Newmarket man sentenced to house arrest after pleading guilty to making threats towards Muslims

York Regional Police logo is seen at headquarters in Aurora, Ont., Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

A Newmarket man has been sentenced to house arrest after pleading guilty to making threats toward Muslims last year.

York Regional Police said Donald Cameron was handed down a one-year conditional sentence order on Thursday.

He was initially arrested on Sept. 4, 2025, after he uttered threats to blow up a Newmarket mosque and threatened to kill his Muslim neighbour.

Last week, he pleaded guilty to two counts of uttering threats. Police said the judge recognized that hate motivation as an aggravating factor in determining Cameron’s sentence.

He will be on house arrest for two-thirds of the sentence and will be monitored electronically, police said.

They added that Cameron is also prohibited from living in Newmarket or being within 100 metres of any mosque in Canada.

After his one-year conditional sentence, police said Cameron will serve three years of probation.

“Hate has no place in York Region, and any act of Islamophobia is both disturbing and unacceptable,” York Regional Police Chief Jim MacSween said in a statement.

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to combating all forms of hate, bigotry, and intolerance and we will continue to prioritize public safety by thoroughly investigating any instance of hate in our region.”