The Beth Avraham Yoseph in Thornhill, Ont., was one of two synagogues in the Toronto area that was hit by gunfire over the weekend.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree on Wednesday announced $10-million in funding aimed at bolstering security in Canada’s Jewish communities, days after shootings directed at synagogues in the Toronto area.
The money, which will be used to reinforce security at synagogues, daycares, schools and community centres, follows renewed calls in recent days from Jewish groups for more support to deal with a surge in antisemitic incidents.
The funding will be provided to the government’s Canada Community Security Program to help reinforce security for Jewish communities, with most of the money earmarked for Toronto and Montreal.
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Mr. Anandasangaree said it would be made available to communities within days. He made the announcement at a press conference flanked by a large group of Liberal ministers and MPs, including AI Minister Evan Solomon, who said a synagogue he attended as a child was among those targeted by gunfire on the weekend.
Prime Minister Mark Carney was among those who condemned the shootings over the weekend at synagogues in Toronto, Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto in Thornhill and Shaarei Shomayim in North York. He said the attacks were “fundamental violations of the Canadian way of life.”
He also condemned an attack last week on Temple Emanu-El in North York.
Mr. Solomon said Wednesday that every Canadian has the right to worship safely, but that the Jewish community in Canada “is feeling terrorized and scared.”
Mr. Anandasangaree said Canada’s Jewish community “is anxious, fearful and those feelings are quite justified.” He said an attack on a synagogue is an attack on all places of worship, and attacks on members of the Jewish community are an attack on all Canadians.
“Communities cannot live in fear. That is not the Canadian way,” he said.
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He said bullets fired at one of the synagogues on the weekend penetrated all three sets of doors but nobody was hurt.
The spate of violent attacks coincides with heightened conflict in the Middle East between Israel and the United States and Iran. Israel has also launched attacks on areas held by Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terror group that is banned in Canada.
Noah Shack, chief executive officer at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said the shootings were not isolated incidents, “but the latest in an escalating surge of hate, harassment and violence targeting Jewish Canadians.”
“The level of security now required to protect Jewish Canadians in Canada is shocking. These measures are necessary to ensure the safety of children going to school, families going to community centres, and people visiting their elderly parents,” he said.
Mr. Shack said the funding will help address some of the community’s immediate security needs “at a time when Jewish Canadians face serious threats.”