Remembering Christie Pits as a Call to Counter Modern Extremism in Canada

Drawing on family history, Noah Shack recounts how his grandfather fought in the 1933 Christie Pits riot, a clash ignited by a homemade Nazi swastika banner that drew over 10,000 participants. He contends that Canada now confronts a new wave of foreign-sponsored hatred, referencing multiple ISIS-inspired plots stopped by security services and recent assaults on Jewish communities, synagogues, and the U.S. Consulate in Toronto.

Secretary of State for Combating Crime Ruby Sahota warned that some attackers were paid by a foreign entity, while Police Chief Myron Demkiw described a pattern of “criminals for hire” targeting diplomatic and Jewish sites. In response, a new armed anti-terrorism police unit patrols high-traffic public spaces. Shack urges Canadians to emulate past solidarity—such as the Italian-Canadian support during the original riot—and to back governmental measures that protect civil liberties, citing Prime Minister Mark Carney’s remarks on the failing civic compact for Jewish Canadians.