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"Members of Toronto's LGBTQ+ community are raising questions about the appointment of the city's new chief of police, Myron Demkiw, following his official swearing-in on Monday.
Specifically, they want to know how an officer who participated in the infamous Pussy Palace raid has become the city's top cop.
Chanelle Gallant, a community activist and one of the original Pussy Palace organizers, is demanding answers from Toronto Mayor John Tory.
"Mayor Tory appointed someone who, from what we can tell, is an old school cops' cop who brings a kind of lack of accountability and a willingness to... violate the human rights of Toronto residents," said Gallant.
In September of 2000, six male Toronto police officers raided a bathhouse event for queer women and transgender people by what was known as the Pussy Palace Collective. Organizers said the party was designed to help women explore their sexuality in a supportive setting.
In 2002, an Ontario provincial court judge ruled that police were wrong to raid the event and a subsequent class-action lawsuit resulted in an apology by police.
Shortly after Demkiw's appointment in September, news broke that he had participated in the raid."
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#myron demkiw#toronto#toronto police#ontario#canada#cops#police#cops tw#police tw#pussy palace raid#toronto news#ontario news#canadian news#mine#cdnpoli
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Canadian police chiefs condemned on Friday the death of a Black man who was savagely beaten by police during a traffic stop in the United States, saying the officers involved must be held accountable.
The condemnation of the actions that led to Tyre Nichols' death came as authorities in Memphis, Tenn., released a video of what happened.
The footage shows officers holding Nichols down and striking him repeatedly as he screamed for his mother.
'I am profoundly saddened,' Toronto chief says
Nichols died three days after the Jan. 7 confrontation. The officers, all of whom are Black, were charged Thursday with murder and other crimes.
Chief Myron Demkiw of the Toronto Police Service offered sincere condolences to Nichols' family and friends. He said the actions of the officers in Memphis will have long-standing impacts on communities in Toronto and would have a disproportionate effect on some members of the Black community.
"I am profoundly saddened by the murder of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee," Demkiw said in a post on Twitter. "On behalf of the Toronto Police Service, I condemn the violent actions of the officers involved."
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A Toronto man has been charged with public incitement of hatred after police allege he held a "terrorist flag" during a demonstration last weekend.
Police say the 41-year-old man allegedly waved a flag of "an organization listed as a terrorist group by Public Safety Canada" while marching through the city's downtown on Sunday.
Speaking at a Toronto Police Services Board meeting Thursday, police Chief Myron Demkiw called the charge "unprecedented," noting the "very high threshold" to charge anyone with a hate propaganda offence.
"We're not putting up with this kind of hateful conduct," said Demkiw, at a news conference Thursday.
"This type of allegation points to an extremist, hateful perspective that we do not welcome in the city."
Police have not confirmed what the flag depicted or what group it was associated with. Speaking to the board, Demkiw said he would "not be complicit in providing a platform to both acknowledge or promote the hateful ideology."
The man is set to appear in court in Toronto on Feb. 23.
Antisemitic incidents make up 53% of reported hate crimes since Israel-Hamas war began: Toronto police
2 Toronto councillors say they want fire at Jewish-owned deli probed as possible act of terror
The chief said Toronto has seen more protests since the start of the Israel-Hamas war than any other city in Canada, and those demonstrations have escalated recently.
He also announced Thursday that demonstrations on the Avenue Road bridge over Highway 401 will now be prohibited as they pose a threat to public safety and have made many in the surrounding Jewish community feel intimidated.
Demkiw said people who ignore the ban can expect to be arrested "if necessary" and any activities that take place on the bridge will be investigated "with a criminal lens."
2 antisemitic hate crimes reported so far in 2024
Demkiw also provided the board with the latest details on the force's hate crime statistics, saying hate crime calls to Toronto police were down in December.
Demkiw said there were 10 reported hate crimes last month compared to 48 in November — a 48 per cent decrease. The shift is the first to come after the force raised alarm about the sustained spike in calls starting Oct. 7.
He called the recent figures "good news" but warned antisemitic incidents are still a major concern, representing a majority of all hate crimes in 2023. There were 132 total incidents reported compared to 65 in 2022.
This year, there have been two antisemitic hate crimes reported so far, one of which was a suspected arson attack against a Jewish-owned deli store in North York.
To date, the force also received 145 reports from people using the recently launched hate graffiti web form, police said.
"Let me be clear and unequivocal, our commitment to keeping our city's Jewish community safe is unwavering," Demkiw said.
"I will say this once again and as many times as necessary: violence and hate will not be tolerated."
It was the PFLP flag,
Demkiw and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met on Wednesday to discuss the recent and "alarming" increase in antisemitic incidents and what more can be done to keep Jewish Canadians safe. The meeting came after two Toronto councillors asked the federal government for help fighting antisemitism in Toronto.
"As partners, we'll continue to do what is necessary to tackle hatred in all its forms," Trudeau said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
From October to December, the force received an average of 190 hate-related calls, up from the average of 47 for all the months prior in 2023.
Demkiw notes the second highest increase were LGBTQ+ hate crimes, going up from 40 in 2022 to 66 reported in 2023 There was also 35 reported anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab hate crimes last year compared to 12 the year prior, marking it the third highest category.
Between Oct. 7, 2023 and Jan. 10, 2024, the force said its arrested 54 people, resulting in 117 charges related to hate crimes. The most common charges were mischief, assault and uttering threats.
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Police are seeking to identify four suspects after a couple was held at gunpoint during an early-morning home invasion investigators say around 2 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27, a male suspect broke into a home in the area of Beaverdams Drive and Audubon Street near Taunton Road West by smashing the basement window. He then allegedly unlocked the rear door of the home, allowing three more suspects to enter the residence.
The suspects found a male resident in the living room and forced him up to the second floor, where two of the suspects held him and his wife at gunpoint the two other suspects raided the home and stole several items, including phones, handbags, jewelry, and an undisclosed amount of money.
After the suspects fled the home, the man called police from a nearby gas station and did not suffer any injuries in the incident.
Staples Canada laid off an unspecified number of head office staff this week as the U.S.-owned chain takes $1.75 million Ontario taxpayer dollars for store retrofits to install ServiceOntario outlets opened inside Staples Canada locations on Thursday and will offer extended evening and weekend hours. Three new Southern Ontario sites are in the GTA, including Oakville, Newmarket, and Scarborough.
CityNews learned earlier this week that the provincial government was giving Staples $1.75 million for retrofitting as officials said the deal would save $900,000 over three years government has not responded to multiple requests to see the business case or share more information on where the savings will come from.
Bonnie Crombie, Ontario’s Liberal Party leader, is asking Premier Doug Ford to be more transparent about the decision to move ServiceOntario outlets into Staples Canada stores, saying she has “deep concern” about the province’s “continued backroom deals letter addressed to the Premier, Crombie urged Ford to start answering questions about his government’s sole-sourced deal and “end the ServiceOntario cover-up.”
On Wednesday, Ford continued to deflect responsibility on the deal, saying that different officials negotiated and that he wasn’t behind the move.
Toronto’s spending plan for the next year still includes a record tax hike for Toronto homeowners — but it won’t be as high as initially proposed presented the final budget in Scarborough on Thursday morning, confirming a 9.5 percent property tax hike, as was previously reported by CityNews. The new rate is one percent less than the 10.5 percent tax that was recommended in January.
The new tax hike would still be the highest since amalgamation and would eclipse the seven percent increase former mayor John Tory pushed through last year.
Toronto is facing a budget deficit of nearly $1.8 billion “would only accelerate the decline of our transit system,” says Chow.
She also revealed, as part of her first budget as mayor, the city plans to foot the bill for Scarborough’s much-anticipated busway and fully fund the east-end transit corridor that will be built in place of where the Scarborough RT used to run. Transit advocates have been calling for the dedicated bus route since the RT stopped running last summer.
The TTC prematurely shut down Line 3 Scarborough RT due to a derailment. Chow says the 2024 spending plan will be able to cover the nearly $70 million cost of the replacement transit route.
The mayor has pointed to police spending as an area where the city could come away with significant savings. Toronto police will see a bump in their budget, but it will still fall $12 million short of what police chief Myron Demkiw has been asking for warned the cut would create an “unacceptable risk” to public safety. The board had asked for an increase of $20 million.
Opponents argue adding more money to the police budget doesn’t correlate to a safer city. A recent University of Toronto study found no consistent relation between police funding and crime rates across 20 Canadian municipalities, including will go before the city council on Feb. 14 and Mayor Chow has previously indicated that she would not use the strong mayor powers to push her budget through.
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CANADA: Toronto leaders acknowledge injustice against indigenous communities on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw marked the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging the harm done by Canada’s schools and the ongoing impacts of historical injustices on Indigenous communities. Demkiw urged all Canadians to learn more about their country’s history and the experiences of Indigenous peoples.
Pamela Hart, Executive…
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If we want greater trust in our police, let's open up the process of hiring chiefs
If we want greater trust in our police, let’s open up the process of hiring chiefs
This column is an opinion by Alok Mukherjee, an academic, human rights advocate and former chair of the Toronto Police Services Board. For more information about CBC’s Opinion section, please see the FAQ.
Are Toronto’s chief of police-designate, Myron Demkiw, and his Ottawa counterpart, Eric Stubbs, fit to hold the top jobs given their past history? Did the police services boards that chose them…
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Mysterious and Supernatural Series: Violent Massacres
I’m always humbled by how cruel humans can be to other humans, gun laws are getting tighter here in Canada but are the government going after the right people? So many illegal guns cross the borders daily and end up in street crimes.
Some mass murders that we don’t want to think about but maybe we should remember.
Facts:
- largest mass murders with guns, December 29, 1890, hundreds of USA troops surrounded a Lakota camp and opened fire, killing more than 300 Lakota, women, men and children
- in the Philippines in 1639 a Chinese community of 17,000 - 22,000 people were slaughtered in a joint Filipino-Spanish (indigenous inhabitants).
- Chios massacre March - July 1822, Istanbul massacred 52,000 Greeks on the island of Chios during the Greek War of independence
- in 1933-1945, Hitler had 6 million Jewish people brutally murdered, an act of Ethnocide
- 1831 - 1996, cultural genocide the murders of countless native children in Canada’s Residential Schools
There’s been a ban on handguns in Canada
- yet in 2021 4/10 (41%) of homicides were firearm related
- firearm related violent crime typically represent less than 3% of police-reported violence in Canada
- recent estimates indicate that 26% of Canadian households own at least one firearm - August 2022
- Toronto Deputy Chief Myron Demkiw testified 86% of crimes involving guns, were guns that were smuggled into Canada (mostly from the US via USA/Canadian borders)
- banning gun owners to purchase or transfer firearms is not going to stop gun violence in Canada when over 80% of crimes involving firearms are illegal firearms, I’m not saying stop the ban, what I am saying is don’t just assume this is all going to just disappear.
in the News
10 of the worst mass murders in Canada | The Star
Most of the crime guns seized in Toronto are smuggled into Canada from U.S.: police | National Post
10 Most Brutal Massacres in History | RealClearHistory
‘Cultural genocide’: the shameful history of Canada’s residential schools – mapped | Indigenous child graves | The Guardian
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Women at centre of Pussy Palace bathhouse raid decry Myron Demkiw's appointment as Toronto's next police chief
Women at centre of Pussy Palace bathhouse raid decry Myron Demkiw's appointment as Toronto's next police chief
Two women directly impacted by a raid at a downtown Toronto women’s bathhouse more than 30 years ago are speaking out about the appointment of Myron Dewkiw as the city’s next chief of police.
Source: CP24 Women at centre of Pussy Palace bathhouse raid decry Myron Demkiw's appointment as Toronto's next police chief
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"A group representing women affected by an infamous bathhouse raid is questioning the appointment of Myron Demkiw as Toronto Police chief.
In an open letter, which was provided to the Star, members of the Toronto Women’s Bathhouse committee, who were subjected to the raid of the popular Pussy Palace event for queer women and trans people at a rented bathhouse on Mutual St. in 2000, say they oppose Demkiw’s promotion because of his involvement in the operation.
“In your two year hiring process, the communities you consulted told you that they have significant concerns about police accountability,” the letter sent Tuesday to Mayor John Tory and Toronto Police Services Board chair Jim Hart. “What message does the appointment of an officer who has been directly involved in a breach of civil liberties send to those communities?”
Demkiw was then a member of the service’s now disbanded vice squad when he and four other male officers carried out a raid that an Ontario judge would later call a “flagrant” violation of charter rights.
The ticketed and licensed Pussy Palace events were intended to be a sex-positive, safe space for members of the LGBTQ2S+ community to meet, drink and play.
“With the appointment of Mr. Demkiw, Mayor John Tory and the TPS board have shown that they have little interest in meaningful action on the concerns raised by historically oppressed communities regarding unchecked police power,” the letter says.
The chief position is selected by the Toronto Police Services Board, of which Tory has been a member since he was first elected in 2014."
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#ontario#toronto#toronto police#myron demkiw#pussy palace raid#john tory#lgbt#lgbtq#lgbt+#lgbtq+#cops#police#cops tw#police tw#homophobia#transphobia#lesbophobia#queerphobia#mine
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"Toronto Mayor John Tory says he will push to increase the city's police budget, saying inflation and a "fraying at the edges" of community safety make the move necessary.
Tory made the comments recently in a wide-ranging year-end interview with CBC Toronto. The mayor would not give specifics about the ask which will come to city council next month when budget deliberations begin in earnest. But after constraining the police budget when he was first elected in 2014, he believes it's now time to grow the services' $1.1- billion annual spending package.
"I will be advocating that (police) should get an increase, and that it's an increase that I think is entirely justifiable," Tory said. "When I go to the neighborhoods where there's been a shooting that's taken place … they want more money spent on police, they want more police officers."
Earlier this month, new Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said he too would ask city council to hike the service's budget. Response times for calls are not where they should be, he said.
Tory said any increase will be done "responsibly" and within the limited funds of the city's budget, which opens the year with a $1.4-billion deficit. He stressed that a cut would not be appropriate."
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#cdnpoli#canada#canadian politics#canadian news#canadian#toronto#ontario#john tory#toronto police service#toronto police
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The number of hate crime calls to Toronto police has risen since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out earlier this month, the police chief has said.
During Thursday's Toronto Police Services board meeting, Chief Myron Demkiw said the daily average of hate-related calls for service increased by 132 per cent since the Israel-Hamas war began.
"This reflects an escalation in hate-motivated incidents and also heightened public tensions," Demkiw said during his monthly verbal update.
The chief noted that some hate crimes police have verified include mischief, uttering death threats and criminal harassment.
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The Toronto Police Services Board has voted unanimously in favour of a 1.7 per cent increase in the police's net operating budget next year to bring their funding to nearly $1.2 billion — an increase of $20 million from the 2023 budget.
In a Dec. 11 report to the board, police said the budget increase would allow them to hire about 300 new uniformed officers by the end of the year to help improve 911 response times and hire about 100 new staff to fill civilian roles.
Chief Myron Demkiw said the budget committee received feedback from the community, leading them to request the increase.
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#cdnpoli#canada#canadian politics#canadian news#ontario#toronto police services#police funding#acab#defund the police#abolish the police
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A proposed class-action lawsuit has been launched over Toronto police's historic use of “carding,” alleging the practiceof randomly stopping people and collecting their information continues to harm marginalized communities.
The statement of claim filed yesterday is on behalf of all Black and Indigenous people who have been stopped by Toronto police or had their information collected without reason since 2011.
It names the Toronto Police Services Board, current police chief Myron Demkiw and former chiefs James Ramer, Mark Saunders and Bill Blair as defendants.
It alleges that the carding practice, officially abandoned years ago, violated Charter rights protecting against unreasonable search and seizure, arbitrary detention as well as discrimination and rights of liberty and security.
Toronto police and the Toronto Police Services Board say they will not be commenting on the case as the matter is before the courts. [...]
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A man is facing charges after a mosque in the city's east end was vandalized twice in what police are treating as a suspected hate-motivated incident, Toronto police say.
Investigators confirmed on Friday that both incidents happened at the same mosque in the area of Danforth and Donlands avenues on Oct. 6 and Oct. 12.
Police said a man painted "hate symbols" on the front of the mosque in the first incident and a man left "hateful writing" on the front of the mosque in the second incident. Officers were called to the mosque on Oct. 6 at about 7:30 p.m. and again on Oct. 12 at about 12:50 p.m.
In a news release Saturday, Toronto police said a 42-year-old man from Burlington, Ont., has been arrested and charged with mischief/damage of property not exceeding $5,000 and two counts of obstructing/interfering with property.
"Investigators consulted our specialized Hate Crime Unit and are treating this case - involving hateful symbols and messages painted on a mosque - as a suspected hate-motivated offence," Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw wrote in a post Saturday on X, formerly Twitter. [...]
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Toronto’s police chief is standing by the decision to appoint an officer cleared after killing two black men and accused in court of beating a third in the 1990s, even as a city councillor is asking questions about the hiring decision.
In answers to questions from CTV News Toronto at an unrelated press conference, Chief Myron Demkiw said Supt. Rick Shank was investigated decades ago by police watchdogs.
He said Shank has been performing “at the highest level” since and deserved a promotion to lead the professional standards unit, which is responsible for liaising with police watchdogs and officer accountability.
“He was exonerated and cleared. And he has been an exemplary police officer serving our public, keeping our city safe,” Demkiw said. [...]
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#cdnpoli#Toronto#Ontario#racism#anti blackness#antiblack violence tw#police brutality tw#Toronto Police Service
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