On Sunday, June 9, in the morning before 8 a.m., just a few hours before weekly church service was set to take place, St. Anne’s Anglican Church in Toronto’s Little Portugal neighbourhood was engulfed in flames. The church held historical significance as it’s the only church in Canada to feature artwork from members of the Group of Seven, with its architectural design modelled in the Byzantine style after the Hagia Sophia.

Sadly, the artwork-filled dome has been destroyed forever.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, with Reverend Don Beyers saying the doors to the church were locked the night before: “It’s a real mystery to us how this even happened, we’re not even sure.”

An investigation is underway by the Toronto Police Service, Toronto Fire Services and the Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management. An online portal has been created for submitting evidence.

If it turns out that this burning was caused by arson, it wouldn’t be the first time in recent history. In fact, Truth North details how over 100 Canadian churches have been burned or vandalized since an announcement was made in 2021 about “unmarked graves” at the site of the former Kamloops residential school, a claim which has yet to be backed by any evidence three years later.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau followed his disapproving remarks about the church burnings by saying the hatred causing them was “understandable”: “I understand the anger that’s out there against the federal government, against institutions like the Catholic Church. It is real, and it’s fully understandable.”

The prime minister’s senior advisor, Gerald Butts, made similar remarks on X.

No Terry, it is not. Though it may be understandable.

— Gerald Butts (@gmbutts) July 6, 2021

While CBC reported on tiny skid marks on a Pride flag painted on a public Waterloo street two years in a row as ‘vandalism’, the state broadcaster has yet to make any connection between the burning of this place of worship and the 47 other churches that have reached the same fate in recent years.

Trudeau has yet to comment on the loss of the nationally significant church.

Very near my neighborhood
A beautiful and significant old church

What do you think @JustinTrudeau
About all the church arson in Canada
Which you and your lies at least partially inspiredhttps://t.co/H9cZV7G30M

— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) June 11, 2024

Rebel News took to Yonge-Dundas Square in downtown Toronto to find out if Canadians are aware of the 47 church burnings that have ravaged the country, and whether or not they see a double standard in the media and culture when it comes to the anti-Christian attacks.