2 men charged with second-degree murder, arson after Old Montreal fire killed 2

TORONTO – A Jewish school for elementary girls was struck by gunshots for the second time in six months, Toronto police said Saturday as they announced an investigation.

Toronto Police Service said officers responded to a call about a smashed window at Bais Chaya Mushka in the city’s north end at around 4 a.m. Saturday.

“Upon further investigation, it was determined that shots had been fired,” Insp. Paul Krawczyk, the officer in charge of the investigation, told reporters.

Krawczyk said while the school was empty at the time and no one was harmed, such attacks cause concerns within the Jewish community.

Krawczyk said the force’s gun and gang task force is leading the investigation, with support from members of the hate crime unit.

He added that police could not confirm whether the incident is considered a hate crime, but he noted there were signs the attack could have been motivated by hatred since it occurred on a holy day of the Jewish calendar.

“It is Yom Kippur, and a Jewish school has been shot up. So that is why the hate crime unit is a big part of this investigation,” Krawczyk said.

The same school was the target of another shooting in May, and police said a key part of the investigation is to find out whether the two incidents are connected.

“We understand the fear and pain that incidents like this cause especially on a day as sacred as Yom Kippur,” Krawczyk said. “Our priority is your safety and we are committed to doing everything we can to find those responsible.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a social media post that he was “very disturbed” by the attack on the school.

“As we wait for more details, my heart goes out to the students, staff, and parents who must be terrified and hurting today,” he wrote on X, formerly know as Twitter.

“Antisemitism is a disgusting and dangerous form of hate — and we won’t let it stand.”

Toronto mayor Olivia Chow called the shooting a “horrific antisemitic act” motivated by “disgusting hate.”

“I reiterate that the students of Bais Chaya Mushka have the right to learn, and the teachers have a right to teach, in safety and without fear of antisemitic attacks,” she said a statement posted on her X account.

“Jewish families and the Jewish community should not be made to fear for their safety. Antisemitic violence and threats are unacceptable.”

Krawczyk said police had increased their presence in the Jewish neighbourhoods in the past couple of weeks, and that they will continue to have more presence in the area as the investigation continues.

“We understand this is deeply unsettling for the Jewish community, especially today, on such a significant day.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

FREDERICTON – New Brunswick’s Progressive Conservative Party released its entire platform to voters Saturday evening before election day on Oct. 21.

The platform includes pre-announced commitments to cut HST by two per cent, provide financial literacy education in schools and introduce legislation to force people with severe drug addiction into treatment.

The Tory document says it will also uphold policies that “respect parents.”

The platform also pledges to improve working conditions for the province’s nurses and bear the 50 per cent of the cost for registered nurses’ long-term disability premiums for two years.

Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs says his party presents voters with a “realistic, affordable plan” that doesn’t try to “buy your vote with 100 promises.”

If his party is elected to govern, Higgs will serve a third term as premier.

The Tories’ platform is the last of the three major parties to be released during the campaign, with the Green Party’s platform being released on Wednesday and the Liberal Party publishing theirs on Oct. 3.

Both Higgs and Liberal Party Leader Susan Holt cast their ballots at the advance polls in their respective districts today.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

WHITE ROCK, B.C. – Bill Vigars, who led the promotion of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope in 1980, has died at the age of 78.

His wife, Sherry MacDonald, confirmed the news in an interview, saying Vigars died of congestive heart failure on Thursday surrounded by loved ones at a hospital in White Rock, B.C. She said he fought a “long, tough battle” that began when he had a heart attack in June.

Vigars is survived by his wife, two children, a stepson and one grandson. He will be honoured at a private ceremony of life early next year, MacDonald said.

She said her husband, who she married in 2009, was “full of life, full of mischief, wanted everything to be an adventure, and it was.”

Vigars was the former director of public relations and fundraising for the Canadian Cancer Society. He met Fox in 1980 and served as his public relations officer and confidant as the 21-year-oldset out with the goal of running across Canada to raise money for cancer research.

Vigars was by Fox’s side until the tragic end of his journey in Thunder Bay, when Fox learned the cancer that had taken his right leg had spread to his lungs. Fox died on June 28, 1981, at Royal Columbia Hospital in New Westminster, B.C.

Fox’s legacy also set the framework for the annual Terry Fox Run, that would ignite cancer research in Canada, raising more than $850 million since 1980, says the Terry Fox Foundation website.

MacDonald said Vigars made it his mission to keep Terry Fox’s dream alive, noting he would go to four or five schools every September to tell Fox’s story ahead of the annual run. The only September he missed, she said, was this year as he was in the hospital.

“Terry was his guiding light,” MacDonald said of her husband. “Terry’s tenacity, his convictions, his determination, was all something that Bill liked to live by.”

She said her husband shared Fox’s vision.

“They were very in sync on that, and Terry was very clear about what his objectives were, and (Bill) didn’t sway from them.”

Vigars published a book last year, with Ian Harvey, titled “Terry & Me: The Inside Story of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope.” Released on Aug. 29, 2023, the book is about the Marathon of Hope from Vigars’ perspective.

MacDonald said Vigars was reluctant to do the book at first “because he never wanted to draw any attention to himself” but felt Canadians deserved to know the story.

“(It) truly was a labour of love and that was a huge accomplishment for him and I think he was very proud of that, as he should be,” she said of the book.

His publisher, Sutherland House Publishing, posted to social media on Friday it was “very saddened” to hear about Vigar’s death, calling him an “author, publicist and close friend of Terry Fox.”

“Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this very difficult time,” it said in the post.

The Terry Fox Foundation also made a post to social media in Vigars’ honour, saying their “Terry Fox world is smaller and sadder” after hearing the news of his death.

“He saw Terry at his most powerful, vulnerable, and emotional. Bill succeeded at making Terry a relatable, accessible human being, ‘no different than anyone else… no better and… no less,’ as Terry said,” it said of Vigars in a Facebook post.

“This was the greatest gift he could give his beloved friend: a reminder that Terry was just one of us.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.

–By Brieanna Charlebois in Vancouver