Canadian Natural Resources buying Chevron’s Alberta assets for US$6.5B

TORONTO – Canadian doctors are being told to consider scurvy when assessing patients at risk of poor nutrition and food insecurity.

A case study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal warns the syndrome most associated with 18th-century seafaring persists in modern times.

It describes a 65-year-old woman who turned up last year at a Toronto hospital emergency department with a raft of mobility and health problems that curbed her ability to shop for groceries and cook balanced meals.

With little social and family help she largely subsisted on canned soup, tuna fish, white bread and processed cheese.

Senior author Sally Engelhart, a doctor in general internal medicine at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital, says it’s hard not to consider rising food costs as a likely factor in this case.

“It is a diagnosis that people associate with sailors in the 18th century, and not something that is relevant in 2024 in Canada and Toronto,” she said.

“But what I’ve learned is that it’s not such an esoteric diagnosis, and individuals who suffer from food insecurity or who have an extremely restrictive diet for a variety of reasons, are at risk for nutritional deficiencies, including scurvy.”

The study says reports from the United Kingdom suggest the prevalence of vitamin C deficiency may be as high as 25 per cent in some low-income groups.

Scurvy, referred to in the study as hypovitaminosis C, is caused by a deficiency in vitamin C, which plays an essential role in numerous metabolic processes.

While a daily vitamin can help, Engelhart said fresh fruits and vegetables are the best source.

She said scurvy would take “several weeks to months” of poor diet to emerge, but notes “there are people who can go several months without getting fruits, vegetables or other sources of vitamin C in the diet.”

“When you think about the cost of groceries, if the best source of vitamin C is fruits and vegetables, with a rising cost of fresh produce, I think that it is relevant,” Engelhart said.

“I think improving the income of low-income households, bolstering access to community resources to help vulnerable populations ensure consistent and reliable access to healthy foods are all important,” she added.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

The last time Tiferet Lapidot’s family heard from her was in a phone call from the Supernova music festival near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, where Hamas launched its brutal attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

“She called her mother at nine o’clock in the morning, telling her that she loves her and they’re shooting youngsters all around,” her uncle, Harel Lapidot, said Monday at a Toronto event marking the anniversary of the attack that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.

A year later, the family’s grief over the loss of the young woman he described as their “sunshine” is “getting worse day by day,” her uncle said. She was one of at least eight people with ties to Canada who died that day.

“It was the most horrific thing for us as a family to lose Tiferet. Tiferet was a happy young lady … that was just dancing at a festival,” he said.

Maureen Leshem said her 24-year-old cousin, Romi Gonen, was among those taken hostage at the festival, and the family has received confirmation she is still alive. “Every single second in these tunnels is a second too much,” she said, speaking at the Toronto event.

Across Canada, ceremonies, events and protests were being held to mark a year since the attack that killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw about 250 more abducted and held as hostages. Around 100 of the hostages, a third of whom are believed to be dead, have not been returned.

The attack triggered a retaliatory Israeli offensive in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip that the territory’s health ministry says has left more than 41,000 Palestinians dead.

The war has had far-reaching effects around the world and in Canada — families grieving loved ones who were killed, hundreds of protests resulting in arrests, pro-Palestinian encampments at universities and a spike in reports of alleged hate crimes against Jews and Muslims.

On the one-year anniversary, police in Canada’s largest cities were stepping up protections, particularly around Jewish and Muslim places of worship and at events held to mark the anniversary.

A Toronto police van was parked out front of a Hebrew day school along Bathurst Street in one of the city’s most recognizably Jewish neighbourhoods. On the corner, a large poster called for the return of hostages.

Just up the road, at the Sherman Campus, a sprawling hub of Jewish groups and agencies, preparations were being made for a memorial event planned for Monday night.

A spokesperson for the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, which is hosting the evening event, said it’s important to gather to “remember all the lives that were tragically lost on Oct. 7 in Israel, but also to recognize that this situation is still a live situation.”

“This is not an opportunity where we are remembering something that happened. We still have more than 100 hostages, including family members of Canadians, who are in Gaza being held by Hamas,” said Sara Lefton, the organization’s chief development officer.

Some victims’ families also launched legal action on Monday over the attack.

Tiferet Lapidot’s father, along with another Canadian who lost family members in the attack, filed a claim in Ontario Superior Court seeking $250 million in damages under Canada’s Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, plus an additional $100 million.

The claim lists Hamas, various Palestinian organizations, the leaders of Iran and Syria and several Canadian individuals and groups among the defendants. It alleges all the defendants are in some way responsible or liable for the losses and damages caused by the deaths. None of the allegations have been tested in court.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau marked the grim anniversary in a written statement, saying his thoughts are with all Israelis and Jewish people, and with the Jewish community in Canada.

Trudeau condemned Hamas, which Canada recognizes as a terrorist group, and said his government remains committed to working towards a two-state solution, “where Israelis and Palestinians can live securely within internationally recognized borders.”

“Hamas has set the region down a path of war and violence. We mourn the Canadians and all civilians killed in the year that followed. We condemn Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, whose senseless attacks lead to more death and instability,” he wrote.

“The scale of civilian casualties since Oct. 7 is heartbreaking and unacceptable, and all actors must comply with international law.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said hostages must be let go and condemned what he called “grotesque” antisemitism in Canada. “We unapologetically stand with Israel,” he wrote in his own statement.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, for his part, repeated calls for hostages to be returned and said New Democrats mourn with Canada’s Jewish community.

Several protests were also planned Monday to express solidarity with the Palestinian people, including one in Montreal that was billed as supporting Palestinians’ fight for “total liberation.”

In that city, the groups that organized a months-long encampment on McGill University’s downtown campus last spring and summer, and who demanded the school cut ties with Israeli entities, were planning a walkout and march from Concordia University to McGill, which restricted access to its campus and held many classes online.

A Quebec Superior Court judge granted a temporary injunction against some of the groups, ordering them not to block access to Concordia or to disrupt any classes.

Under the heavy presence of law enforcement, some 150 people gathered for about an hour on Monday afternoon near McGill to remember victims of the attack. A rabbi led them in song and prayer. A handful of protesters stood at a nearby corner waving Palestinian flags.

Julian Silverman, a Concordia student, attended Monday’s vigil for Israel. “There’s a lot of emotions, a lot of pain that’s resurfacing,” Silverman said.

In Vancouver, Police Chief Const. Adam Palmer said planned and unplanned protests were posing a “significant” risk of disorder, and officers trained specifically for large-scale events were being deployed.

Pro-Palestinian group Samidoun, which referred to the Oct. 7 attacks as “Al-Aqsa Flood,” the Hamas code name for the operation, was planning a rally in the city.

Monday’s events took place against a backdrop of escalating hostilities in the Middle East.

Hamas, which remains in control of the bombarded Gaza Strip, marked the anniversary by firing a barrage of rockets at Tel Aviv.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah vowed to keep up its own rocket fire despite recent losses in southern Lebanon, where Israel has been mounting a ground incursion.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2024.

— With files from Jordan Omstead in Toronto, Sidhartha Banerjee in Montreal and the Associated Press.

Ceremonies, events and protests are being held across Canada to mark the anniversary of a brutal Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

The Oct. 7, 2023, attack killed about 1,200 people, while about 250 more were taken hostage. About a hundred of them have not returned. It triggered an Israeli counteroffensive in the Hamas-held Gaza Strip that the territory’s health ministry says has left more than 41,000 Palestinians dead. That war is raging on even as hostilities spill into Lebanon and threaten to escalate into a broader regional war.

Here’s the latest on how the anniversary is playing out in Canada. All times are eastern.

———

2:15 p.m.

A group is gathering outside of Montreal’s Concordia University for a planned pro-Palestinian rally and march through downtown.

Dozens of participants, many of whom are wearing keffiyehs and carrying Palestinian flags, are chanting along as a leader with a megaphone chants slogans including “occupation is a crime,” “long live the revolution” and “Viva viva Palestina.”

The McGill and Concordia chapters of Students for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance wrote in joint Instagram posts that the event is intended to call on their institutions to divest from companies tied to Israel’s war efforts and “commemorate the historic breach of the colonial border wall and a year of Palestine’s historic resistance.”

———

1:50 p.m.

A memorial event near McGill University wrapped up without incident this afternoon.

A rabbi led about 150 people in prayer and song, while between 10 and 20 protesters stood at the corner of McGill College Avenue and Sherbrooke Street waving Palestinian flags.

Julian Silverman, a Concordia student, attended the vigil for Israel and said a lot of pain is resurfacing today.

The ceremony lasted about one hour, and Sherbrooke Street in front of McGill University’s lower field was reopened to traffic.

———

1:47 p.m.

Several provincial premiers have joined their voices to a chorus of Canadian politicians mourning those lost in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.

British Columbia’s David Eby said on social media that the pain and sorrow is still deeply felt in his province, and he stands firmly against violence and its glorification.

Alberta’s Danielle Smith said she mourns the loss of innocent civilians and hopes for the safe return of hostages.

And Quebec’s François Legault said in a French-language post that he wants to see a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict.

———

1:30 p.m.

Two Canadians who lost family members in last year’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel have filed a claim in Ontario Superior Court seeking damages under Canada’s Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act.

The statement of claim filed by Ohad Lapidot, the father of Tiferet Lapidot, and Iris Weinstein Haggai – whose parents Judi Lynne Weinstein and Gad Haggai were killed – seeks hundreds of millions in damages.

It lists Hamas, various Palestinian organizations, the leaders of Iran and Syria and several Canadian individuals and groups among the defendants it alleges are in some way responsible or liable for losses and damages caused by the deaths.

None of the allegations in the filing have been tested in court.

———

12:45 p.m.

Under a heavy police presence, more than 100 people have gathered by McGill University for a vigil to remember victims of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.

Supporters of Israel, many waving Israeli flags, are on Sherbrooke Street, which is closed to traffic for the event.

They’re within sight of the south entrance to McGill’s lower field, which is blocked off by police.

Posters of Israelis who were taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7 are plastered on the fence surrounding McGill’s campus, and at a distance, a few people can be seen waving Palestinian flags.

———

12:42 p.m.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly posted a statement on social media today calling the events of Oct. 7 the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.

She named Canadian victims of the attack and said nothing can justify the violence and terror unleashed that day.

Joly repeated Canada’s condemnation of Hamas and reiterated calls for the release of hostages.

She says far too many civilians have been killed in the ongoing conflict and Canada is working with its partners to bring peace and security to the Middle East.

———

12:10 p.m.

Families are speaking out in Toronto about loved ones who were caught up in the Oct. 7 attack.

Harel Lapidot spoke at an event in Toronto this morning about his niece Tiferet, a Canadian Israeli woman killed in a massacre at the Supernova music festival in southern Israel.

He says a year later, the family’s grief over the loss of the young woman he describes as their “sunshine” is “getting worse day by day.”

Maureen Leshem also spoke at the event. Her 24-year-old cousin Romi Gonen was among those taken hostage at the festival, and she says the family has received confirmation she is still being held alive.

———

11:30 a.m.

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is the latest politician to acknowledge the anniversary of the Hamas attack in Israel.

He says New Democrats and all Canadians mourn with Canada’s Jewish community and all hostages must be returned.

He says his party will continue to work for common humanity, and for justice and peace in the Middle East.

———

10:37 a.m.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says in marking the anniversary of the attack that the federal Tories unapologetically stand with Israel.

He says in a written statement that hostages must be let go.

Poilievre says Jewish Canadians are facing what he calls “grotesque” antisemitism.

———

10:06 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his thoughts are with all Israelis and Jewish people, and with the Jewish community in Canada.

Trudeau says in a written statement that Hamas is responsible for setting the region down a path of war and violence, and he condemns Hezbollah and Iran for further instability.

He says the scale of civilian casualties in the past year is heart-breaking and unacceptable and all actors must comply with international law.

Trudeau says his government remains committed to working toward a two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians can live securely with internationally recognized borders.

———

9:30 a.m.

Police in Canada’s largest cities are stepping up protections, particularly around Jewish and Muslim places of worship and at events being held to commemorate Oct. 7.

A Toronto police van was parked out front of a Hebrew day school this morning along Bathurst Street in one of the city’s most recognizably Jewish neighbourhoods.

On the corner, a large poster called for the return of hostages.

———

9:02 a.m.

Premier Doug Ford is expressing his condolences for those whose loved ones were killed or taken hostage in the Oct. 7 attack.

He says in a written statement that he is vowing to combat antisemitism and hate in the province.

He says his government will stand up against hate wherever it is found and work to foster understanding, unity and respect.

———

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2024.