Justice minister says protest at his home over Israel-Hamas war crossed a line

Justice Minister Arif Virani says protesters who took their cause to his home over the weekend crossed a line.

A few dozen pro-Palestinian protesters showed up at Virani's Toronto-area home on Saturday, waving flags and placards with his photo on them at the edge of his driveway.

Virani told reporters on his way into a cabinet meeting Tuesday that he believes in the right to «lawful and peaceful protest,» which the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees.

But he said he considers it crossing the line when protesters show up at his home, saying his wife and kids «do not deserve to be harassed.»

The minister says the same goes for his neighbours, and if people have a problem with him, they should come to his office and leave his family alone.

«It's my name that's on my ballot,» Virani said Tuesday.

«They should come to my office. They should leave my family out of it.»

Protesters also demonstrated in front of the home of Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly earlier this year, which members of Parliament also condemned.

NDP MP Heather McPherson posted on X that the demonstration at Joly's home was «appalling.»

«People do not have to agree with politicians and elected representatives, but to harass them at their private homes is completely and utterly unacceptable,» she said in January.

Independent Toronto MP Kevin Vuong criticized the protest at Joly's home in January and said Saturday on X that Virani's home is not the proper place to protest. He called on police to act.

«I'm someone who has called out the (attorney general) for inaction, but his home is not the place for protest,» Vuong said.

«His family (and) neighbours have nothing to do (with) this.»

Toronto police said on the weekend they were aware that a demonstration