Author | Writer | Social & Allyship Advocate
Toronto. No longer are the hills alive again. Ciao!
The Sound of Music may well be celebrating its 60th anniversary. Yet Toronto, with its distinct and somewhat colourful past, will, this coming November 17, 2025, reach a pinnacle in its scandalous, tawdry history.
Among Toronto mayors, whose inappropriate behaviours included crack smoking, being a landlord of a brothel, having an illegitimate child, grabbing opponents by the throat, and refusing to stand for “O Canada,” all got my attention.
It was the first Jewish mayor, Nathan Phillips, Toronto’s longest-serving mayor, who became known affectionately as “the mayor of all people”. In the ensuing years, Toronto’s two other Jewish mayors, Phil Givens and Mel Lastman, as well as another mayor whose maternal grandmother was Jewish, helped to bring a sense of civility and inclusiveness to the city.
But since taking office in 2023, civility and inclusion have all but been forgotten by the current mayor.
Last year, Toronto’s mayor, although invited, did not attend the Toronto vigil marking the terrorist attack in Israel by Hamas that killed 1,200 babies and adults and the taking of 250 hostages of all nationalities and religions. More than 20,000 people reportedly attended the sombre evening.
Earlier this month, speaking at the National Council of Canadian Muslims’ fundraising gala, the mayor was reported to Toronto’s Office of the Integrity Commissioner for proclaiming Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza is a genocide.
Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith’s director of research and advocacy, stated: “At a time when the mayor should be seeking to mend tensions and bring citizens together, [the Mayor] is contributing to the incitement and division driving Torontonians apart.”
Robertson added, “Words from those in power shape the climate in which we all live. When that influence fuels division instead of unity, the results are often felt in shattered glass and shaken communities.”
And in 2024, in an Israeli flag ceremony at City Hall to mark the country’s independence, the event was not attended by the Toronto mayor, who called the event “divisive” in a statement.
On November 17th, 2025, Toronto will experience another of the mayor’s power-tricks that will undoubtfully horrify both Jew and non-Jew alike.
City Hall, Toronto, will raise the “State of Palestine Flag, celebrating the State of Palestine Independence Day (November 15).”
Indeed, Toronto. No longer are the hills alive again. Ciao! •