Arrest made after candidates threatened

Toronto mayoral candidates are back to public campaigning this weekend after a nerveracking pause while police sought a man suspected of threatening violence against them.

Campaign officials reacted with sighs of relief after police announced the arrest of a man alleged to have made remarks about shooting mayoral candidates while brandishing what appeared to be a gun.

During roughly 12 hours Thursday, between the alleged threat and the arrest, candidates and campaign officials expressed concern and paused plans for public appearances. Candidates were offered home protection from plain clothes officers.

A Thursday evening mayoral debate at OCAD University was cancelled.

By Friday, campaigning in the June 26 election to replace John Tory had fully resumed as Junior François Lavagesse, 29, of Toronto appeared briefly in court after being charged with two counts of weapons dangerous, carrying a concealed weapon, uttering threats and failure to comply with a recognizance order.

Police say officers were called Thursday morning to a “public location” near Greenwood Avenue and Mortimer Avenue in East York.

They were told a man had “made threatening remarks about shooting Toronto mayoral candidates” and “brandished what appeared to be a firearm.”

According to criminal information filed with a North York court, Lavagesse is alleged to have carried a concealed black handgun “for a purpose dangerous to the public peace” on Wednesday.

A day later, he is alleged to have sent a threat to “cause death” to mayoral candidate Ana Bailão via Facebook messenger.

Lavagesse was charged on March 5 with allegedly sexually assaulting a Toronto woman whose identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban.

It was the first known threat during the byelection period that started April 3.