---
title: "Bradford campaign drops North York event co-host over anti-Islam posts"
description: "Mayoral candidate Brad Bradford removed real estate developer Avi Glina as a co-host of a campaign rally after the National Council of Canadian Muslims raised concerns about his social media posts."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/on/toronto-2026/news/brad-bradford-drops-event-host-islam-comments-october-7"
last_updated: "2026-10-10T04:10:29.400Z"
---

The Toronto Star reported on October 7 that mayoral candidate [Brad Bradford](/on/toronto-2026/candidates/brad-bradford)'s campaign removed a Toronto real estate developer as co-host of a campaign rally after the National Council of Canadian Muslims raised concerns about his social media posts criticizing Islam.

Campaign spokesperson Laryssa Waler confirmed to the Star that Avi Glina would no longer be one of three co-hosts of "Rally for change in North York," which was scheduled for Thursday evening. The National Council of Canadian Muslims had flagged Glina's Instagram account, which the Star reported included posts expressing concern about Islam's influence on society and calling New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani a "jihadi terrorist."

Bradford responded with a statement: "There's no room for Islamophobia on my campaign. Not in a volunteer, not in a staffer, not in a supporter, not in me. This individual is no longer involved with the event this week. Every community in Toronto deserves to live fully, openly and without fear, and as mayor I'll fight for that every single day."

Steven Zhou, a spokesperson for the National Council of Canadian Muslims, told the Star: "While Mr. Glina should never have been involved, it was the correct decision for Mr. Bradford to remove Mr. Glina from any involvement in his mayoral campaign."

Mayor Olivia Chow's campaign responded through spokesperson Shirven Rezvany, who pointed to two earlier incidents involving Bradford supporters with similar concerns. In late August, the Bradford campaign had posted a video of an endorsement from business advocate Catherine Swift, then pulled it after Swift described herself in social media posts as a "proud Islamophobe." Rezvany told the Star: "When (Bradford) is caught, he quickly backtracks, but he shouldn't be courting people with extreme views in the first place."

Glina had not responded to the Star's request for comment at the time of publication. The Star did not report any formal complaint or investigation.

The Toronto municipal election is on October 26, 2026. You can read about all candidates for mayor at [/on/toronto-2026/candidates#mayor](/on/toronto-2026/candidates#mayor).

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