After re-election, Olivia Chow needs to 'show up' in order to gain Jewish community's trust, leaders say - National Post

Copy URL Facebook Linked In X (Twitter) Loading account options Sign In Manage Account Close account menu Sign Out Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow addresses media at Nathan Phillips Square the day after winning the election in Toronto, Ont. on Oct. 29, 2026. (Ernest Doroszuk / Postmedia) By Courtney Greenberg November 2, 2026 at 4:58 p.m. Last Updated: November 2, 2026 at 6:02 p.m. Mayor Olivia Chow’s re-election is not yet seen as a victory among many in Toronto’s Jewish community, but Jewish groups suggest she still has an opportunity to gain trust.

“Under her leadership to date, it is simply a fact that Toronto has emerged as an unacceptable flashpoint within a global crisis of antisemitism, and it’s not only Toronto’s community that’s noticing this,” B’nai Brith Canada CEO Simon Wolle, a Toronto resident, told National Post.

“People around the world are talking about the untenable situation for Toronto’s Jews.”

On Oct. 28, Chow was re-elected, beating city councillor Brad Bradford. The following day, speaking to media, Chow said she would be “mayor for everyone,” the Canadian Press reported.

“Well, I think that there is a large segment of the Jewish community that feels that so far, the mayor has not been one for them,” said Wolle.

Another Jewish advocacy group, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said in a statement following the election that “attention now turns to the commitments made during the campaign and the work still ahead.”

CIJA said Chow made promises “to build on policing investments, expand security funding for vulnerable institutions, and continue efforts to address antisemitism and hate.”

“The election may be over, but the responsibility to deliver results is just beginning. Statements condemning antisemitism and other forms of hate must be matched by concrete action.”

B’nai Brith Canada publishes an annual audit on antisemitic incidents across the country. Last year, there were a total of 6,800 incidents, ranging from vandalism to threats of violence.

In Toronto, synagogues have been shot at, events featuring Israeli speakers have been disrupted and Jewish-owned businesses have been targeted. Not far from Toronto, in Belleville, Ont., a gunman opened fire on a synagogue on Yom Kippur in late September, in an attempt to attack its congregants. A police officer stationed outside was severely injured.

Wolle added that there have been ongoing protests in a predominantly Jewish area of the city “with masked participants, sometimes waving flags of terrorist organizations, chanting hate, spewing division, and intimidating and harassing Jewish Torontonians.”

“(Chow’s) allowing for the incitement and division to fester here,” he said.

Chow was notably absent from a debate on antisemitism held at a synagogue in September. She also did not to attend Toronto’s March for Israel over the summer. However, she did attend events like Toronto Pride Parade and Caribana festival.

“When the mayor takes those types of calculated steps to show up for one community and not another, it sends a very clear signal to anyone who’s paying attention that one thing matters and another does not,” Wolle said.

“The inference from her choices and actions to date embolden those who would like to take a position that the Jewish community of Toronto simply does not matter.”

When asked how Chow could win over the approval of Jewish Torontonians, Wolle said all she had to do was show up.

“She needs to take the necessary and sufficient steps to protect public order,” he said. “We want the mayor to step up. We want the mayor to own any mistakes that she’s made to date, and to take the corrective measures to move this city in the right direction.”

B’nai Brith and other partners from the community are willing to help her, said Wolle. “With this election, the mayor should take a good look in the mirror and say, ‘I can do this. I can change course in the city.'”

In a statement posted on X after Chow’s re-election, B’nai Brith Canada said while it acknowledged her win, the status quo was “unacceptable.”

“We look forward to addressing the challenges facing Torontonians, including the surge in antisemitism and extremism, and protecting human rights for everyone in the city,” it said.

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