{"id":772445,"date":"2026-07-01T03:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T03:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/772445\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T03:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T03:08:11","slug":"toronto-mayors-flippant-palestine-comment-sparks-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/772445\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto mayor’s ‘flippant’ Palestine comment sparks backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow\u2019s comments made during the Pride Parade on Sunday has at least two citizen groups in a fighting mood. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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The Downtown Concerned Citizens Organization (DCCO) sent out a press release on Tuesday following a story in the Toronto Sun<\/a>\u00a0regarding\u00a0the mayor\u2019s public support for the Palestinian cause,\u00a0much\u00a0to the chagrin of the\u00a0city\u2019s\u00a0Jewish community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMayor Olivia Chow\u2019s latest divisive and flippant comment at last weekend\u2019s Pride Parade illustrates just how tone-deaf this individual is toward the Jewish population and Toronto taxpayers,\u201d the DCCO release said.
During the parade, the mayor was approached by an advocate from the Free Palestine movement during an interaction caught on video.
\u201cCan we get a \u2018Free Palestine,\u2019\u201d the supporter wearing black sunglasses and a black T-shirt asks in the video. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The mayor obliges. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYes. Free Palestine,\u201d Chow says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u2018Blatant display\u2019 of antisemitism?<\/p>\n

Lori Nausbaum, a member of the Downtown Jew Crew, said the mayor\u2019s comments were a \u201cblatant display of her antisemitic attitude, a clear message to us that she just doesn\u2019t care about all constituents,\u201d she said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Neither organization filed a formal complaint with the city, but the release said other community groups have taken their complaints to a higher authority and not for just Sunday\u2019s remarks, but for other hurtful comments made by the mayor in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeveral community groups have filed complaints with Paul Muldoon, the city\u2019s integrity commissioner, and the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, alleging that Chow\u2019s repeated use of terms like \u201cgenocide in Gaza\u201d and her public stances violate city codes of conduct,\u201d the release said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The integrity commissioner<\/a> is a neutral, independent officer who oversees the conduct of elected and most appointed officials at the City of Toronto. The integrity commissioner is appointed by city council for a fixed, non-renewable five-year term and operates independently of city council and city administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Article content<\/p>\n

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Play VideoWill Chow take a hit at ballot box?<\/p>\n

The Toronto Sun sent an email to Muldoon\u2019s office\u00a0asking for the number of groups that\u00a0had\u00a0filed a complaint. The Sun also asked when a decision in this case would be forthcoming. Muldoon did not respond to the email nor did anyone from his staff. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The DCCO said the mayor will feel the sting at the ballot box on Oct. 26, when the municipal election is held.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis issue, among many others, is why the Downtown Concerned Citizens Organization, representing 61,000-plus residents and business operators, will not be supporting Mayor Olivia Chow in the next municipal election,\u201d the release said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ganderson@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Article content Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow\u2019s comments made during the Pride Parade on Sunday has at least two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":772446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44],"class_list":["post-772445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=772445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}