TORONTO — Mayor Olivia Chow will not attend Tuesday night’s mayoral debate on antisemitism and public safety, held on the first night of Jewish Leadership in Canada Week — a week the city proclaimed in her name.Jewish Lawyers of Canada scheduled the forum for 7 p.m. at an undisclosed synagogue. About 1,200 people are expected. Only registrants received the address. Police and private security will be on site. Coun. Brad Bradford and former federal immigration minister Chris Alexander are confirmed. Canadaland founder Jesse Brown is moderating. Chow’s campaign says she is not formally launching until Sept. 9 and will not do candidate events before then. She is booked for a Daily Bread Food Bank debate on Sept. 14. Bradford and Alexander are on that stage too. The mayor’s office had not added to that explanation by deadline.The group had been in contact with her team since Aug. 7 and announced the debate Aug. 18. President Eric Frydman said the invitation has no expiry. Brown said organizers would have moved the night if the calendar were the problem, and that he would have stepped aside as moderator if he were the problem. Former mayor John Tory told CTV News the no-show is “a big mistake.” The municipal election is Oct. 26..Frydman cited Toronto police figures showing anti-Jewish incidents accounted for 82% of religion-motivated hate crimes reported in the city in 2025. Overall hate crimes were up 40% in the opening months of 2026 from the same stretch of 2025. Spokesperson Shirven Rezvany said Jewish safety is a “top priority,” that “there is more work to do,” and that Chow “believes it is unacceptable that Jewish community members need police presence to go to Shul, to a community centre, to drop their kids at child care, or to take part in any aspect of Jewish cultural life.”Chow missed a 2024 Oct. 7 anniversary vigil and said it was a missed email. She skipped an Israeli flag-raising at City Hall, calling it “divisive.” In November 2025 she described Israel’s conduct in Gaza as genocide. On July 30 she voted with a unanimous council motion on the rise in antisemitism and hate incidents. She has condemned attacks on Jewish institutions and rejected claims she has not taken the file seriously.The city proclamation for this week says Toronto “remains committed to confronting antisemitism and all forms of hate and discrimination.” The debate built around that commitment is tonight. The mayor will not be in the room.
