A Toronto man has been sentenced to 120 days of house arrest after verbally assaulting two Muslim teenagers on a city bus, in what an Ontario judge described as a crime against the values of all Canadians.
Blacklock's Reporter says the black 44-year-old security guard was convicted of uttering threats and causing a disturbance after shouting racist and violent insults at two young women wearing headscarves on a Toronto Transit Commission bus in 2023.
Witnesses said the women were quietly talking when the man began yelling, “Go back to your country,” “Go back to Dubai,” and “I will cut your f—king heads off.”
Passengers intervened, triggering an emergency stop, while the victims broke into tears.
The bus driver, also black, later testified that the man seemed “more pathetic than intimidating.”
The accused, who cited financial stress and fatigue after a long work shift, apologized during the proceedings and acknowledged the need for greater respect toward others.
Justice Brock Jones condemned the outburst as cruel and corrosive to a pluralistic society.
“Offences that target vulnerable victims due to their immutable characteristics strike at the beating heart of our shared values,” he wrote in his sentencing decision.
“An offence motivated by bias, prejudice or hate is not merely an offence against an individual victim, it is also an offence against their community and indeed all of Canada.”
In addition to house arrest, the man must complete 50 hours of community service, attend mandatory counselling, and serve 18 months’ probation. He was also ordered to pay $400 in victims’ surcharges.
Jones cited a growing trend of hate-based crimes in Canada. According to Statistics Canada, police-reported hate crimes rose by 32% year over year in 2023. Jews, despite representing less than 1% of the population, remained the most frequently targeted group.
“Canadian law recognizes the fundamental dignity and worth of all human beings,” Jones wrote. “Criminal courts must demonstrate their commitment to these values by issuing sentences that genuinely reflect the moral culpability of those who transgress against them.”