Faced with more school shutdowns in Ontario, Jewish parents are fighting back

Last week, about 100 parents showed up at Yorkdale Mall to protest against the latest round of school closures imposed by the Ontario government. It might be the first time in Ontario, since the pandemic began, that many organized protesters are visibly observant Jews, including parents of students at Jewish day schools. Ontario is unique in North America for keeping schools closed for so long—since the pandemic began, students have lost 27 weeks of in-person learning. Yet as virtual school continues, shopping malls such as Yorkdale have been allowed to continue operating, albeit with reduced capacity. For some parents, this most recent shutdown was the last straw. Among those aggrieved parents is Aubrey Freedman, the organizer of the Yorkdale protests, who has young sons enrolled in Netivot HaTorah Day School. Freedman and her children join to discuss their motivations for protesting, their frustration with the province and what daily life is like in a house with four kids stuck at home. What we talked about: Watch a clip of the Yorkdale protest on YouTube Learn about the back-to-school protests at backtoschoolontario.ca Read about the learn-in protest on Jan. 11 on Facebook Credits The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.