North Star with Ellin Bessner 'This is a national security issue': Toronto MP Vince Gasparro after synagogue shootings
The Liberal MP for Eglinton–Lawrence, Vince Gasparro, says his heart dropped when he heard a synagogue in his riding was recently targeted. Now he is calling for arrests, increased police support and expanded intelligence sharing, and hints there will be additional funding coming in the spring budget for Jewish security.
The rookie MP represents the riding with third-largest concentration of Jews in Canada. Gasparro was narrowly elected to Parliament last April 2025 on a platform to fight antisemitism and protect the Jewish community living in the area where he grew up.
After discovering that no one had been hurt or killed, Gasparro’s next thought was “We need to find these cowards who did this and we need to put them away.”
As Canada’s Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretary of State for Combatting Crime, Gasparro has been at the forefront of the federal government’s recent push to tighten bail, expand police investigative powers and crack down on hate crimes.
But while those policy changes have moved through Parliament in recent weeks, Gasparro says the synagogue shootings mark a dangerous escalation—and require resources beyond local policing.
On today’s episode of The Canadian Jewish News’s “North Star” podcast, Vince Gasparro sits down with host Ellin Bessner to discuss the incidents, the $10 million just granted for Jewish security and that there may be more coming.
Related stories
- What Jewish leaders and local Toronto-area politicians including Vince Gasparro said after three March 2026 synagogue shootings, in The CJN.
- Terrorism charges dropped against Irish band Kneecap in 2025’ MP Vince Gasparro had announced they were banned from performing in Canada, in The CJN.
- Vince Gasparro narrowly won the Toronto area Liberal riding of Eglinton-Lawrence in the April 2025 federal election, defeating Karen Stinz, in The CJN .
Credits
- Host and writer: Ellin Bessner ( @ebessner )
- Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director)
- Music: Bret Higgins
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