Chow under fire for missing Oct. 7 vigil, claims she didn’t get invite

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Make that a hat-trick for Mayor Olivia Chow’s “outrageous” snubbing of Toronto’s under-siege Jewish community.

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Missing the Oct. 7 commemoration can’t be glossed over. For a mayor to not attend Toronto’s candlelight vigil to remember the 1,200 people slaughtered at the hands of Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023 is seen as disrespectful to Toronto’s Jewish community.

Some 20 hours after the original inquiry into her non-attendance there, the mayor sent a statement to The Toronto Sun 

“I regret missing the event because I want the Jewish community to know I care about their safety in the city. That’s why I issued my statement early on Friday, and that’s why I look forward to meeting with UJA.”

The problem is the damage is done.

“It’s pretty telling that the mayor couldn’t bother to be there,” said Councillor Brad Bradford. “The (Israel) flag-raising she characterized as divisive, and she didn’t go to walk for Israel (because she was busy).”

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But this was not something any politician would never miss.

Everybody knew the date. The fact the mayor wasn’t noticeable at the Toronto vigil to commemorate the one-year-anniversary of the evil Oct. 7 mass slaughter in Israel by Hamas was noticed.

The tens of thousands who gathered to remember the slain, wounded, kidnapped and missing knew the mayor was absent.

“The mayor was not there,” Councillor James Pasternak told the Sun. “I didn’t see her, and she wasn’t in the elected official’s tent. I was there from 5 (p.m.) to 9 (p.m.). I did ask her last week whether she was coming, and she didn’t know.”

The mayor’s office said the mayor did not receive an invitation to the memorial at the Barry and Honey Sherman campus of the United Jewish Appeal Foundation at Bathurst St. and Sheppard Ave.

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But Premier Doug Ford received his and was there. Former Mayor John Tory, too. Amongst the many elected officials were Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie; provincial cabinet ministers Stephen Lecce and Peter Bethlenfalvy; MPs Kevin Vuong, Marco Mendicino, and Ya’ara Saks; and Councillors Bradford, Josh Matlow and Dianne Saxe.

So where was Chow?

On Oct. 4, she put out a statement expressing concern over rising anti-Semitic hate crimes and wrote, “hate against any people practising their faith is not welcome here. Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, hate and violence in all its forms, are not welcome here.”

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Actions always speak louder than words. Like Toronto Police officers who were upset the mayor didn’t come to the hospital when one of their own was shot, many in the Jewish community won’t forget this snub.

But Chow’s spokesperson denied it was a snub.

“We don’t have an invitation,” said Arianne Robinson, adding “we didn’t receive an invitation.”

But Michelle Stock, a vice president with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs — which handled the invitations on behalf of the UJA —  said, “the denial by Mayor Olivia Chow’s office that she was not invited is categorically false.”  She shared with the Sun a copy of the invitation emailed to the mayor’s staff on Sept. 23, which said “I am writing to follow-up an email sent to Mayor Chow inviting her to attend UJA’s Oct. 7 Commemoration Event.”

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Stock said the mayor’s office had contacted the UJA Tuesday suggesting they did not receive the invitation but “the mayor was absolutely invited to the Oct. 7 event and was sent an invitation on no less than three separate occasions. Our original invitations were sent through a mass email distribution service we regularly use for these types of events and were received without issue by many politicians . . .The first email was sent on Sept. 3, and a follow-up was on Sept. 10. After receiving no reply to those, on Sept. 23, a follow-up email was sent to the mayor’s executive assistant to make sure the first two emails were received by the mayor’s office.”

Robinson blamed technical issues for not getting the emails: “The bulk email and forwards of the bulk email did not come through to our office. We have created multiple new points of contact with CIJA so we don’t miss invitations to important events.”

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But excuses for missing Jewish events to commemorate the dead or kidnapped is not sitting well with the community. It’s not the first time this tactic has been seen.

When she missed the walk of Israel in June, Chow nonsensically told Newstalk 1010 morning man John Moore, “there was the fire (at St. Anne’s Church)” and “I just can’t be everywhere at the same time.” Chow’s social media shows she manages to get to, and dress up in costume for, many events, including this past weekend’s Nuit Blanche celebration.

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The mayor missed something very special in this vigil in that it was a peaceful example of good people coming together for the betterment of all society.

Unlike at Queen’s Park where people, on the very day to remember the slain, were masked up like villains and thugs from a horror movie — and letting off smoke canisters while chanting about the end of Israel — here was a collective of Torontonians praying for the safety and happiness of all humanity. It all happened under the protection of a heavy police detail, providing a reminder of the danger Jews face.

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Instead of being at this event, the mayor was at the Crooked Cue on Bloor St. W. in Etobicoke, meeting with members of Balance on Bloor from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Organizer Cody MacRae said both the mayor and Councillor Amber Morley were there for the full 90 minutes listening to concerns of residents looking for an alternative plan to putting bike lanes on roads there.

On until 9 p.m, there was plenty of time to get to the vigil, with or without an invitation.

“Naturally, we were disappointed that the mayor did not attend,” said Pasternak. “This was an event of sombre mourning and remembrance and was not a political event.  The Jewish community has been under siege and targeted for a year by angry mobs, and there must be a strong statement against this harassment.”

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The mayor needs to step up and be there for the Jewish community at this time.

“This begs the question as to whether Mayor Chow truly desired to participate and attend or whether they were looking for an excuse to not attend and wanted to deny receiving an invite,” said Stock. “Regardless, we did send an invitation, and we certainly will not apologize for an email sent to her staff that remained ignored. Unfortunately, this is not the first time CIJA has requested meetings with the mayor and have not received a response. Despite this incident, we remain committed to engaging with her and her team in support of making Toronto a safe space for the Jewish community and tackling anti-Semitism.”

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It’s going to take a lot of work to repair what was broken here.

Bradford called Chow missing the vigil “outrageous,” saying he feels it was a dereliction of duty.

“You have got to show up and got to be the mayor for everyone,” said Bradford. “You have got to show up for all your residents and there were 20,000 Torontonians there last night who were grieving and suffering and there is an element of comfort when you see the people leading the city.”

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Bradford added that politicians wanted to send a message that “you are not alone; you are not forgotten, and we stand with you. Her absence sends the exact opposite message.”

Chow after all has managed to make it to everything from Caribana to grilled cheese festivals with no issue.

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