Toronto(December 20, 2017) –Ahead of tonight’s vote in Puslinch, where councillors will be voting onwhether Swastika Trail should remain a street name or be changed, Friends ofSimon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) released a second letter to the mayor andseveral councillors calling on them to make the change.

“It’salready a national shame that residents of your community are beholden to aname representing a symbol that was utilized in the murder of nearly 10 millionpeople in concentration camps and more than 40,000 Canadian soldiers who wentto fight the Nazis – not to mention over 100,000 Canadian soldierswho were injured during the war,” said FSWC President and CEO Avi Benlolo inthe letter. “It would be a shame if Puslinch maintains the name,disregarding everything that Canada truly stands for.”

InNovember, FSWC began urging the mayor and councillors to support residents whohave been pushing for the renaming of the streetSwastika Trail.

“To this day, the swastika remains the most used symbol byneo-Nazi groups and continues to appear in antisemitic vandalism right acrossthis country,” Benlolo previously said. “It falls to the town leadership tosend a clear message that such offensive names will not represent thecommunity.” 

MediaContact:

AvitalBorisovsky 
Communications Associate   
416.864.9735 x 29
aborisovsky@fswc.ca

Followus on Twitter at @CanadianFSWC for latest news and organizationupdates.

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Friendsof Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) is a top Jewish humanrights foundation in Canada's organized Jewish community. It directly impactsover 100,000 people each year and 500,000+ peripherally. FSWC is committedto countering racism and antisemitism and to promoting the principles oftolerance, social justice and Canadian democratic values through advocacy andeducational programs including workshops, Freedom Day, Spirit of HopeBenefit, Tools for Tolerance and the widely acclaimed Tour for Humanity.FSWC is affiliated with the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewishhuman rights organization headquartered in Los Angeles which has won twoAcademy Awards, has built two Museums of Tolerance (with a third being built inJerusalem) and is an NGO at the United Nations, UNESCO, OAS, OSCE, the Councilof Europe and the Latin American Parliament. Visit us at www.fswc.ca.  

Canadian Headquarters: Toronto          Branches: Los Angeles • New York • Chicago • Paris • Buenos Aires • Israel