About 100 members of the Jewish and Iranian communities gathered at Queen’s Park Wednesday evening to tell Premier Doug Ford what they thought of the decision to kick MPP Goldie Ghamari out of his Progressive Conservative caucus.
Touting signs reading “Doug Ford stop caving to Anti-Semites” and “Investigate NCCM (the National Council of Canadian Muslims)” organizers spoke of how supportive the Iranian-born Ghamari has been to the Toronto Jewish community since the atrocities of Oct. 7.
”Bring her back, bring her back,” the crowd repeatedly chanted.
Ford issued a statement late last Friday before the long weekend indicating the controversial Carleton MPP was being removed for her “serious lapses in judgement.”
The removal followed a virtual meeting between Ghamari and prominent right-wing Brit Tommy Robinson to discuss the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), recently declared a terrorist entity by the Canadian government.
After the NCCM pressured the Ford government to remove her from caucus, Ghamari said she was not aware of Robinson’s background or his apparent history of Islamophobia.
He and members of his caucus were nowhere to be seen Wednesday evening.
Salman Sima, once a prisoner of the Iranian regime, said the issue with Ghamari is a “matter of freedom of speech” not just for politicians but for every Canadian citizen.
Daniel Bordman, a Jewish activist who organized the rally, said Ghamari has been a “voice of reason” in a time of “madness.”
He said the MPP has been the “first to jump up in defence” of the Jewish community whenever a politician attacks Israel and the Jews.
Bordman said Ghamari has done an excellent job and Ford “has not” despite promises to support the Jewish community.
He has sent a message for the past nine months that “anything goes,” Bordman said.
”Doug Ford has never stood with us…not for one second,” he said. “His words are empty… after nine months of chaos.”
The lawful demonstration was briefly interrupted by a violent pro-Palestinian protester, identified as Mohammad Assadi, who started to attack people in the crowd. About a half dozen police and Queen’s Park security quickly intervened and led him away from the rally
The NCCM, which has consistently trash talked Israel over the past nine months and shared propaganda about the conflict, expressed satisfaction that Ghamari was removed from Ford’s caucus:
For her part, Ghamari told True North she is not ready to speak publicly but referred to her statement of July 1 in which she stated that she is proud to speak up about the terrorist Islamic regime in Iran and how it is a danger to Canadians.
She also noted that she’s a Conservative and “that will never change.”
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