Mayor Olivia Chow says a lost email meant for her inbox meant she didn’t attend a vigil marking the anniversary of a Hamas attack in Israel that has led to rising death counts and war in the Middle East.
“I don’t know the details, but my office did not get the email that was sent to us,” Chow said, adding, “I regret that I missed ... the memorial,” referring to the Oct. 7 anniversary vigil held earlier this week.
Thousands gathered at Lipa Green Centre in North York to commemorate the one year anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
Thousands gathered at Lipa Green Centre in North York to commemorate the one year anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
The North York event was organized by the UJA Federation of Greater ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, a ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½-based Jewish organization with the mission “to preserve and strengthen the quality of Jewish life in Greater ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, Canada, Israel and around the world,” according to its website. Several politicians, including other members of city council, such as Brad Bradford and Dianne Saxe, attended the event on the evening of Oct. 7, including Premier Doug Ford.
The anniversary of the 2023 attack in Israel, in which Hamas militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted roughly 240 others, was sombrely marked across the city. Since the initial attack by Hamas, Israel has responded with an ongoing bombardment of Gaza that local health officials say has killed roughly 42,000 Palestinians and displaced many more as the landscape of Gaza has been turned into rubble.
Chow said her staff were stretched thin Monday, responding to a spate of violence that occurred over the past week, a park maintenance report that highlighted shortcomings in the oversight of staff, the continued saga of the vacant home tax and the return of city council Wednesday.
“So myself and my officer were extensively … we were stretched because this is council week and there was a substantial amount of work that was in front of us.”
“I don’t know at this point, it doesn’t matter,” Chow said after being pressed for details on why she didn’t attend.
“I wasn’t there,” Chow said. “Let’s be better.”
The mayor said she would be meeting leaders from UJA and CIJA, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, on Wednesday to apologize for not being able to make it to the vigil.
“I will apologize for not being able to make Monday evening’s event.”
With files from Ben SpurrÂ
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