As last month’s Toronto city council meeting stretched late into the evening, a debate began that the mayor and some of her council allies had been trying to avoid.
For months, some city councils, Queen’s Park and Parliament have seen fierce clashes over how to respond to the Israel-Hamas war, and an escalating death toll in Gaza.
Councillors and city hall insiders tell the Star there has been a focus on private, sometimes difficult conversations and behind-the-scenes advocacy over how best to deal with local issues, from the safety concerns of the city’s Jewish community to the Charter rights of pro-Palestinian protesters, with the mayor trying to stick to the middle ground and avoid a blowout that would both be unhelpful to the business of city hall, and irresponsibly sow further division in an already tense city.
