Party leaders and parliamentarians on Oct. 7 mourned the lives lost one year ago after the terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel, while reiterating their call for the release of hostages. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement the surprise attack was “the deadliest carried out on Jewish people since the Holocaust.” “There are few […]

Trudeau, Poilievre, MPs Mourn Lives Lost on Anniversary of Hamas Attack

Party leaders and parliamentarians on Oct. 7 mourned the lives lost one year ago after the terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel, while reiterating their call for the release of hostages. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement the surprise attack was “the deadliest carried out on Jewish people since the Holocaust.” “There are few […]

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement the surprise attack was “the deadliest carried out on Jewish people since the Holocaust.”

Trudeau condemned Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah, for their attacks on Israel. On the eve of the Hamas attack, Hezbollah launched rockets at Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city. Last week, Iran launched a barrage of nearly 200 missiles at Tel Aviv.

Projectiles intercepted by Israel above Tel Aviv on Oct. 1, 2024. Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also issued a statement condemning Hamas for its attack.

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The Toronto Police Service reported last week that it has managed over 1,500 demonstrations and arrested dozens in connection with the protests since last October. The police force increased its presence across the city in preparation for the anniversary of the attack this week.

Pro-Palestine protesters hold flags and banners as they march along Bay Street in downtown Toronto on Oct. 9, 2023. Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times

“Today marks one year since the horrific Hamas terror attacks in Israel in which 1,200 people were killed, including eight Canadians. One year later, over one hundred hostages remain in Hamas captivity,” Singh wrote on platform X.

“At daybreak one year ago, Hamas carried out a savage attack on Israel, butchering and committing sexual violence against Israelis, Canadians, and many others. Today we must remember the hostages who still aren’t home, the lives lost, and the profound pain felt by so many,” she said on the X platform.MPs Condemn Violence in CanadaSeveral parliamentarians also issued statements to mark Oct. 7.

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather expressed solidarity with Israel and Jewish communities worldwide, stating, “On this Oct 7 my thoughts are with the people of Israel, Jewish communities around the world, hostages & their families. I support Israel as it fights against Iran & its proxies & continue to push for the implementation of concrete actions I have proposed to combat antisemitism.”

Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman issued a statement, saying, “The tyrants in Tehran still wreak havoc with their barbaric proxies who continue to terrorize western civilization” while also criticizing what she described as the “woke mob” for fostering “the worst antisemitism that has flourished in Canada in a generation.”

Several Jewish schools have been targeted by acts of violence in the past year. In November 2023, the private Jewish high school Anne & Max Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto, along with a nearby synagogue and daycare, were evacuated after police received reports of a potential bomb threat.

In May, gunshots were fired at the Belz school at the Young Israel of Montreal synagogue, following similar incidents at two other Jewish schools in Montreal. Bullets were fired at the doors of the Yeshiva Gedola school and the nearby United Talmud Torahs of Montreal on Nov. 9, 2023, with Yeshiva Gedola being targeted again just days later.

Police investigate the Yeshiva Gedolah school for clues after shots were fired at two Jewish schools in Montreal on Nov. 9, 2023. The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz

Independent MP Kevin Vuong released a video to mark Oct. 7, calling for the immediate release of hostages and highlighting Hamas’s abduction of children and Hezbollah’s missile attacks.