Photos and text by Bronwyn Cragg, a YCLer in Toronto (Dorise Nielsen Club).
On the evening of Friday, May 21st, IfNotNow Toronto hosted a Shabbat celebration against Israeli apartheid, Rise Up Shabbat.
Jews in solidarity with Palestine rallied in the riding of MP Chrystia Freeland (Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Foreign Affairs), demanding an end to Canada’s support of Israeli apartheid and military occupation. YCLers joined the rally in solidarity.
Canada calls itself a “great friend of Israel”, sending $13.7 million in military technology and arms to Israel in 2019 alone. Canada claims its strategic partnership with Israel “facilitates deeper cooperation in several areas, including security… and the promotion of human rights globally”. In 2018, Canada supplied $500 million worth of goods to Israel, including aircraft, machinery, electronic equipment, and “scientific and precision instruments”.
On Monday, May 24th, hundreds of Torontonians commemorated the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a 29 year old Black Indigenous woman who died after calling Toronto Police for her own safety. This memorial was organized by Not Another Black Life. A detailed report-back can be read here.
The death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet is just one in a long list of police-involved “wellness check” deaths over the past few years. In Toronto, where Regis lived, Black people make up 37% of police-involved deaths, but only 8% of the general population.
The memorial for Regis began with a cultural tribute and calls for a re-opening of the investigation. This section of the memorial was well-attended by media and marchers alike, taking place in Queen’s Park.
After the tribute, the procession continued from Queen’s Park towards Yonge-Dundas Square, where further speeches and cultural tributes were to take place.
The march proceeded peacefully to Yonge and College, where traffic was held for only a few minutes before continuing. Many attendees held signs urging defunding, divestment, and the abolishment of police in Canada.
When the memorial approached Yonge and Gerrard, it suddenly stopped. A group of Toronto Police officers on horseback began to shove and startle marchers. When a police van was spotted, it was clear what their motive was: to arrest organizers and attendees. After taking at least one organizer into custody, the memorial — relatively small, but determined, at only a few hundred strong — occupied the intersection and didn’t move until the organizers were freed. Toronto Police, however, threatened to charge and arrest attendees at a later date.
After these threats and altercations, with some of Regis’ family reportedly being attacked by police, the memorial continued to Yonge-Dundas Square. Due to the earlier interactions with police, Regis’ mother was unable to speak to the crowd. Her brother closed the memorial with another cultural tribute.