Toronto (December 11, 2017) - Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) has learned that this evening, at a meeting for Toronto Public Library Board, changes will be proposed to the Library's  Community and Event Space Rental policy.

The new policy, which will be voted on at tonight’s meeting, reaffirms the current policy to maintain a welcoming and supportive environment free from discrimination and harassment while introducing clear rules regarding the denial of any bookings likely to promote discrimination, contempt or hatred of others in keeping with the provisions of the Canadian Criminal Code and the Ontario Human Rights Code.

“At FSWC we support freedom of speech and thought, but a line must be drawn where individuals seek to promote hatred against any identifiable group,” said FSWC President and CEO Avi Benlolo. “We encourage the members of the Board to unanimously support the proposed changes to the Library policy, which will give administrators the tools they need to ensure that hateful propaganda is prohibited from being promoted in our public spaces."

This policy change is in response to the event that took place in July of this year which saw prominent white nationalist leaders congregate in a library location for a memorial for a lawyer who represented various neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers, including the infamous Ernst Zundel.

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Media Contact:

Avital Borisovsky  
Communications Associate    
416.864.9735 x 29 
aborisovsky@fswc.ca

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Follow us on Twitter at @CanadianFSWC for latest news and organization updates.

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

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