TORONTO — Toronto police say officers will maintain an increased presence in the downtown core on Saturday as thousands are expected to attend a demonstration marking Al-Quds Day.The rally is scheduled for 3 p.m. outside the U.S. consulate on University Avenue. Police said both demonstrators and counterprotesters are expected to gather in the area.The event is being organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement, Al Quds Day Toronto and Lebanese 4 Palestine. Promotional material for the rally circulating on social media calls for “no war on Iran and Lebanon.”Toronto Police Service Supt. Craig Young said during a Thursday news conference that additional officers will be deployed around the area.“As with any large-scale event in our city, the public will notice an increased police presence in and around the areas where activities are expected to occur,” Young said.Young said the priority for police will be ensuring public safety and monitoring for potential hate speech or hate-motivated incidents.“There are concerns about the potential for hateful rhetoric, as well as the possibility of confrontation between individuals or groups with opposing views,” he said.“In Canada, people have the right to assemble and to express their opinions. Those rights are fundamental. At the same time, everyone must respect the law.”Police said restricted airspace will be in effect above and around the consulate throughout the weekend, prohibiting all drone operations. Authorities also warned that temporary road closures and disruptions could begin as early as noon on Saturday in parts of the downtown core.Al-Quds Day is an annual international event intended to express support for Palestinians and protest Israel’s policies toward Palestinian territories. Critics of the event argue that Al-Quds Day promotes antisemitism and hostility toward Israel..Thousands of demonstrators participated in a march in downtown Toronto during last year’s observance, joining similar demonstrations held around the world.Toronto city councillor Brad Bradford, who has declared his intention to run for mayor later this year, sent a letter Thursday asking the city solicitor to explore legal options to cancel the demonstration, including seeking an injunction.In an interview, Bradford said he believes public safety concerns should be considered in light of recent incidents in the city.“The temperature is way too hot for this type of a march,” he said. “I think we have to do everything to protect people’s safety in the context of the events in the world that we’re living in.”Bradford said he had not yet received a response from the city solicitor as of Thursday evening.The protest comes days after shots were fired at the U.S. consulate in Toronto early Tuesday morning, an incident the RCMP described as a national security investigation. Toronto police said Thursday that officers had located a white SUV believed to be connected to the shooting.The RCMP said it is working with Toronto police and international partners, including the FBI, as the investigation continues..Following the incident, the national police service said it had increased security measures at U.S. and Israeli diplomatic sites in Toronto and Ottawa, though officials did not provide details about those precautions.Police have said it is too early to determine a motive for the consulate shooting or whether it is connected to the broader conflict in the Middle East.Authorities in the United Kingdom recently approved a request from police to ban the Al-Quds Day march in London, citing concerns about the scale of the event and potential clashes between protesters and counterprotesters. Organizers there said they plan to hold a static protest instead.Young said the legal framework in Canada differs from that in the United Kingdom.“There is a different legislative framework in the United Kingdom versus here,” he said. “However, rest assured that we do have lots of authorities that we can rely on should things get out of hand here, as well as lots of resources to deal with it.”The demonstration is taking place amid heightened tensions in the Middle East following a series of military strikes and retaliatory attacks involving Iran, Israel and the United States earlier this year.
