Two heated rallies in less than a month outside London city hall — both clashes testing the limits of tolerance — is two too many, one city councillor says.

Mayor Matt Brown wasn’t talking Tuesday in the fallout of the latest standoff over the weekend between anti-Islamists and counter-demonstrators near city hall, but one council colleague says the city needs to clamp down on such protests before they get out of hand.

“Any time that we have groups that are promoting hate in the community, I think it’s incumbent on leaders in the community to stand up against that hate,” Ward 13 Coun. Tanya Park said Monday.

In one way, at least, council already has stood up.

Motivated by the first planned rally by Patriots of Canada Against the Islamization of the West (Pegida) held Aug. 26, councillors unanimously passed an emergency motion days earlier to disavow hate and bigotry and direct city staff to come up with a set rules for the use of public spaces.

Park said those staff recommendations, an update to ones already on the books, can’t come soon enough.

“Things like this should not be happening in city spaces — when it gets to the point of escalation, where the police need to be called,” she said.

London police had a strong presence at both rallies.

Two people were arrested after the Aug. 26 rally and fists flew during the latest showdown between Pegida and dozens of counter-protesters Saturday. Two people were arrested; one was released without incident and the other was charged with assault.

But while Park maintains a policy update on uses of public space is needed, another city councillor says the biggest error of all was drawing attention to Pegida in the first place.

“In retrospect, it probably would have been better to have not reacted to the initially planned rally,” said Ward 6 Coun. Phil Squire.

“I don’t think it’s worked out the way it was planned.”

Though he voted in support of the motion that took aim at hate and bigotry in the city, Squire said the situation escalated when some councillors started urging the public to go to the first rally or attended it themselves.

He said council’s move has emboldened the protesters, raised tensions and lost sight of the big picture.

“The vast majority of Londoners are very tolerant of other people, regardless or race, religion, sexuality, anything. I see that every day,” said Squire.

“I don’t really think we should give attention to people who want to promote negativity in that regard.”

Whether or not the motion emboldened protesters, Coun. Harold Usher said there’s no easy way out for the city now. He said he wants to see an end to the violence and a return to civility.

“We’re not, as a city, trying to stop people from expressing their feelings or beliefs,” he said.

“I’m not going to stop anybody from marching and having a peaceful rally, but they need to be responsible.”

When asked for a response to the latest city hall clashes, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office said Matt Brown had nothing further to add at this time.

Despite the violence so far, the anti-Islamist group with 30 to 40 active members nationwide, plans another London rally in October, said a Pegida Canada organizer who goes by the name Jenny Hill.

“We have valid concerns. Whether people agree with our concerns or not, that doesn’t really matter. We should be able to have a voice,” said Hill, who did not want her real name used, citing fears for her safety.

Hill said Pegida Canada, which rejects hard-line Islamist culture, is fighting council’s motion and Brown mischaracterizing the organization as a white supremacist group in an Aug. 22 statement.

“It’s matter of honour to make the council realize what they did and the mistake that they made,” she said.

jbieman@postmedia.com