"Canadians need to know that eight fellow citizens were among those murdered on October 7."

"Today [International Day of Remembrance/Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism] is a day to remember those we lost, to honour their lives and to make sure their stories are never forgotten." 

"Terrorism doesn't end when an attack is over."

"It leaves families forever changed and ripples through entire communities long after the headlines have disappeared."

Jacqui Rivers Vital, daughter Adi killed October 7 

 

"We're seeing a convergence of terrorism, criminal actors here in Canada, a rise of hate-motivated attacks, foreign entities contracting out shootings and potentially arson attacks as well."

"It's not only individuals who are targeted in acts of terror, it's our way of life as Canadians that's under threat."

"[This campaign is meant to galvanize Canadians and press Ottawa to ensure terrorists and their proxies] find no safe haven here in Canada."

"These are not just protests, [pro-Hamas street protests targeting Israel and Canadian Jews] this is open-air radicalization, and we need to take it very seriously."

"Canadians have been targeted all around the world by terror and their memories demand action."

Noah Shack, chief executive, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs 

Federation CJA & CIJA organized a rally in Montreal. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

 

Jacqui River Vital's daughter Adi was among the 1,200 mostly civilian Israelis murdered by Palestinian terrorists on October 7, 2023. Her daughter was trying to protect her two children when she was killed. Mrs. Vital has dedicated her activities in reminding the world of that fateful day, of the many victims whose lives were taken, among them Canadian citizens, in the hope that terrorism will be recognized wherever it occurs and ordinary people and their governments feel responsible in rooting its covert presence out.

 

In Canada, as in Europe and the United States, terrorist operatives infiltrate society and government with their messages of hateful slander against the state of Israel in a double-pronged war to defame, delegitimize and isolate the Jewish state, their propaganda presenting violently deadly terrorist acts as acts of 'resistance' against an 'occupation' by a state left with little option but to use its military to protect its citizens against never-ending lethal attacks by a neighbour population whose leaders promote and incite that violence.

 

Outside the United Nations, individuals and UN staff gather to express their solidarity on the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism

 

The United Nations has declared August 21 to be the International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism. At the United Nations on Friday, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Israeli mother of murdered Gaza hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, represented Middle Eastern victims of terrorism. The first Israeli representative chosen to deliver her message, her testimony (through video) was shown alongside those of other terror victims from around the world. 

 

In Canada, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Canadian Families of Victims of October 7, have appealed to the federal government to add Kata'ib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia aligned with Iran, as well as Palestine Action Canada and Masar Badil, a spokesman for terror-listed Samidoun, to be added to the federal government's list of terrorist entities. Public Safety Canada last updated its list in July. In August, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wrote to Public Safety Canada Minister Gary Anandasangaree asking that he recommend listing Kata'ib Hezbollah. "Yet it is still not listed as a terrorist entity in Canada", noted Mr. Poilievre.

 

According to U.S. prosecutors, a member of Kata'ib Hezbollah informed an undercover officer that his group was behind shootings at a Toronto synagogue and at the front of the U.S. consulate in Toronto. Once a group has been listed a protocol goes into effect whereby banks are obligated by law to freeze the group's money; to knowingly handle its property, fund it, recruit for a listed group or travel to join it becomes a federal crime.

 

The listing campaign undertaken by the two groups, CIJA and Canadian Families of Victims cites a Global News report naming Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi who was arrested in May for directing attacks in Europe, attesting that the group was behind the Toronto shootings. Global News cited a federal threat assessment that a group called Harakat Ashab al Yamin al Islamiyya claimed responsibility for attacks in Europe, a London synagogue arson among them. The group, say U.S. prosecutors, is a front for Kata'ib Hezbollah.

 

As for Palestine Action Canada, it has targeted strategic industries in the United Kingdom and Canada. Masar Badil, acting on behalf of Samidoun, listed in October 2024 as a terrorist entity, is the third the campaign names for listing. Ottawa has been asked to criminalize willful promotion of terrorism, and that membership in a listed entity be an offence. That more resources for police and intelligence agencies be provided, along with enforcement of existing listings.

 

Among them the deportation of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials living freely in Canada, when the IRGC was listed by Canada as a terrorist entity in 2024. The Canadian Integrated Threat Assessment Centre has warned that a violent extremist attack on the Jewish community in Canada remained a "realistic possibility" in the near future, according to a report noted by The Globe and Mail. A second assessment noted a realistic possibility that Iran directed or enabled criminal violence in Canada.   

Kata’ib Hezbollah is an Iran-backed extremist militia closely tied to the IRGC. It has been listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States since 2009 under President Obama and receives training, weapons, financing, intelligence and logistical support from the Iranian regime.

Yet it is still not listed as a terrorist entity in Canada.

Listing Kata’ib Hezbollah would make it illegal to knowingly deal in its property or finances, allow authorities to restrain or seize its assets and strengthen Canada’s ability to prevent its members from entering or remaining in the country.

There is no justification for delay.

The Liberals have failed to enforce Canada’s terrorist laws with the urgency and strength Canadians expect. Parliament did not list terrorist entities merely to put their names on a government website. Canadians expect their laws to be enforced to the fullest extent: terrorist assets frozen and seized, financing networks dismantled, and operatives stopped at the border or removed from the country. Yet Canadians have seen little evidence of serious enforcement against the IRGC and other listed terrorist groups threatening our people, our communities and our national interests. A terrorist listing is only as strong as the action that follows it.

Jewish Canadians have watched their synagogues, schools and businesses targeted by shootings, vandalism, firebombings and threats. Iranian Canadians who escaped the brutality of the Islamic Republic have faced surveillance, harassment and intimidation from the same regime on Canadian soil.

Conservative Party of Canada 

Poilievre calls on Canada to designate Kata’ib Hezbollah as terror group. Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Friday, May 29, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby