The escalating conflict in Israel and the Gaza Strip will definitely worsen before any improvement is seen, Canada’s foreign affairs minister told CTV News Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos on Monday.
Speaking to CTV’s Power Play, Melanie Joly said that she has been in contact with her counterparts in Israel, the Gaza Strip and neighbouring countries searching for a way to de-escalate the volatile situation, which has already killed nearly 1,600 people(opens in a new tab) on both sides.
“We’ve received reports of one Canadian dead and also three missing, so that’s information I can provide you at this point,” Joly said. “And of course, my thoughts and my heart is with those who are affected by this multi-front terrorist attack against the Israeli people.”
Joly said that they are in contact with the families involved.
Hamas militants launched a surprise attack in Israel(opens in a new tab) on Saturday, striking numerous Israeli towns on the border with the Gaza Strip, as well as a music festival, killing hundreds in the process.
In the days since, Israel has responded by increasing its bombardment of the Gaza Strip and sealing it off from food, water, fuel and other supplies.
According to media reports and local authorities, around 900 people have been killed in Israel and more than 680 people have been killed in Gaza, with thousands wounded on both sides. Hamas and other militants in Gaza say they have taken more than 130 soldiers and civilians from inside Israel hostage.
JOLY SAYS SHE WON’T ‘SPECULATE ON THE INVOLVEMENT OF IRAN’
When asked about comments made Sunday by Bob Rae(opens in a new tab), Canada’s ambassador to the UN, who asserted that he believes Iran was involved in the Hamas attack in Israel, Joly said she would not “speculate on the involvement of Iran.
“At this point, I’m doing the diplomatic work along with many of my colleagues to make sure that there’s de-escalation and that the conflict doesn’t become broader within the region,” she said.
Although Canada is focused on de-escalation, it’s not going to be easy, Joly said.
“It will get worse before it gets better, we know that,” she said. “And that was clear also through my conversations with my Israeli counterpart.
“We believe in Israel’s right to defend itself against this multi-front terrorist attack by Hamas. It needs to do so, of course, according to international law. Hostages must be released. Civilians must be protected.”
ISRAEL ANNOUNCES ‘COMPLETE SIEGE’ OF GAZA
The death toll seen in the region over the last three days is the largest since Israel’s 1973 war with Egypt and Syria, also known as the Yom Kippur War.
The bloody incursion by Hamas over the weekend included gunmen opening fire at a music festival, with video posted on social media showing people fleeing in terror.
Bodies are still being found in Israel from the initial attack by Hamas, with rescue workers locating 100 bodies in a farming community near the border of the Gaza Strip on Monday.
Israeli airstrikes launched in retaliation have flattened some residential buildings already in the Gaza Strip, where 2.3 million people live. UNICEF estimates that children make up 47 per cent of the population in the Gaza Strip.
As Israel amasses tanks near openings in the fence around the Gaza Strip to prevent further incursions, the question is looming of whether or not a ground assault into Gaza might be next — something that hasn’t been seen since 2014.
On Monday, Israel announced a “complete siege” of Gaza, cutting off the already blockaded Gaza Strip from food, water, fuel, electricity and other supplies. Residents of the impoverished region, which has been called “an open-air prison” by Human Rights Watch(opens in a new tab), have been under a blockade since 2007, which restricts the movement of goods and people in and out of the region.
Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade after Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007(opens in a new tab). Israel says the closure is needed to prevent Hamas, which does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, from building up its military capabilities.
“We have only started striking Hamas,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a nationally televised address Monday. “What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”
Hamas announced on Monday that it would begin executing Israeli captives if Israel targeted any civilians in Gaza “without prior warning.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at a rally in support of Israel, at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre in Ottawa, Oct. 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
CANADIAN OFFICIALS CONDEMN HAMAS ATTACK
At a solidarity gathering for Israel held in Ottawa Monday night, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that Canada “unequivocally, and in the strongest possible terms condemns these terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas.”
Canada has designated Hamas as a terrorist group since 2002.
“The attacks this weekend were brutal,” Trudeau said. “We’ve heard stories of people who were there at the music festival for peace when gunmen started shooting. Images of parents shielding their children to protect them from rockets. Women and kids being forced out of their homes and kidnapped.”
He concluded by reiterating the need for civilians to be protected during the fighting, and for international law to be upheld.
“We stand with you my friends, tonight, tomorrow and every day,” he said.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also spoke at the event, referring to Hamas as a “sadistic, demonic genocidal terrorist death cult,” while calling for an investigation into the co-ordination of the attack. He theorized that Iran may have been involved.
“Hamas does not speak for the Palestinian people. It does not speak for Muslims and it surely does not speak for Canadians,” he said, adding that he condemns “the disgusting celebrations that we have seen on our streets,” seemingly in reference to pro-Palestinian rallies.
A Toronto rally was held Monday in Nathan Phillips Square, with an estimated 1,000 people waving flags and chanting, “Palestine will be free.”
A Monday statement(opens in a new tab) from Heather McPherson, the NDP critic for foreign affairs, echoed the condemnation of the “unjustifiable” Hamas attack and called for “the immediate safe return of all hostages.”
The statement also noted the Palestinians caught up in the violence, urging Canada to “insist Israel respect international law.”
“Civilians in Gaza are caught in a horrific cycle of violence; like the Israeli civilians killed over the past few days, Gazans are victims of Hamas’ brutality,” McPherson wrote. “The international community, Canada included, must work towards a credible peace process that will finally bring peace and security to all in the region, while respecting the humanity and rights of all civilians, Israeli and Palestinian.”
‘IT IS IMPORTANT FOR DIPLOMACY TO WORK’
Joly said she has focused on two goals over the past few days as the increasingly charged situation unfolds.
“First has been really to support Canadians,” she said. “And second, it’s to really try to de-escalate, along with regional partners that I’ve been in contact with.”
Joly has been in contact with her counterparts in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority, as well as U.S. officials.
“We need to make sure that this conflict does not become even a broader conflict in the region,” she said, adding that while she understands the anger of Israelis impacted by the Hamas attack, “it is important for diplomacy to work.”
Joly confirmed that the embassies in Tel Aviv and Ramallah are both open for Canadians who are stranded and searching for aid.
“The team has been working since the beginning of this terrorist attack by Hamas — which of course we condemn — since Saturday,” she said. “At this point, what I can tell you is there’s 2,500 Canadians who’ve registered with the embassy in Israel, 500 … that have registered in Gaza and the West Bank, 800 calls have been received and responded (to) by the team.”
In order to address the increased demand for embassy aid, Joly said they have added more staff in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan, as well.
Joly said she has been in contact with the Minister of Transport Pablo Rodriguez, but there are currently no plans to fly Canadians out of the region en masse, as it may be dangerous for them to flock to airports.
“So right now, the advice is to shelter in place, so we’ll continue to follow the local authorities’ security advice,” she said.
The phone number for Canadians to call if they are concerned about friends and loved ones in Israel or in the West Bank or Gaza Strip is 1-613-996-8885, Joly said.
“We’re there for Canadians, this is our utmost priority, and that’s what we’re doing right now,” she said.
“Meanwhile, we need to continue to engage with many countries in the region. I know that’s what my American counterpart is doing, Tony Blinken, that’s what also my European counterparts are doing in Germany and France, in the U.K. We’re all in contact also amongst each other, because this is a very, very difficult and problematic situation.”
Braxton Whitehead said Friday he has verbally committed to Arizona State, making him the first member of a Canadian Hockey League team to attempt to play the sport at the Division I U.S. college level since a lawsuit was filed challenging the NCAA’s longstanding ban on players it deems to be professionals.
Whitehead posted on social media he plans to play for the Sun Devils beginning in the 2025-26 season.
An Arizona State spokesperson said the school could not comment on verbal commitments, citing NCAA rules. A message left with the CHL was not immediately returned.
A class-action lawsuit filed Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, could change the landscape for players from the CHL’s Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. NCAA bylaws consider them professional leagues and bar players from there from the college ranks.
Online court records show the NCAA has not made any response to the lawsuit since it was filed.
“We’re pleased that Arizona State has made this decision, and we’re hopeful that our case will result in many other Division I programs following suit and the NCAA eliminating its ban on CHL players,” Stephen Lagos, one of the lawyers who launched the lawsuit, told The Associated Press in an email.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Riley Masterson, of Fort Erie, Ontario, who lost his college eligibility two years ago when, at 16, he appeared in two exhibition games for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. And it lists 10 Division 1 hockey programs, which were selected to show they follow the NCAA’s bylaws in barring current or former CHL players.
CHL players receive a stipend of no more than $600 per month for living expenses, which is not considered as income for tax purposes. College players receive scholarships and now can earn money through endorsements and other use of their name, image and likeness (NIL).
The implications of the lawsuit could be far-reaching. If successful, the case could increase competition for college-age talent between North America’s two top producers of NHL draft-eligible players.
“I think that everyone involved in our coaches association is aware of some of the transformational changes that are occurring in collegiate athletics,” Forrest Karr, executive director of American Hockey Coaches Association and Minnesota-Duluth athletic director said last month. “And we are trying to be proactive and trying to learn what we can about those changes.
Karr was not immediately available for comment on Friday.
Earlier this year, Karr established two committees — one each overseeing men’s and women’s hockey — to respond to various questions on eligibility submitted to the group by the NCAA. The men’s committee was scheduled to go over its responses two weeks ago.
Former Minnesota coach and Central Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner Don Lucia said at the time that the lawsuit provides the opportunity for stakeholders to look at the situation.
“I don’t know if it would be necessarily settled through the courts or changes at the NCAA level, but I think the time is certainly fast approaching where some decisions will be made in the near future of what the eligibility will look like for a player that plays in the CHL and NCAA,” Lucia said.
Whitehead, a 20-year-old forward from Alaska who has developed into a point-a-game player, said he plans to play again this season with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League.
“The WHL has given me an incredible opportunity to develop as a player, and I couldn’t be more excited,” Whitehead posted on Instagram.
His addition is the latest boon for Arizona State hockey, a program that has blossomed in the desert far from traditional places like Massachusetts, Minnesota and Michigan since entering Division I in 2015. It has already produced NHL talent, including Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord and Josh Doan, the son of longtime Coyotes captain Shane Doan, who now plays for Utah after that team moved from the Phoenix area to Salt Lake City.
A community legal clinic in Kingston, Ont., is denouncing the mayor’s calls to clear an encampment and close a supervised consumption site in the city following a series of alleged assaults that left two people dead and one seriously injured.
Kingston police said they were called to an encampment near a safe injection site on Thursday morning, where they allege a 47-year-old male suspect wielded an edged or blunt weapon and attacked three people. Police said he was arrested after officers negotiated with him for several hours.
The suspect is now facing two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
In a social media post, Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson said he was “absolutely horrified” by the situation.
“We need to clear the encampment, close this safe injection site and the (Integrated Care Hub) until we can find a better way to support our most vulnerable residents,” he wrote.
The Kingston Community Legal Clinic called Paterson’s comments “premature and misguided” on Friday, arguing that such moves could lead to a rise in overdoses, fewer shelter beds and more homelessness.
In a phone interview, Paterson said the encampment was built around the Integrated Care Hub and safe injection site about three years ago. He said the encampment has created a “dangerous situation” in the area and has frequently been the site of fires, assaults and other public safety concerns.
“We have to find a way to be able to provide the services that people need, being empathetic and compassionate to those struggling with homelessness and mental health and addictions issues,” said Paterson, noting that the safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub are not operated by the city.
“But we cannot turn a blind eye to the very real public safety issues.”
When asked how encampment residents and people who use the services would be supported if the sites were closed, Paterson said the city would work with community partners to “find the best way forward” and introduce short-term and long-term changes.
Keeping the status quo “would be a terrible failure,” he argued.
John Done, executive director of the Kingston Community Legal Clinic, criticized the mayor’s comments and said many of the people residing in the encampment may be particularly vulnerable to overdoses and death. The safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub saves lives, he said.
Taking away those services, he said, would be “irresponsible.”
Done said the legal clinic represented several residents of the encampment when the City of Kingston made a court application last summer to clear the encampment. The court found such an injunction would be unconstitutional, he said.
Done added there’s “no reason” to attach blame while the investigation into Thursday’s attacks is ongoing. The two people who died have been identified as 38-year-old Taylor Wilkinson and 41-year-old John Hood.
“There isn’t going to be a quick, easy solution for the fact of homelessness, drug addictions in Kingston,” Done said. “So I would ask the mayor to do what he’s trained to do, which is to simply pause until we have more information.”
The concern surrounding the safe injection site in Kingston follows a recent shift in Ontario’s approach to the overdose crisis.
Last month, the province announced that it would close 10 supervised consumption sites because they’re too close to schools and daycares, and prohibit any new ones from opening as it moves to an abstinence-based treatment model.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
