In late December, Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner sent a letter to the Toronto Police Service (TPS) calling for a crackdown on what he described as “hate, intimidation and harassment-motivated offences.” In the letter, Kerzner specifically cited Palestine solidarity demonstrations, describing a peaceful demonstration inside the Eaton Centre as a “mob intimidation and harassment,” and denouncing protests near Bathurst and Sheppard.
In response, TPS Chief Myron Demkiw highlighted the fact that police have arrested more than 460 people and laid more than 1,000 charges related to protests and potentially hate-motivated offenses over the past two years.
Legal experts worry that this type of pressure will encourage TPS to further criminalize protest movements and limit civil liberties. “Any left-wing protest is packed to the brim with police ready to brutalize and harass participants,” criminal defence lawyer Matthew Campbell-Williams told The Grind. He describes Kerzner’s letter as “ridiculous,” pointing out that the vast majority of the charges laid against protesters at Palestine or Indigenous solidarity rallies have not been held up in court. “The reason is very clear: they are criminalizing protests with bogus charges to scare people from speaking up,” Campbell-Williams says.
In January, the Crown dropped all criminal charges against nine people who were arrested during an Indigenous-led, pro-Palestine demonstration in support of Freedom Flotilla Coalition that took place in Toronto last fall. The Crown stated that it withdrew the charges “for lack of public interest based on the need to be judicious with respect to the use of court resources.”
Since October of 2023, about 170 people have been arrested as a result of Palestine solidarity actions, according to legal observers. Of those, 154 were charged criminally by police and 16 received trespass tickets. Of the 96 people who have had their charges resolved so far, only two have been convicted, while the rest have had their charges withdrawn, stayed or received discharges.
This article appeared in the 2026 Feb/Mar issue.
