What's driving robberies at Buddhist places of worship across the GTA?
CBC
Welcoming strangers into places of worship has always been a core value of Toronto's Buddhist community, says Chemi Lhamo. Now, it's not so simple.
"The very places that are meant to be open are now having to take precautions," Lhamo, an organizer with the Tibetan Canadian Cultural Centre and a spokesperson for Gajang Buddhist Center, told CBC Toronto.
A recent string of crimes at places of worship across the Greater Toronto Area has meant Gajang Buddhist Center, and others like it, have had to beef up security. That includes screening new visitors.
"It's really sad because in the given world that we live in, there's not a lot of safe spaces, even just free spaces, to access," Lhamo said.
Between July 21 and Sept. 9, police in Peel and York regions have reported seven break-ins and thefts at Buddhist temples, monasteries and meditation centres. No arrests have been made. The places of worship declined to comment, citing concerns they might become repeat victims.
Peel police say in one incident, suspects stole money and caused damage to the property. In another instance, suspects asked for a blessing, before stealing a safe and fleeing.
Buddhist temples and monasteries aren't the only places of worship being targeted. There have been 29 break-ins at religious centres across Peel Region since the beginning of the year, according to police data.
Police say the recent incidents appear to be motivated by financial gain and are not being investigated as hate crimes. Investigators are searching for suspects, but have not yet made any arrests.
Toronto police said officers are in contact with other police services, and are conducting general patrols, particularly in off-hours, in areas where places of worship are located.
"Generally these are the places that are very welcoming and open," Lhamo said. "To see … such break-ins or threats, thefts, has been quite disheartening."
Buddhism in Canada stretches back centuries, according to Antoine Panaioti, an expert in Buddhist philosophy at Toronto Metropolitan University.
He says it can be traced back to the construction of the railroad in the 1880s.
Nearly 150 years later, members of the Buddhist community in Toronto make up two per cent of the city's population, according to Statistics Canada data from 2021.
There's a wide variety of Buddhist places of worship — each of which practice slightly different versions of the religion.
More than 1,000 Maritime Electric customers are without power after high winds blew across the Island Friday night into Saturday.
The Supreme Court of Canada is deliberating a case that could shape the way sentences are handed down in cases where both the offender and victim are Indigenous, which some Nunavut lawyers say could have ramifications for the Inuit-majority territory.
A man barricaded in a former church in Welland, Ont., was taken into custody early Saturday, nearly 24 hours into a standoff that began over a fence dispute.
Peel police are investigating after a Friday night shooting in Mississauga left one person dead, police said.
Another busy construction season has come to an end in London, and the city is already looking ahead to next spring when a slew of new projects are expected to begin.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has begun to lay out publicly what he sees as boundaries when dealing with China, as his government wades into a new relationship with the economic giant.
Ferry crossings are cancelled and over a thousand households are left without power Saturday morning, due to high winds and severe weather conditions.
Tens of thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers are waking up without power on Saturday morning after high winds and rain hit the province on Friday night.
Statistics Canada is reporting a population decrease last quarter for New Brunswick — its largest quarterly decline since the 1970s, according to an economic development consultant.
Residents clapped, danced, sang and cried in the Anishinaabe community of Kitcisakik this week when the lights were finally turned on for the first time.
A man is suing three members of a Winnipeg family and a real estate broker he alleges used his intellectual disability to financially exploit him through property deals in Canada and India, leaving him out hundreds of thousands of dollars.
When Stephanie Gamble watched her mother model the first dress she made, smiling wide and walking an imaginary runway, she knew that was what she wanted to keep doing in her life.
'Tis the season for cuddling on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and watching holiday movies. And for people in B.C.'s Interior, that can increasingly mean seeing their home communities on display.