Toronto Trump protest planned
By
Jenny Yuen, Toronto Sun
First posted: Saturday, November 12, 2016 04:48 PM EST | Updated: Saturday, November 12, 2016 06:55 PM EST
In anti-Trump protests across America, flags are burning, interstates and highways are blocked and a man was shot and wounded during a march in Portland.
But organizers planning Toronto’s rally against U.S. president-elect Donald Trump on Nov. 19 are hoping for a more peaceful – but still fierce – gathering.
As of Saturday afternoon, more than 1,200 people said on
Facebook they’d be going with another 4,100 interested in attending. The event starts at City Hall at noon with protesters planning to march to the Trump International Hotel and Tower at Bay and Adelaide Sts.
“This election was difficult to watch for many minority groups and women and we just wanted an outlet for our voices to be heard,” said 21-year-old Kayla Perry, who met Paige Zambonelli and Claire Nola at an online group called, “Toronto Against Trump,” which sparked the trio to create the event.
“We’re getting posts from across Canada and that shows that Canadians really are interested in the American election and what happens in America affects Canadians — whether or not through international relations, free trade or NAFTA. In America, we see someone who has made sexual assault comments towards women and in his policies and platforms. That sends a dangerous message to Canadians.”
Trump won the presidential election with 290 electoral votes to Hillary Clinton’s 232, with Michigan still to be determined. However, protesters are citing Clinton’s edge in the popular vote — something that has never been used to determine a presidential contest before — as reason to question the president-elect’s legitimacy.
The Toronto event’s rhetoric also cites his “hateful rhetoric.”
“We as Canadians will help our neighbours by showing that misogyny, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, sexism, sexual assault, ableism, transphobia and violence are absolutely intolerable,” says a post.
There have been nightly protests in the U.S. since Trump’s election win Tuesday night with more demonstrations expected throughout the weekend.
Multiple requests to Trump’s press office for comment were not returned Saturday.
However, Trump has previously tweeted from his verified Twitter account, “Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!”
But then in a follow-up tweet, pulled a 180-degree turn.
“Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!” he wrote.
jyuen@postmedia.com
The Facebook page for a planned Toronto Donald Trump protest on Nov. 19. (Facebook)
Toronto Trump protest planned | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun
Hamilton judge reportedly wears 'Make America Great Again' hat in court; Councillor wants him fired
THE CANADIAN PRESS
First posted: Saturday, November 12, 2016 02:52 PM EST | Updated: Saturday, November 12, 2016 06:59 PM EST
A city councillor in Hamilton says a judge who reportedly wore a hat showing support for Donald Trump in the courtroom should step down or be removed from the bench.
Coun. Matthew Green spoke out on social media Friday following a report in The Globe and Mail that Judge Bernd Zabel — who works in a Hamilton courthouse — wore a hat that read “Make America Great Again,” a campaign slogan used by the U.S. president-elect.
In his statement, Green said Ontario’s judicial system should steer clear of politics.
“I certainly would not feel like I was getting an unbiased decision if I walked into a court of law and saw a ’Make America Great Again’ hat, knowing that this week the Ku Klux Klan is about to hold a victory rally for ... Trump in North Carolina,” he said Saturday.
The city councillor called on the Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice to remove Zabel from the bench if he does not resign, and the
Hamilton Spectator reported that a complaint against Zabel has been filed with the Ontario Judicial Council.
Green noted that judges are specifically told not to participate “in any partisan political activity” in the Principles of Judicial Office, a document created by the Ontario Court of Justice.
But the guidelines are “advisory in nature,” the document explains. They’re there so judges have a sense of what is and is not appropriate, and so citizens know what to expect of them.
In the social media statement, Green argued that because of the “clear racism, sexism and xenophobia” in the American election, Zabel’s display could “underscore the distrust many Canadians feel” towards the justice system.
“Who holds him accountable?” Green asked. “For me to have a political opinion, that’s what I was elected to do.”
“If this Judge Zabel wants to be a politician, then I encourage him to step down from the bench and run for office. He’s got no business in the political arena, as per his Principles of Judicial Office.”
Troy Riddell, a professor who specializes in judicial politics at the University of Guelph, wrote in an email that the judge wearing a hat supporting Donald Trump may be enough grounds for the Ontario Judicial Council to take disciplinary action beyond just a warning. But he added that he “would be surprised if the council recommended removal from the bench.”
“We do not know if Justice Zabel supported Trump’s anti-establishment narrative, or his policies on trade or ISIS, or the darker undertones of Trump. This differs, for example, from judges who have directly made inappropriate comments about women or minorities,” he wrote.
The Canadian Press was unable to reach Zabel or Lise Maisonneuve, the Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice, for comment on Saturday.
Hamilton judge reportedly wears 'Make America Great Again' hat in court; Council
