WARMINGTON: Chow may have said 'sorry;' Jewish community not buying it

Article content

Mayor Olivia Chow has finally said she is “sorry.”

Or has she?

The only problem is it’s not clear what she is sorry about or to whom she is directing the apology.

“I regret that I missed the memorial hosted by UJA and CIJA this week. I should have been there. I am sorry,” the mayor said in a statement e-mailed to The Toronto Sun Wednesday evening. “Oct. 7 was a deeply painful day, during an extremely difficult year. I mourn the tragic loss of lives with the Jewish community by the horrific acts of Hamas. This is the largest number of lives lost since the Holocaust.”

Is Chow saying she’s sorry that she missed the candlelight vigil of 10,000 mourners at the United Jewish Appeal Federation Sherman Campus on Bathurst St. Monday night because of an alleged invitation mix-up? Or is she saying sorry to the Jewish community for what they see as a deliberate snubbing?

She has not clarified this. The mayor, who attended a Rosh Hashanah event at City Hall Wedneday, will want this to go away.

“She has a lot of work to be done to really show she does care for our community and is not just paying lip service to her statement,” said Michelle Stock, a vice president with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).

But in the mayor’s statement, she appears to be doubling down on the baffling assertion that computer issues in her office resulted in her not receiving an invitation to the vigil, even though many other politicians manage to find there way there.

“There was a miscommunication between my office and the organizers, but that is in the past,” said Chow. “We have created multiple new points of contact with CIJA, so we don’t miss invitations to important events. I look forward to meeting with UJA and CIJA, the organizations who put on the event.

This was all news to CIJA who say they have not heard directly from Chow or her office. They do not see this as a formal or proper apology. It’s not in the past for them.

“We’re waiting for her to apologize to us, the Jewish community directly and not through media,” said Stock, adding they “hope her office will reach out to us and schedule a meeting.”

Also, noticeably absent from Chow’s statement was any acknowledgement that the Toronto Police Association is also looking for an apology for her not showing up at the hospital after a 53 Division constable was shot last week. Remember the Toronto Police have been out at protests every night since Oct. 7, 2023. As a result of this protests, Toronto’s Jewish community has seen a rise in anti-Semitic crimes, and they don’t feel safe.

While Chow did say “I know there is fear in our city amid a substantial rise in hate crimes. I denounce all forms of anti-Semitism and hate in our city,” CIJA and the UJA say they are not feeling any sincerity.

“Her record on these issues have been inconsistent and suspect,” said Stock. “But I look forward to hearing from her or her team on when we can meet to discuss these issues and how she will tackle them.”

So, while Chow might like to see an end to this whole sorry mess, it’s not over yet.

“She should apologize publicly,” said Councillor Brad Bradford, adding “she should say it to the community.”

Recommended video

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

He’s right. The community is not buying the narrative that the mayor did not know this event was happening or did not receive an invitation — especially since Jewish Councillor James Pasternak said he personally asked Chow if she was going to attend this event, and that the civic leader told him that she did not know.

CIJA also produced emails of the invitation which were sent directly to her scheduler.

Chow also told Newstalk 1010 morning man John Moore “you are absolutely right; I should have been there,” and offered the excuse that she “got caught up in the long discussion of bike lanes in the Kingsway area where emotions got high, and the meeting went quite long and by the time it was done, I was exhausted.”

But that meeting was over at 5:30 p.m. Premier Doug Ford works long hours, too, and was there. Former mayor John Tory made it, and so did Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca.

The truth of the matter is Chow’s tenure and relevancy as a mayor is teetering. There are already calls starting to mount for her resignation — not just because she failed to attend such an important event. There’s also the mayor’s perceived obfuscation and word parsing that is beneath the intelligence of citizens who know a snow job when they see one.

What has been coming out of her office since missing this must-attend memorial has been amateurish and disrespectful.

“I wondered if it got spammed or whatever,” Chow told Moore of the email not coming through.

It’s such a ridiculous notion, and no one is buying her “she-didn’t-receive-an-invitation claim.”

In her own Oct. 4 statement, she referenced there would be vigils as part of the Oct. 7 weekend. She doesn’t need an invite. It’s her city. She is the mayor, and people were in need, and she was not there for them.

“We have felt abandoned,” said Stock. “She needs to show us that she genuinely wants to work with the community, speak out against anti-Semitism and demonstrate how she intends to create an environment where the Jewish community can feel safe to live and work here in Toronto.”

That will only come from a proper, heart-felt, in-person apology to the Jewish community, which has not happened yet.