ford said. “Don’t come to Canada if you’re going to start terrorizing neighbourhoods like this, simple as that.”
He said that if migrants want to become residents of Ontario, they have to respect its citizens.
“I don’t care about your background, religion, or race…We have 110 nationalities here in Ontario, and 200 languages are spoken. Guess what? 99% of the people get along,” Ford said. “There are wars going on all around the world, but we still get along. So all this other nonsense that we’ve been seeing over numbers and numbers of months. Enough is enough.”
Following a media conference in Brampton, Ford told Global News that he stands by his statements.
“My phone is blowing up from every community saying you’re bang on. People are tired of getting their doors kicked in, guns put to their heads, people here in Brampton that have been extorted, which I’ve never seen before, enough’s enough,” Ford said.
He said his government would “throw every single resource” to police and has given thousands of dollars to places of worship to address the rise of antisemitic attacks.
“They feel threatened. But let’s cut to the chase here: what lunatic goes around shooting up schools? That is just unacceptable,” he said. “Imagine that, a little kid in a school because they’re from the Jewish faith, someone goes by and starts shooting through the school windows. These guys need to be caught. They need to be punished. They need to be thrown in jail.”
Trudeau and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said they will address the antisemitism problem by helping “all types of religious community centers” fund security infrastructure like security cameras and shatterproof glass.
“We are conducting safety walks. We’ve done one as a pilot that works well,” Chow said. “Whether it’s shatterproof glasses, fencing, lighting, trimming of bushes, or cameras, we assist because we have the knowledge and know the best practices and both levels of seamless government have funding to support it.”
Ford was outraged that Canada had reached the point where these added security measures were even necessary.
“You just heard the mayor say shatterproof glass. Really? We have to have this in Ontario in schools. Where have we gone?” he said. “Again, we’re all just fed up with this nonsense.”
After receiving backlash for his comments on X, including the Ontario NDP, which said the remarks were racist, Ford clarified his statements on X Thursday afternoon.
“My comments today meant to stress that there is more that unites us than divides us. While there will always be room for disagreement, violent acts that target specific religions or ethnicities do not reflect who we are or the values that represent our province.”