Toronto police say they arrested six people at Christie Pits Park where a large anti-immigration rally and counter demonstration took place Saturday afternoon.
Police said one man was arrested for assault at an ongoing demonstration in the Bloor Street West and Christie Street area at around 12:40 p.m. in a social media post. In an update posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after 3 p.m., Toronto Police Service said six people were arrested at the demonstration.
Attendees gathered at the Toronto park Saturday afternoon for a demonstration dubbed the Canada First Patriot Rally. In an Instagram post, organizers said they were calling for a stop to “mass immigration.”
“This is the time for true Canadian patriots to stand together. Our country is changing fast and not for the better. If we don’t fight for what we have, we will lose it,” the post’s description reads.
The Canada First rally’s organizer Joe Anidjar said the demonstration was about “putting Canadian people first, putting our country first.”
“At the end of the day, when you allow millions of people from other countries around the world, it puts strain on our resources,” he told Radio-Canada at the rally Saturday.
Hundreds of other people also came to the park Saturday for a counter rally, aiming to show support for migrant communities.
“The park has a rich history of anti-fascist organizing. To this day, it’s an important gathering space for migrants, Indigenous people, queer and trans people, survivors of sexual violence, unhoused people, artists, students, and families,” says a statement from organizers posted on the Ontario Federation of Labour’s Facebook page.
Workers’ Action Centre executive director Deena Ladd, who was at the counter rally on Saturday, said the Canada First rally organizers were unfairly blaming newcomers for social problems.
“I really want them to know that they that that they shouldn’t be blaming immigrants for the economic issues that they’re putting forward,” Ladd told CBC Toronto.
“They’re blaming our communities for the fact that we can’t find affordable housing, blaming our communities for the fact that there’s not enough food in food banks and that people can’t get the health services that they want. That’s not the fault of immigrants.”
Coun. Dianne Saxe (University-Rosedale) said in a statement dated Aug. 26 that she was appalled individuals would choose to hold an anti-immigrant rally at a park like Christie Pits and said the rally “does not represent what we stand for as a city or as Canadians.”
“Rather, it’s reflective of an effort by its organizers to seek and gain undeserved notoriety through intimidation, puffery, and stoking division rooted in the belief that immigrants somehow struggle less, work less, or contribute less to our country,” she said in the statement posted to X.
Police said Bloor Street West was closed around Christie Street for a few hours Saturday and drivers should expect delays near Bay Street and on Yonge Street and Wellesley Street. Police have since said all roads have reopened as demonstrators reached Sankofa Square.
TPS said it will release more information on the arrests at a later time in a news release.
