Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
More than 100 people gathered across from the U.S. consulate in downtown Toronto on Tuesday to honour those killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in recent weeks.
Those in attendance placed candles, flowers, wreaths, photos and cardboard signs near the Pillars of Justice public sculpture outside the Ontario courthouse on University Avenue.
“I’m so sad, I’m so angry,” Anne Rubenstein, a Toronto resident who was born in the U.S., told CBC Toronto.
Rubenstein, a historian who is now a Canadian citizen, said she has family and friends in Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and New York City.
“They’re all so scared. They’re struggling so hard to take care of each other and their neighbours. It’s hard to be here and feel so far removed and so helpless,” Rubenstein said.
Sy MacDougall, a Toronto resident who attended the vigil, said it’s difficult to see the actions of ICE in some American cities.
“I think it’s devastating to see our neighbours go through all this,” MacDougall said. “It just seems so senseless and needless.”
One handmade sign listed several people killed by U.S. federal agents.
The victims include, but are not limited to:
Alex Pretti, 37, an intensive care nurse, killed in Minneapolis on Saturday.Renee Good, 37, a mother of three, killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Keith Porter, 43, a father of two, killed by an off-duty ICE agent in Los Angeles on Dec. 31, 2025.
A handmade sign placed on top of the snow lists recent victims of ICE in the U.S. (Dale Manucdoc/CBC)
In the case of the two recent killings in Minneapolis, U.S. government officials labeled Pretti and Good domestic terrorists and said agents were acting in self-defence, even though videos on social media appeared to contradict the government’s account.
Widespread protests have taken over the streets in Minneapolis as Minnesotans call for ICE to leave their state.
Ontario NDP call for end to contracts with ICE
The vigil comes after Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles on Tuesday called for “an end to Ontario’s manufacturing contract with ICE.”
As previously reported by The Canadian Press, ICE recently awarded a sole-source order for 20 armoured vehicles to Brampton, Ont.,-based defence manufacturer Roshel. According to U.S. procurement documents, Roshel was awarded the order last November in a contract worth roughly $10 million Cdn.
Neither ICE nor Roshel replied to requests for comment at this time. CBC Toronto will update this story with any response.
“ICE has been unleashing lawlessness in the streets and killing civilians in broad daylight,” Stiles said in her statement.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said in a statement on Tuesday: ‘ICE has been unleashing lawlessness in the streets and killing civilians in broad daylight.’ (CBC)
Stiles also accused Ford of celebrating the contract between Roshel and ICE and said the contract should be cancelled.
“At a time when Donald Trump is targeting Canada’s sovereignty, we need to find opportunities for Ontario manufacturers to strengthen Canada, not arm the United States,” Stiles said.
Ford says government not involved in contracts with ICE
But Ford, when questioned about the contract at an unrelated news conference on Tuesday, said the Ontario government doesn’t have anything to do with products that cross the border.
“I am going to correct this story once and for all. I heard it on the news. I don’t direct companies to go sell military vehicles down south or around the world,” Ford said.
“I don’t know where this came from, to be very frank with you.”