Who really is Anthony Furey and what’s at stake in the Don Valley West by-election?

Right-wing candidate Anthony Furey is running in the Don Valley West by-election. He’s trying to make sure voters don’t find out about his far-right beliefs. His harmful viewpoints and dangerous political stances are why we’re working hard to make sure he doesn’t win this election. We are delivering accountability flyers to the residents of Don Valley West to let them know the truth about Anthony Furey.

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Furey’s Record

For over a decade, Furey has written numerous articles in which he shares his deplorable right-wing theories—from Islamophobia to transphobia and more. If Furey gets elected he will have the power to block progress at City Hall. And he’ll have a bigger platform to spread his conservative beliefs and embolden right-wing movements in our city.

Here are just a few of the examples of Furey’s harmful rhetoric:

  • Pushed anti-vaccine misinformation by describing it as a “hastily developed serum” [1] and denied surges of infection during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. [2]

  • After the 2017 Quebec City Mosque shooting where a white supremacist killed 6 Muslims, Furey opposed a motion to tackle Islamophobia, dismissing it as “compliant-with-Sharia law.” [3]

  • He has falsely characterized Islam as “lacking a critical culture, the least self-reflecting, least humorous and therefore most troublesome monotheism.” [4] 

  • In 2020, he praised former-President (and convicted felon) Donald Trump by noting that the former-President got more things right than wrong, and wrote an article entitled “Looks like it’s time for a pro-Trump column.”[5]

  • He pledged to vote against any major street redesigns that would add new bike lanes and would make our streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers [6] (despite advocating for bike lanes in the past [7])

  • Furey has made sexist and Islamophobic remarks on the niqab and hijab, one time writing that he was “sad” to see a young hijabi girl “gladly take up symbols of Islam — which means total submission to the will of Allah.” [8]

  • When the TDSB asked students to select their gender in a survey, Furey spread transphobia by claiming the school board was promoting “life-altering gender reassignment surgery” [9]

And these are just some of Furey’s troubling record.

 
 

We want to print flyers and make sure voters know about Furey’s record. Can you chip in $15? progresstoronto.ca/donate-to-our-election-ads-2024

 
 
 
Sources: 
[1] “A mandatory vaccine in Canada would not go over well” Furey, Toronto Sun 2020 https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/furey-a-mandatory-vaccine-in-canada-would-not-go-over-well

[2] “Toronto Public Health calls for restrictions on day they release inflated numbers” Furey Toronto Sun 2020 https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/furey-toronto-public-health-calls-for-restrictions-on-day-they-release-inflated-numbers

[3] “Anthony Furey is a media pundit with deeply right-wing views. Why doesn’t he want to talk about that now?” Warnica, Toronto Star 2024
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/anthony-furey-is-a-media-pundit-with-deeply-right-wing-views-why-doesn-t-he/article_2a366a14-3285-5513-bcc6-5913ae359375.html
[4] “When state trumps church” Furey, Toronto Sun 2015
https://torontosun.com/2015/03/14/when-state-trumps-church

[5] Anthony Furey, X (formerly known as Twitter) 2020 https://x.com/anthonyfurey/status/1277000355071627265

[6] Furey Platform 2024 https://www.furey.ca/priorities

[7] “Urban Scrawl: Jarvis is the bike lane to nowhere” Furey, National Post 2010 https://nationalpost.com/posted-toronto/urban-scrawl-jarvis-is-the-bike-lane-to-nowhere

[8] “Let hijab wearers play” Furey 2012, Toronto Sun https://ottawasun.com/2012/07/10/let-hijab-wearers-play

[9] “Here’s the issue with gender ideology in the classroom” Furey, The Epoch Times 2023 https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/anthony-furey-heres-the-issue-with-gender-ideology-in-the-classroom-5496167