WARMINGTON: Will Olivia Chow attend this year's Walk with Israel?

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Known for dressing up at events, Olivia Chow does not have to wear a United Jewish Appeal T-shirt Sunday if she doesn’t want to.

But, her council colleague says it would be appreciated if the Mayor joins the 50,000 or so other Torontonians expected to participate in the UJA’s 56th annual Walk with Israel event – or at least just make a brief appearance to wish everybody well.

“She would be welcomed,” Councillor James Pasternak said Friday. “We will have a T-shirt for her. I will even give her mine.”

The Mayor’s presence would not only mean a lot to the Jewish community, which has been under siege, it would also take some heat off the chief magistrate for her previous snubs.

It would also send a message to the antisemitic movement that the city’s top politician wants to see an end to all intimidation and hostility toward Toronto Jews.

And it would help Toronto Police control things better and be fitting in a city that celebrates every culture. No one knows that more than Chow.

In the past month she’s been to, and dressed up for, many events.

Chow attended the Director’s Guild of Canada meeting on Friday. She handed out awards to Toronto’s medics on Wednesday. A week earlier, on May 14, Chow dressed in black and white like the rest of the participants and joined in the Second Harvest truck pull, and she dropped by Allan Gardens for the re-opening of the Palm House.

She was also recently on hand donning a Toronto Maple Leafs baseball sweater to celebrate the first woman to play pro ball at Dominico Field in Christie Pits.

Chow spoke during the launch of Police Week at Mooredale House’s Mayfair, went to the opening of the new St. Lawrence Market building, wore an orange shirt and tulip scarf at Netherlands Liberation Day, did some street events in her Maple Leafs blue and white for the NHL playoffs, wore red and sat up in a new electric fire truck, had a mayor’s lunch at the zoo, met with Latin American visitors to strengthen business and cultural ties, found time for a photo-op on the TTC’s subway at Bloor-Yonge station, went to Etobicoke in traditional dress with Premier Doug Ford for the Sikh community’s Khalsa Day.

The Mayor also wore red for Red Dress Day to “stand with indigenous communities,” attended the Walk so Kids Can Talk for youth at Ashbridges Bay Park, went to the annual police memorial Remembrance Ceremony, wore pink at the cherry blossoms event at High Park and attended the Farm Justice event while still having time to open the seasonal washrooms in city parks for the summer.

In April, she also attended a steady stream of events, including rightfully going to a meeting to combat Islamophobia.

Chow has been busy.

“Other than prime minister, I think the mayor of Toronto is a job with the most demands on a politician’s time,” Pasternak said.

While she didn’t attend the Walk with Israel event last year and was a no-show at Toronto’s one-year anniversary vigil for the Oct. 7 slaughter at the Israel-Gaza border, Pasternak has invited her to come out Sunday.

She has not indicated to him, or the Toronto Sun, her plans.

“When it comes to Israel, it’s something she keeps her distance from,” Pasternak said. “It’s disappointing.”

He said if the Mayor decides to attend he will be “pleasantly surprised” and she will be greeted warmly and with respect.

Hopefully the participants will be treated well as well.

Deputy Police Chief Lauren Pogue promised Friday police will be noticeable.

“We are aware of plans by some individuals to interfere with the event,” she said. “Our top priority is the safety and security of everyone.”

“Toronto Police will have a strong presence in and around the event, supported by policing partners from York, Durham, Peel, and the OPP,” Pogue added.

There has been internet memes suggesting there’s a planned counter protest, dubbed Walk Against Israel, that is said to have brought in rioters from November’s pogrom in Amsterdam, but it’s unknown how real those threats are.

Police are ready for any contingency.

“You’ll see officers on foot and on bicycles patrolling surrounding neighbourhoods,” Pogue said. “We continue to uphold the right to peaceful assembly and expression. But intimidation, harassment, hate speech, or criminal behaviour will not be tolerated.”

“Anyone engaging in criminal activity can expect to be arrested,” she cautioned.

Pogue said “there will be a designated area for protest, which is intended to reduce tensions and help avoid confrontations” and police “are committed to maintaining public order, enforcing the law, and ensuring that everyone can exercise their rights lawfully and without fear.”

While he doesn’t believe the people who ruined the “prime minister of Italy’s dinner with Trudeau,” or took over Union Station, shopping malls, the Gardiner Expressway and blocked intersections, are going to stay in a designated protest area, Pasternak said the police have a good plan and he believes it’s going to be a “safe and fun” event for families.

“It’s a family walk-a-thon. It will be fun,” Pasternak said. “Between 40,000 and 50,000 people will be there.”

But will Mayor Olivia Chow be?

jwarmington@postmedia.com