Maple Express | September 25, 2026 Nine Islamic Schools on High Alert After Threatening Emails

Source: CP24

1. Nine Islamic schools on high alert after threatening emails

Multiple police forces across Canada are investigating threats made to Islamic schools after the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) said nine of its schools received an email this week threatening violence. The association said the same anonymous email was sent to schools in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec over a 24-hour period. The email, signed by a "Citizen Vigilante" and shared with The Canadian Press, threatens the "slaughter" of Muslims and vows Canada will be "Islam free." MAC spokesperson Nabil Sultan, whose own child attends a MAC school, said he was devastated to read the letter and that the organization has hired paid security to keep students safe. Peel Regional Police said Friday they are aware of a letter "containing hate-motivated threats" against Islamic institutions and have increased overnight patrols near mosques and schools, continuing into the weekend, with its hate crime unit investigating. Police in London, Ont., Waterloo region and Ottawa also said they are investigating similar emails. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said he is "deeply disturbed" by the threats, saying every child deserves to learn in safety. Sultan said the threats come amid a backdrop of rising Islamophobia in Canada, pointing to recent atrocities against Muslim communities, including the 2021 killings of four members of the Afzaal family in London, Ont., which was ruled an act of terrorism, and a 2017 Quebec City mosque shooting that left six worshippers dead. The latest Statistics Canada data shows police-reported hate crimes against Muslims rose by more than 170 per cent between 2020 and 2024. Sultan said students feel "scared and vulnerable" walking past security and police on their way to class, and that the threats raise tough questions about who gets to be considered Canadian.

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2. Toronto police say victims in burning vehicles were shot

Toronto police said Friday that two people found dead inside burning vehicles in Scarborough and Etobicoke earlier this week were homicide victims. The first incident occurred just before 11:25 p.m. on Sept. 21 on Reesor Road, between Steeles Avenue and Old Finch Road, in Scarborough, where a vehicle fire was reported and first responders later found a body inside. About 90 minutes later, another vehicle fire was reported at James Garden Park on Edenbridge Drive in Etobicoke, near Royal York Road and Dundas Street, and a body was also found inside. Det.-Sgt. Henri Marsman said autopsies confirmed both men sustained fatal gunshot wounds prior to the fires. The Scarborough victim has been identified as 32-year-old Marcus Charles, a Scarborough resident identified through fingerprints; the second victim has not yet been identified. Marsman said Charles' body was found inside a rental vehicle, while the vehicle in the second homicide was stolen from somewhere in the GTA. Investigators believe Charles was killed within a 24-hour period before the fire. He said it is too early to tell if the vehicle fires are connected, and that both victims were targeted with no ongoing threat to the public. No suspect information has been released.

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3. Ontario high school teachers to hold strike vote

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation announced Friday that its members will vote on a strike mandate from Nov. 6 to 16, joining all of Ontario's other major education unions in scheduling strike votes that month, including those representing elementary and Catholic teachers. OSSTF president Martha Hradowy said the unions are collectively demanding the government invest more in public education. "We are standing together for publicly funded education because regardless of which union you belong to, we are all facing the same pressures," she said. A large strike mandate would strengthen the union's bargaining position and send a clear message of unity, she said, adding a strike vote does not necessarily mean a strike will happen. Current education contracts expired at the end of August, but negotiations are stalled as the Ontario Labour Relations Board decides which issues should be bargained centrally and which should be left to local unions and school boards. A spokesperson for Education Minister Paul Calandra said the government will be ready to negotiate once the labour board process concludes, adding that "premature strike threats do not serve the interests of students."

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4. Toronto police identify 72-year-old woman shot dead outside hospital

Toronto police have identified the woman shot dead outside a hospital Monday afternoon as 72-year-old Karen Swatogor. Police said Swatogor and her husband were found with gunshot wounds in a parking lot outside Providence Healthcare, in the area of Warden Avenue and St. Clair Avenue West. Despite life-saving measures, Swatogor and her husband were pronounced dead at the scene. She is the city's 26th homicide victim of the year. Police previously said Swatogor was a patient at the hospital, and a firearm was recovered at the scene. In Friday's news release, investigators reiterated they are not looking for any outstanding suspect. Police did not name the husband, and the circumstances surrounding the shooting remain unknown.

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5. Suspect arrested in unprovoked TTC bus assaults

Toronto police said Friday that a man suspected of assaulting at least five people on TTC buses has been arrested and identified as 37-year-old Michael Ye, of no fixed address. He has been charged with five counts of assault. The first incident happened Wednesday on a TTC bus on Midland Avenue between Silver Star Boulevard and Huntingwood Drive, where the suspect allegedly assaulted four passengers unprovoked before fleeing. The four victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries. According to the North American Muslim Foundation, one victim was a woman wearing a hijab who was struck as the suspect entered the bus and suffered a concussion. The second incident happened Thursday afternoon on a TTC bus travelling south on McCowan Road, where the same suspect allegedly assaulted a passenger unprovoked before fleeing; he was later located and arrested. The incidents are not being investigated as hate-motivated, but police said the Hate Crime Unit had been notified and that the other victims were not "visibly Muslim." The TTC condemned the assaults, saying the matter was being treated seriously.

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6. Subway, GO and road closures expected this weekend

Toronto commuters should plan ahead this weekend, with a TTC subway closure, GO train service adjustments and major road closures in effect. Starting around midnight Friday, TTC Line 1 between Finch and Sheppard-Yonge stations will be closed for planned signal work until the end of service Sunday. Shuttle buses will be available, along with Wheel-Trans on request, and regular service resumes Monday, Sept. 28. On Sunday, Bloor Street will be closed between Bay and Bathurst streets from 9 a.m. to noon for the Bloor Street Mile run. A partial closure is also expected on the northbound lanes of Avenue Road between Bloor Street West and Cumberland Street, and the southbound lanes between Bloor Street West and Lowther Avenue, from 9 a.m. to noon. Several GO lines have weekend service alerts. On the Stouffville line Saturday and Sunday, there will be no train service between Old Elm and Union stations due to construction, with GO bus route 71C running direct between Union Station Bus Terminal and Unionville GO before making all stops to Old Elm GO, and route 71E direct to Unionville GO before all stops to Mount Joy GO; there will be no GO service at Milliken, Agincourt or Kennedy GO. The Lakeshore East line also has planned construction, with hourly trains between Durham College Oshawa and Ajax GO, and no GO service at Rouge Hill, Guildwood, Eglinton, Scarborough or Danforth GO.

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7. Mississauga stabbing victim dies; charge upgraded to second-degree murder

Peel police said Friday that the victim of a stabbing in Mississauga earlier this month has died, and the suspect's charge has been upgraded to second-degree murder. The incident took place around 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 6 in the area of Dixie Road and Dundas Street East. When police arrived, they found a man suffering from serious stab wounds who was taken to hospital in critical condition. The next day, police arrested and charged 42-year-old Lorena Sanchez of Mississauga with attempted murder. On Sept. 10, the victim died from his injuries and the homicide bureau took over the investigation. On Sept. 18, the charge against Sanchez was upgraded to second-degree murder. Anyone with information is asked to contact the homicide bureau.

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8. Ford not worried about Volkswagen battery plant delay

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Friday he is not worried about a two-year delay in the opening of a massive Volkswagen electric vehicle battery plant in southwestern Ontario. PowerCo Canada, a Volkswagen subsidiary, said the delay at the $7-billion factory in St. Thomas is due partially to a downshift in EV market demand. PowerCo also announced it has hired EllisDon as general contractor for the next phase, saying the delay will allow for next-generation battery technology while retaining flexibility to scale as market conditions evolve. Ford said he is confident the plant, set to be Canada's largest EV battery facility, will be completed and operational within a few years. "I'm feeling good that they're building the fourth largest facility building in the entire world, 16 million square feet," Ford said. "What would make me worried is if they said they aren't building, but they're building and it's going to be a massive, massive facility." Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli was equally bullish, calling the ongoing construction a great news story. The plant was announced in 2023, with the federal government committing $700 million in upfront capital costs and Ontario kicking in $500 million, with the two governments providing $1.4 billion including some loans, and upward of $13 billion in production-linked subsidies on the table. Opposition parties disagree: NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the delay is not good news for workers who need the jobs, while Liberal legislator Stephanie Smyth said she worries the delay is a precursor to a shutdown. Ford had a vision for an end-to-end EV supply chain that he aggressively pursued after winning his second term in 2022, envisioning critical minerals mined and refined in northern Ontario and shipped to battery plants in the south. But several manufacturers have since delayed or cancelled plans: Honda delayed its Alliston EV battery and assembly project due to dwindling demand, Umicore put its eastern Ontario cathode plant on hold, GM ended BrightDrop electric van production in Ingersoll, and Ford delayed EV plans in Oakville in favour of F-Series gas trucks. Stellantis' Windsor battery plant with LG Energy Solutions, NextStar, pivoted to storage batteries, and LG bought Stellantis out. The auto sector has also been hit hard by U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war with Canada.

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9. RCMP arrest four in alleged Pearson drug smuggling bust

Four people have been arrested and charged as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged drug smuggling at Canada's largest airport, the RCMP said Friday morning. Anoshan Alfred, 33, of Alliston; Jeffrey Woolcock, 40, of North York; Jermaine Thompson, 32, of Toronto; and Renaldo Clarke, 42, of North York face charges related to attempting to traffic cannabis out of Canada. Police said a months-long investigation by the RCMP, Peel Regional Police and the Canada Border Services Agency resulted in the seizure of 95 kilograms of cannabis. Despite repeated requests from W5, the RCMP did not provide details on the employer or positions held by the four suspects. A total of 12 people have been arrested in just over a year in relation to alleged drug smuggling at Canadian airports; the RCMP arrested two Air Canada employees at Montreal's Trudeau airport in August, and six Pearson baggage handlers were charged last year. Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said the safety of Pearson depends on the integrity of those entrusted to work within it. A recent W5 investigation into airport corruption revealed a surge in drug smuggling at Canadian airports — mainly at Pearson — through "bag-tag switching," in which a corrupt employee takes the tag off an unsuspecting passenger's luggage and attaches it to a suitcase filled with drugs headed to that passenger's destination; if the drug bag makes it through to the carousel it is picked up by a courier, and if not, the innocent passenger faces the consequences. RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Vladimir Napoleon said the new arrests aren't related to bag-tag switching cases where people were detained in other countries. W5 has identified 17 cases of bag-tag switching in the past year, and the RCMP declined to comment on the total number of cases it is investigating. Napoleon also warned about "courier" roles that offer high pay and free travel for transporting sealed suitcases, saying they are too good to be true. He said legitimate employers will never ask individuals to transport unknown items or packages across borders, and that those who participate in smuggling — even unknowingly — may face serious criminal consequences in Canada or abroad, including imprisonment and, in some countries, severe penalties. He advised travellers to photograph their baggage with the tag number visible before checking a bag.

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10. Canada's grocery pricing practices face fresh scrutiny

Canadians could soon see closer scrutiny of how grocery prices are set, as the federal Competition Bureau prepares to gather information on pricing policies in the retail food sector. The bureau said Friday the move is part of its ongoing examination of Canada's food supply chain and will build on recommendations from its 2023 retail grocery market study. The bureau is expected to publish a call for information on the morning of Sept. 28, asking for input on pricing policies used in retail grocery. It says the information will support its broader work examining competition throughout the food supply chain. The agency's 2023 study concluded that stronger competition could help improve outcomes for consumers, including through lower prices and greater innovation. The move comes as the bureau continues to examine competition in the grocery sector, including production, processing, transportation and distribution, as well as how products are priced on store shelves and how consumers interact with pricing through tools such as loyalty programs. It has also been examining practices including algorithmic pricing, shrinkflation, and skimpflation.

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