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Matthew Taub: Toronto has lost confidence in its police leadership

Hank Idsinga’s bombshell claims of antisemitism and leadership failure in Toronto Police demand action

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When someone who spent decades inside a police service starts raising concerns publicly, people pay attention. Former Toronto police homicide inspector Hank Idsinga has done exactly that, and what he has alleged should concern every resident of this city.

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Idsinga has stated publicly that antisemitism exists within the senior ranks of the Toronto Police Service, describing incidents in which officers used antisemitic language toward Jewish colleagues and community members. He has also pointed to anti-Black racism within policing culture and described broader dysfunction at senior levels. More troubling still, he suggested that those same senior figures were involved in decision-making around policing protests that affected Jewish communities, raising serious questions about whether bias may have influenced operational responses.

Matthew Taub: Toronto has lost confidence in its police leadership Back to video

If true, that is not a perception problem. It is a leadership problem. And the reaction has been telling. Calls for investigation are growing. When those who know the system best are raising alarms, and the system answers with silence, the problem is no longer isolated. It is leadership. But here is the reality no one can ignore. A police chief cannot investigate himself.

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I filed a formal application with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario against the City of Toronto, the Toronto Police Services Board and Chief Myron Demkiw, alleging systemic enforcement failures affecting Toronto’s Jewish community. The respondents sought to have the case dismissed. The tribunal itself issued a notice of intent to dismiss, requiring me to provide submissions explaining why the application should proceed. I did. The adjudicator accepted those arguments. The case was not dismissed. It has now been allowed to move forward, and we are heading to mediation on May 27.

That matters. Because it means these concerns have not only been raised publicly, they have been tested procedurally and deemed serious enough to proceed.

For more than two years, Toronto’s Jewish community has raised alarms about safety, intimidation and inconsistent enforcement. Synagogues have been surrounded by demonstrations. Jewish schools have required heightened security. Neighbourhoods have seen repeated protest activity directed at Jewish institutions. Rhetoric has escalated. Fear has become normalized. And enforcement has too often appeared inconsistent.

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Policing cannot function under selective enforcement. The legitimacy of law enforcement depends on the principle that the same rules apply to everyone. For many Jewish Torontonians, that clarity has been missing.

I have raised these concerns repeatedly since October 7. I have spoken publicly, documented enforcement patterns and appeared before the Toronto Police Services Board to address these issues directly. What is now being alleged by Idsinga, a veteran insider, aligns with what many in the community have been experiencing. That matters. Because it suggests this is not a series of isolated incidents. It points to something systemic.

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Then came Project South, a sweeping corruption and organized crime investigation that resulted in criminal charges against multiple individuals, including serving members of the Toronto Police Service. No chief controls every officer. But leadership defines culture, sets standards and is responsible for oversight. When corruption reaches into the ranks, when officers lose trust in command and when communities feel unprotected, the question is no longer whether leadership is aware. The question is whether leadership is effective.

And the failures did not stop there. Recent remarks by Deputy Chief Frank Barredo seemed to suggest that protecting Jewish communities draws officers away from other policing priorities. For a community already under threat, that message was not just concerning. It was disqualifying. Protecting vulnerable communities is not a diversion from policing. It is policing.

Then came the shootings. Multiple synagogues in the Greater Toronto Area were targeted with gunfire in March. And yet Chief Demkiw took nearly twenty hours to issue a personal statement. Twenty hours. After more than two and a half years of escalating warnings, leadership still responded with delay. For many in the Jewish community, that was not surprising. It was confirmation.

The city has lost trust. Police members have lost faith. And now a senior insider is publicly alleging the very cultural failures the community has been warning about. At some point, the pattern becomes undeniable. When corruption investigations emerge, when internal trust collapses, when minority communities feel unprotected, and when credible insiders raise alarms about bias within leadership, accountability is no longer optional. It is required.

And that responsibility does not stop with the chief. The Toronto Police Services Board exists to ensure accountability at the highest levels. When failures accumulate over the years, oversight bodies must act. As chair of the board, Shelley Carroll bears responsibility for maintaining confidence in police leadership. That confidence is gone.

For the integrity of the Toronto Police Service, for the safety of Toronto’s Jewish community and for the credibility of policing in this city, Chief Demkiw must resign immediately. Councillor Shelley Carroll must step down as chair of the Toronto Police Services Board.

Toronto cannot investigate its way out of a leadership crisis led by the same leadership. Restoring trust requires a reset. And if leadership will not step aside, it must be replaced.

Matthew Taub, Founder and Executive Director of Unapologetically Jewish. A nationally registered non-profit fighting antisemitism.

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