Worshippers demand safety
Ottawa faces calls asking for armed police at religious sites
The federal government is facing calls to provide funding for armed police protection for synagogues and other religious sites in the wake of the deadly shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue.
Conservative MP Peter Kent, who represents Thornhill, said he’s been approached by concerned congregation members and officials worried about their safety and seeking federal help to beef up security.
“Synagogues in my community are concerned,” Kent told reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday. On Wednesday evening, members of the Chabad Flamingo synagogue on Bathurst St. gathered to discuss the hor- rific events in Pittsburgh and ways to better protect their own place of worship.
Toronto lawyer Arnold Recht, a congregation member who also has a role in organizing security, said the mood is “anxious. Very, very anxious.
“I’ve spoken to some other congregations in the City of Toronto and the same type of palpable sense of anxiety exists within their community as well,” Recht said in an interview as he was headed to the meeting.
“Here people are going to worship at their individual houses of worship and you have to worry about your own safety and security. It’s insane,” he said. A heavily armed gunman yelled anti-Semitic slurs as he opened fire inside the Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday morning, killing 11 congregation members and wounding four police officers and two others.
Recht said that even before Saturday’s tragedy, his own synagogue had taken steps to boost security.
On Saturdays, when services are held, all doors in the building are locked except for one where a paid-duty police officer sits with a congregation member to identify those who enter.
But Recht wonders whether that would even be enough to stop a determined attacker.
Recht said he wrote this week to Ralph Goodale, the federal minister of public safety, to appeal for Ottawa’s help to pay for security for places of worship. He said he’s still waiting for a response.
The call for federal help comes at a time when anti-Semitic incidents are on the rise in Canada and the United States.
Without the promise of support, Recht is worried that some congregation members may end up taking matters into their own hands in order to ensure their safety.