November 4, 2025
TORONTO – B’nai Brith Canada is urging Toronto’s integrity commission to investigate whether Mayor Olivia Chow violated the City’s Code of Conduct during the weekend, when she accused Israel of committing a genocide in Gaza.
“No international court or legal body has rendered a final or binding ruling that Israel’s actions amount to genocide,” said Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith Canada’s Director of Research and Advocacy. “The conflict in the Middle East has contributed to extreme polarization in Toronto. In this context, it was egregious and irresponsible for the mayor to callously engage in such rhetoric.”
Chow made the controversial statement during an event at Toronto’s Pearson Centre this past Saturday associated with the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM). In a letter to Toronto’s Office of the Integrity Commissioner, B’nai Brith Canada pointed out that the City’s Code of Conduct requires council members to act with integrity and impartiality.
“At a time when the mayor should be seeking to mend tensions and bring citizens together, [Mayor Chow] is contributing to the incitement and division driving Torontonians apart,” Robertson said.
Chow’s words dismayed many in Toronto’s Jewish community, which has sustained unprecedented levels of antisemitism since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. Earlier this morning, vandals defaced a Toronto synagogue, Kehillat Shaarei Torah, for the 10th time in the past 18 months.
Significant misrepresentations of Israel’s actions, including the genocide accusation, embolden those seeking to harm members of the Jewish community, Robertson told reporters earlier today.
“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.”
After writing to Toronto’s Office of the Integrity Commissioner on Tuesday, B’nai Brith Canada launched a letter-writing campaign to mobilize public support for the City to mount an investigation.