Toronto police brace for large demonstrations in Toronto this weekend

Ahead of Christmas and Boxing Day, Toronto police are expecting large demonstrations in the GTA, and have shared plans to be “visibly present” in the city following recent weekend protests at Toronto malls that they say became “unlawful.”

In a Friday morning press conference, Deputy Chief Lauren Pogue said that Toronto is “unique” in that it “serves as a main stage for the vast majority of large-scale demonstrations in relation to global events.” She later added that the “vast majority” of protests relating to the Israel-Hamas war have been lawful.

But she suggested that a number of recent protests that have been staged inside Toronto shopping malls have not been lawful.

Pogue said that in the event of large-scale protests in malls police will be enforcing the Trespass to Property Act while providing demonstrators “with a reasonable ability to leave when they are asked to do so.” She said that should demonstrators refuse to leave private properties “they could be arrested.”

“Our city experiences hundreds of lawful demonstrations every year, and in fact, there have been 250 since October 7 alone,” she said. “Lawful demonstrations do not include protesting inside privately owned spaces, which includes malls, blocking critical infrastructure such as highways or hospitals, or causing disturbances at the expense of other residents and visitors to our city.”

Pogue’s remarks follow several incidents at Toronto shopping malls this week, including one at the Eaton Centre in which a protester was shown on video threatening to put someone “six feet deep.”

That incident took place as about 150 protesters gathered outside a Zara in the mall, one of several demonstrations targeting locations of the fashion retailer.

Speaking on that incident, Pogue said officers acted “with the best interests of everyone’s safety in mind,” adding that “the last thing we want to do is create a situation where somebody may get hurt.”

“Anyone whose behaviour crosses the line from lawful demonstration to criminality can be arrested, and that is either at the time of the event or in the days following,” said Pogue. “Please listen to police direction and be respectful of each other and our officers while they keep everyone safe.”

Pogue said that police are aware of a number of planned protests in the city both today and on Saturday.

Looking ahead to this weekend, she said that the TPS is “monitoring” possible protests, and asked anyone planning to protest “to do so safely, to do so respectfully, and to listen to officers’ direction.”

“We will facilitate lawful protests but we expect everybody to respect our officers who are out there to keep everyone safe and just be respectful of everyone in our city who are trying to enjoy the holidays and get things done for Christmas,” she said.

Pogue added that the Toronto Police Service has had to augment its ranks in the weeks following the attack on Israel on Oct. 7, pulling officers from Traffic Services, investigative units and instructional courses into community policing roles.