In the fifteen months since October 7, an absence of leadership has turned Toronto into a city that many don’t recognize. Even more upsetting, for some it has turned into a city where they don’t feel safe.

It seems almost weekly that a Jewish-owned business, community centre or synagogue is targeted by vandalism or protests. A Jewish girls’ school, Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary, has been shot at on three separate occasions. Neighbourhoods have been deliberately targeted for protests because of their Jewish populations.