Swastikas have been found at Whitby Central Library for a second time this month — this time on Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Local Councillor Chris Leahy has proposed a motion supporting a new Canadian law prohibiting the public display of the Nazi swastika and other Nazi iconography.
“My constituents are simply devastated that this has happened twice in the past two weeks at the Central Library,” Leahy said in a statement Wednesday.
“(Monday) was Holocaust Remembrance Day. It was the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the notorious concentration camp at Auschwitz. This act of hate motivated vandalism turns my stomach.”
The incident Monday follows the discovery of swastikas in the library bathroom on Jan. 10. In August, a swastika was found burned in the grass of a soccer field at Prince of Wales Park.
Leahy wants to follow in the footsteps of human rights organization B’nai Brith, which recently launched an online petition in support of a Nazi swastika ban.
“We should do everything in our power to support them. My motion makes it clear we stand against Nazi sympathizers and those that would display images of hate,” Leahy said.
“The council floor is the place where we can emphatically tell the Jewish community we support them. I am also inviting the Whitby community to give a delegation in front of the mayor and all of council so that their voices are on the record.”
The motion will be debated at Whitby council on Feb. 3.
“Eighteen countries around the world have made it illegal to publicly display the Nazi swastika. Canada should be the 19th country on that list,” Leahy added.