Toronto
Canadian police begin investigation into Chinese ‘police stations’ operating in Greater Toronto Area
- Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) stated that it is conducting an investigation into alleged criminal activity at the Chinese police stations reportedly set up in the Greater Toronto Area.
- "The (force) takes threats to the security of individuals living in Canada very seriously and is aware that foreign states may seek to intimidate or harm communities or individuals within Canada," RCMP spokesperson Camille Boily-Lavoie told CP24. "As the RCMP is currently investigating the incident, there will be no further comment on the matter at this time.”
- Spanish-based non-government organization Safeguard Defenders has been looking into what it has deemed a coordinated effort by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to force Chinese nationals living abroad accused of fraud to return home.
- The consulate general of the People’s Republic of China in Canada denied the stations’ involvement in “any criminal investigation or relevant activity,” noting that their local volunteers are not Chinese police officers.
Canada’s national police service has announced that it has begun an investigation into alleged criminal activity at the Chinese police stations reportedly set up in Ontario.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) revealed the investigation in a statement to CP24 without specifying the nature of the reported criminal activity nor the locations of the so-called police stations in the Greater Toronto Area.
TikTok users praise woman who defended friend from alleged Asian racial profiling at Toronto store
- Asian content creator Lewis Chia shared a video showing how he was racially profiled while visiting Shoppers Drug Mart on Yonge Street and Charles Street in Toronto on Oct. 10.
- The now-viral video, which was posted on TikTok and Instagram on Sunday, shows three store employees accusing him of being an alleged thief who Chia describes in his video’s onscreen text as "an Asian-fishing white man."
- Several TikTok users criticized the employees for how they handled situation, while other users praised Chia and his friend for how composed they were throughout the incident.
- Chia’s TikTok video has already garnered more than 5.8 million views and over 931,000 likes.
An Asian content creator has gone viral for sharing a video of himself being allegedly racially profiled and mistaken for a thief at a Shoppers Drug Mart in Toronto.
TikToker Lewis Chia (@lewis.chia) posted the video on TikTok and Instagram on Sunday. In the two-minute clip, three employees can be heard accusing Chia of being the alleged thief who has purportedly been stealing from their store on a frequent basis.
Thousands gather to honor Toronto police officer who was slain in Canada shooting rampage
- On Wednesday morning, over 8,000 people, including officers, politicians, family and friends, gathered for the funeral of the Toronto police officer who was slain in a shooter’s rampage last week.
- Constable Andrew Hong, 48, was ambushed and shot dead by Shawn Petry, 30, while on his lunch break on Sept. 12.
- He was one of the three people fatally shot by Petry that day before the suspect was later shot dead by police in Hamilton Cemetery.
- Hong was a 22-year veteran and a member of Toronto police’s Traffic Services Unit.
- His casket was carried to the Toronto Congress Center from the Kane-Jarrett Funeral Home in Thornhill as a parade of officers and dignitaries lined the route to pay tribute to the slain officer.
Thousands of mourners, including officers, politicians, family and friends, gathered for the funeral of the Toronto police officer who was slain in a shooter’s rampage last week.
On Wednesday morning, mourners gathered as hundreds of police officers gave solemn salutes at Constable Andrew Hong’s funeral cortege.
Toronto police officer, auto repair shop owner killed in Canada shootings
- Constable Andrew Hong, a 48-year-old member of Toronto police’s Traffic Services Unit, was ambushed and shot dead by Shawn Petry, 30, in Mississauga, Ontario, on Monday.
- Another individual at the scene was also shot. The victim, who suffered life-altering injuries, is being treated at a trauma center in the GTA.
- Petry also went to MK Auto Repairs in Milton, where he shot three individuals. The shop owner, Shakeel Ashraf, was pronounced dead at the scene.
- One of the other two victims is in critical condition, while the second is in serious condition, according to reports.
- The suspect was later located in Hamilton, where he was shot and killed by the police in the Hamilton cemetery.
- Information on the suspect’s motive and the interaction that led to his death has not been released.
A Toronto police officer and an auto repair shop owner were fatally shot while three others suffered gunshot wounds in two separate shootings before the gunman was killed by the police.
Constable Andrew Hong, 48, was at a Tim Hortons restaurant in Mississauga, Ontario, at around 2 p.m. on Monday when he was ambushed by Shawn Petry, 30, who shot him dead.
Filipino mother and daughter fatally stabbed in Toronto
- Filipino mother Elvie Sig-Od, 44, and her daughter Angelica Sig-Od, 20, were fatally stabbed by her ex-husband in Toronto on Aug. 26.
- The victims were both pronounced dead at the scene.
- Godfrey Sig-Od, the 46 year-old suspect, has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder.
- The victims’ local pastor has set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds for their funeral and to send their remains back to the Philippines.
A Filipino mother and her daughter were fatally stabbed by the mother’s ex-husband in Toronto.
Elvie Sig-Od, 44, and Angelica Sig-Od, 20, were stabbed to death by Godfrey Sig-Od, 46, inside a vehicle by Bathurst Street and Ellerslie Avenue in North York at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 26.
Toronto’s ban on single-use plastics could cripple some Asian businesses, say restaurant owners
- On July 7, Canada released regulations prohibiting single-use plastics and suggesting alternatives to reduce the environmental impact and wildlife harm of plastic pollution.
- The new measures also aim to shift Canada from a linear to a circular economy, in which the products will stay “in the economy and out of the environment.”
- To accomplish this national goal, the regulations ban single-use plastics, including the manufacture, sale, import and export of checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware (such as clamshell containers, lidded containers, boxes, cups, plates, or bowls made of polystyrene foam, polyvinyl chloride, carbon black or oxo-degradable plastics), ring carriers, stir sticks and straws.
- Asian restaurants, especially curry, ramen and pho restaurants, rely on single-use plastics to stay in business.
Canada’s new regulations prohibiting single-use plastics could severely impact Asian businesses that sell sauce or liquid products.
The regulations, announced on June 20 and set to take effect in December, aim to not only reduce environmental impacts such as plastic pollution and wildlife harm, but to shift Canada from a linear to a circular economy, where according to the regulations, the products will stay “in the economy and out of the environment.”
Police identifies woman set on fire on Toronto bus; suspect charged with first-degree murder
- Toronto police have identified the woman who died in a hospital weeks after she was set on fire on a Toronto bus last month as 28-year-old Nyima Dolma.
- Dolma was onboard a bus at Kipling Station on June 17 when Tenzin Norbu, 33, allegedly poured a flammable liquid substance on her and set her ablaze.
- She sustained life-threatening injuries and later died in the hospital on July 5.
- The suspect was arrested nearby after the incident and initially charged with attempted murder. His charge has since been upgraded to first-degree murder.
Toronto police have identified the woman who died in a hospital weeks after she was set on fire on a Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) bus last month.
Nyima Dolma, 28, was onboard a TTC bus at Kipling Station at about 12:25 a.m. on June 17 when Tenzin Norbu, 33, allegedly poured a flammable liquid substance on her and set her ablaze.
Man wanted for allegedly exposing himself in front of mother with children, others in Greater Toronto
- York Regional Police are searching for a man who allegedly exposed himself to strangers in four separate incidents in Richmond Hill, Canada, over the weekend.
- The first incident occurred on Saturday morning when the man reportedly pulled down his pants in front of a mother and her two young children.
- Authorities received three more reports the following day about similar incidents that occurred around Valmont Avenue and Waterstone Street.
Police are searching for the man who allegedly exposed himself to various strangers, including a mother and her children, in four separate incidents in Richmond Hill, Canada, over the weekend.
The first incident occurred on Saturday when the man approached the mother and her two young children at Alias Grace Park at around 10:25 a.m. and then exposed himself by pulling down his pants, the York Regional Police said in a press release on Monday.
Jeremy Lin opens basketball school in Toronto to empower Asian youth
- Taiwanese American basketball player Jeremy Lin announced that he will open a school for aspiring basketball players of Asian descent in Toronto, where he won the 2019 NBA championship with the Raptors.
- While Lin encountered racial prejudice throughout his basketball career, he hopes to inspire the next generation of Asian ballers to embrace their identities.
- “I’m passionate about players becoming better at basketball but I’m also probably even more passionate about Asian American kids growing up with confidence, with self-esteem, being proud to be Asian, which was something that I wasn’t growing up,” Lin told The Raptors Show.
- The basketball school’s program, which was developed in consultation with Lin, centers around a curriculum that incorporates physical and nonphysical activities to teach key elements of the sport, including communication and teamwork.
- While Lin regrets not using the platform he gained after sparking the cultural phenomenon known as “Linsanity,” he is now making more of a commitment to help the Asian diaspora.
Taiwanese American basketball player Jeremy Lin announced that he will open a school for aspiring basketball players of Asian descent in Toronto, where he won the 2019 NBA championship with the Raptors.
The prejudice that Lin faced throughout the early stages of his career, from racially charged insults during his college days at Harvard to microaggressions from scouts who overlooked his athleticism during his NBA draft process, put a strain on his relationship with his Asian heritage.
Simu Liu and Jeremy Lin headline star-studded basketball game for a cause in Toronto
- Jeremy Lin and Simu Liu are headlining the second Canadian Chinese Youth Athletic Association Celebrity Classic, a celebrity basketball game that aims to raise funds for the organization's new community center and the Jeremy Lin Foundation.
- Over 20 Asian American celebrities, athletes and personalities are set to take part in the special event, including Hasan Minhaj, Ronny Chieng, Steven Lim, Philip Wang and Leenda Dong.
- The upcoming game, which Liu promises to be bigger and better than the first one, is set to take place at the 2,000-seater Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport inside the University of Toronto on July 9.
- “This year, we’re celebrating Asian Americans and Canadians who have broken barriers and achieved success in Hollywood, pro sports, music, comedy, and food. We invite the city of Toronto to celebrate with us on July 9th!” Liu said in a statement.
Basketball star Jeremy Lin and actor Simu Liu are headlining a celebrity basketball game for charity in Toronto.
Over 20 Asian American celebrities, athletes and personalities are set to take part in the special event to be held in cooperation with the Canadian Chinese Youth Athletic Association (CCYAA).
Man with gun ‘arsenal’ is arrested for ‘random’ fatal shooting of Indian student outside Toronto subway
- Toronto Police arrested Richard Jonathan Edwin, 39, in connection to separate murders of an Indian student and a Toronto resident last week.
- The police found and seized Edwin’s "arsenal" of legally owned firearms, including rifles, handguns and loaded magazines.
- He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Indian international student Kartik Vasudev, 21, and Elijah Eleazar Mahepath, 35.
- They are investigating Edwin's background and are not labeling the separate incidents as hate crimes at this time.
- “It seems unlikely that these were just random crimes as police are saying,” Vasudev’s father Jitesh told The Indian Express. “The man murdered two people in a span of two days. There has to be a motive or a target and it does not come across as random.
Toronto Police arrested a suspect accused of two separate murders of an Indian student and a Toronto resident last week.
Richard Jonathan Edwin, 39, was arrested in a building by Bloor Street West and Spadina Avenue on Sunday evening. The police found and seized Edwin’s “arsenal” of legally owned firearms, including rifles, handguns and loaded magazines.
Indian student fatally shot outside Toronto subway in what family suspects is hate crime
- Kartik Vasudev, a 21-year-old international Indian student at Seneca College, was shot eight times at the Sherbourne subway station in Toronto while on his way to a part-time job on April 7.
- He was pronounced dead shortly after being rushed to St. Michael’s Hospital.
- The suspect, described as a 5’7” Black male, was last seen walking on Glen Road toward Howard Street. His motive remains unknown, but Vasudev’s family suspects the killing to be a hate crime.
- A vigil was held for Vasudev at Nathan Phillips Square on April 10.
- The Indian Consulate in Toronto is working to bring Vasudev’s body back to his family in India.
- His family has set up a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $75,000 to support his grieving parents.
An Indian international student, Kartik Vasudev, was murdered outside the Sherbourne subway station in Toronto last week.
A 21-year-old marketing management student at Seneca College, Vasudev was headed to his part-time job at a Mexican restaurant on April 7 when he was shot eight times at around 5:00 p.m. by a shooter who was described as a 5’7” Black male with a medium build.
