Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
The son of a Canadian peace activist has confirmed his mother's death, saying she was murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Winnipeg-born Vivian Silver, 74, was believed to have been one of the 239 hostages from Israel taken by Hamas that day. One of her two sons, Yonatan Zeigen, told CTV News on Monday that Silver was killed by Hamas during the surprise attack.
Silver was living in Kibbutz Be’eri, on the edge of the Gaza Strip. She had left her home in Winnipeg more than 50 years ago to live in Israel and work on peace initiatives.
Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist group by the Canadian government, stormed Israel on Oct. 7 and commenced the deadliest attack the country has seen in decades, killing more than 1,200 people and taking upwards of 200 people hostage, according to Israeli officials.
Global Affairs Canada has previously confirmed the deaths of six Canadians in Israel, as well as one non-Canadian with “deep connections to Canada.”
Following the attack, the Israeli government declared war in a campaign to crush Hamas.
In the six weeks since, more than two-thirds of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have fled their homes.
Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry has pegged the Palestinian death toll beyond 11,000 people, two-thirds of them women and minors.
Zeigen has previously stated he does not believe violence is the right course of action and that his mother raised him to believe peace is the only way to solve the decades-long conflict in the Middle East.
“My basic belief is that the military actions don't solve anything," he told The Canadian Press in a story published Oct. 29.
"The attack on Oct. 7, it was vicious (and) really brutal. But it happened in a certain context of this region of years and years of dehumanizing people from both sides,” Zeigen added.
As news of Silver’s death reached Canadians Monday evening, tributes were quick to pour in for Silver, who is being remembered for her efforts to promote peace between Palestinians and Israelis.
Heather McPherson, the NDP’s foreign affairs critic, was one of the first to post on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying she is “devastated” to learn about the activist’s murder.
“Vivian was a courageous peace activist with friends around the world. My heart breaks for her sons & all who knew her. The perpetrators must be brought to justice. May her memory be a blessing,” McPherson wrote.
Zeigen, who resides in Tel Aviv, said it was his mother’s mission to bring peace to the region.
After retiring as CEO of an organization that promoted peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Silver was involved in another organization of women with a similar goal, Zeigen told CTV National News’ Adrian Ghobrial last month, shortly after his mother was kidnapped.
“She was a beacon for peace and justice, an ally to the Palestinian people,” Zeigen said at the time.
At one point, Silver volunteered with a group that drove Palestinian patients from Gaza to Israeli hospitals for medical care, he said.
Women Wage Peace, the Israeli women’s peace movement that Silver helped found, also posted on X, saying, ”Our hearts are shattered.”
Melanie Joly, Canada’s minister of foreign affairs, shared on X that she had met with Silver’s son in Tel Aviv and called her “a proud Israeli-Canadian.”
“He described her as kind, generous, and selfless. Canada mourns her loss with him and her loved ones,” Joly said on X.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also shared a few words on X, calling Silver a “unifier in times of war,” accompanied by a video with his Oct. 16 statement at the House of Commons paying tribute to the prominent peace activist.
Bob Rae, Canada’s ambassador to the UN, also paid tribute to Silver.
“May her memory be for a blessing, and her courage and conviction be an example for us all,” Rae wrote on X. “Let the killing and bombing be paused long enough for the hostages to be released.”
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, also shared his condolences Monday night on X. highlighting the former Winnipeg resident’s efforts to bring peace, especially during times of war.
“Her memory and her pursuit of peace is a bright light we will carry in our hearts during these dark times,” read his post.
Idit Shamir, the Israeli consul-general in Toronto, called news of Silver’s death “tragic.”
“Our hearts go out to her family and friends. May her memory be a blessing,” wrote Shamir.
With files from The Canadian Press and CTV National News' Adrian Ghobrial.
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.