Between those who joined in person and online, more than 40,000 people participated in the October 7th memorial program on Sherman Campus. The Jewish community, including family of hostages and those killed, commemorated the anniversary, spoke about their loved ones, and leaned on each other at the event organized by UJA and our community partners. “This is not an opportunity where we are remembering something that happened. We still have more than 100 hostages, including family members of Canadians, who are in Gaza being held by Hamas,” said Sara Lefton, UJA's Chief Development Officer.
It's not too late to light a virtual candle. Click here to join community members in honouring those who passed, prayers for the hostages, and other messages of love and hope.
We want to thank our extraordinary community, our allies, and the incredible support of elected officials from all three levels of government who joined us for this important community gathering.
In addition to thousands of Jewish community members and allies, we are grateful to the following public officials from all three levels of government who joined our memorial to mark the one-year anniversary of the October 7th attacks:
Chris Ainsworth, Councillor
Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy, MPP and Minister of Finance
Brad Bradford, Councillor
Will Bouma, MPP
Stephanie Bowman, MPP
Hon. Stan Cho, MPP and Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming
Mike Colle, Councillor and Deputy Mayor of Toronto
Bonnie Crombie, Leader, Liberal Party of Ontario
Steven Del Duca, Mayor of Vaughan
Andrew Dowie, MPP
Hon. Doug Downey, MPP and Attorney General
Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario
Dawn Gallagher Murphy, MPP
Andrea Hazell, MPP
Christine Hogarth, MPP
Hon. Michael Kerzner, MPP and Solicitor General
Hon. Stephen Lecce, MPP and Minister of Energy and Electrification
Robin Martin, MPP
Gila Martow, Councillor
Josh Matlow, Councillor
Hon. Todd McCarthy, MPP and Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement
Hon. Graham McGregor, Associate Minister of Auto Theft and Bail Reform
Hon. Marco Mendicino, MP
Hon. Caroline Mulroney, MPP and Minister of Francophone Affairs and President of the Treasury Board
Hon. Michael Parsa, MPP and Minister of Children, Community and Social Services
James Pasternak, Councillor
Hon. Nolan Quinn, MPP and Minister of Colleges and Universities
Mario Racco, Councillor
Hon. Ya’ara Saks, MP and Minister of Mental Health and Addictions
Dianne Saxe, Councillor
Laura Smith, MPP
Dave Smith, MPP
Hon. Michael Tibollo, MPP and Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions
Effie Triantafilopoulos, MPP
Kevin Vuong, MP
Daisy Wai, MPP
We are also grateful to all federal MPs who wished to attend but were unable to do so, due to the schedule of the House of Commons in Ottawa.
We apologize if we inadvertently left a name off this list.