Ontario political leaders mark one-year anniversary of Oct. 7 Hamas attack

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a Village Media website devoted to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.

Ontario's political leaders marked the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack with solemn statements that highlighted a rise in hate locally and called for the release of hostages abroad. 

The attack on Israel one year ago killed around 1,200 people and another 250 people were taken hostage, some of whom are still being held. According to media reports, the health ministry in Gaza has placed the death toll from the conflict at more than 40,000 Palestinians. 

Since last October, the attack and the ensuing Israel-Hamas war have frequently occupied the legislative chamber and the hallways of Queen's Park — with the discussions sometimes leading to division and accusations of playing politics. 

"As we mark this solemn occasion, our government continues to call for the safe and immediate return of the remaining hostages being held captive by Hamas, which is the best way to bring about lasting peace in the region," Premier Doug Ford said in a statement on Monday. "One year later, our thoughts and prayers also go out to the families and loved ones of those who were killed in the attacks and of those who continue to be held hostage. This includes many people in Ontario’s Jewish community, who maintain deep and close ties with family and loved ones in Israel."

The premier noted an "alarming rise in antisemitism" in Ontario and globally. 

"I again reiterate our government’s strong opposition to antisemitism and hate and reiterate the need to support our Jewish friends and neighbours. We will continue to stand up against hate wherever it is found and work to foster understanding, unity and respect in our province and communities."

Some MPPs also shared statements or video messages online, including Minister of Energy and Electrification Stephen Lecce and PC MPP Lisa MacLeod, who both pointed to a rise in antisemitism and called for people to stand up to it. 

Nine days after the October 2023 attack, the Ford government tabled a motion in the legislature condemning the "slaughter, rape, and kidnapping of innocent Israeli civilians, including babies, children, and seniors" by Hamas terrorists and recognizing the "inalienable right of the State of Israel to defend itself and its people against this horrific violence."

At the time, opposition politicians accused the government of playing politics with the war and using it to deflect from the Ford government's Greenbelt scandal.

The NDP had tried to amend the motion to include calls for a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and for "humanitarian aid to reach Palestinian civilians urgently without restriction."

"We are watching potential war crimes in real-time," the party's leader, Marit Stiles, said last October, decrying the deaths of Palestinians. 

While the NDP abstained from the vote, the motion, which led to days of debate, passed with support from Progressive Conservative and Liberal MPPs.

The same day the government introduced its motion on the Israel-Hamas conflict, it tabled a second motion to censure then-NDP MPP Sarah Jama over a social media statement she made accusing Israel of the "continued violations of human rights in Gaza" and calling for it to "end all occupation of Palestinian land and end apartheid." While she apologized for not condemning Hamas in her initial statement, she didn't retract it. 

Jama, who currently sits as an independent, was later booted from the NDP caucus, but Stiles said it wasn't because of her statement, but for taking "unilateral actions" that surprised the party's leadership. 

On Monday, Stiles spoke of the lives "cruelly taken in the October 7 terror attacks in Israel" and said she shares "in the pain of all Ontarians impacted by the events of that day and the brutal war that has followed."

"That grief has been made worse by a frightening increase in hate here in our province," she stated in a post on X. "The scale of devastation and loss of life we have seen this year demands that we renew our commitment to justice and peace."

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said her "thoughts are with the people whose lives were forever changed on that day."

"More than a thousand innocent lives were taken. Hundreds of hostages stolen away, ripping apart families and leaving behind fear, grief, and a war that continues to this day," she said in a statement. "The last year has been full of heartache for so many across our province. Hate and intolerance are on the rise in our local communities, causing even more pain here at home."

She said Oct. 7 is a "solemn reminder" of what's been lost, adding that she hoped "empathy, tolerance and peace" would prevail. 

Green Leader Mike Schreiner reflected on the "pain, anguish, and trauma" from the Oct. 7 attack and the "subsequent bombardment and invasion of Gaza."

"Here in our own communities, we have painfully seen increasing acts of targeted antisemitic, anti-Palestinian, and Islamophobic hate. I join together with Jewish and Palestinian neighbours to stand against hate in all its forms. I will work across party lines on laws to combat antisemitism, anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia and other forms of hate," said Schreiner. 

"I denounce the attack that happened one year ago today and call for peace, security, human rights and justice. I reiterate the call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, for the release of all hostages, the flow of humanitarian aid and an end to occupation."

The past year has also seen pro-Palestinian encampments set up at several universities across the province — with the premier saying earlier this year that he was "not in favour" of them and wanted universities to "move these people along."

Controversy also brewed after Speaker Ted Arnott banned keffiyehs, traditional Arab scarves that have come to signify support for the Palestinian cause, at the legislature. He later loosened the ban to allow MPPs and visitors to wear the scarves in the Queen's Park precinct, but not inside the chamber. 

-With files from Jessica Smith Cross