Families of Canadian Oct. 7 victims urge Carney to lead global effort to dismantle Hamas, hold Iran accountable
The families of Canadians killed by Hamas in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, are urging Ottawa to leverage its diplomatic and economic weight to lead a global campaign to sanction and dismantle the terrorist organization and to pursue justice against Iranian officials accused of sponsoring it.
In a statement released after a meeting between Prime Minister Mark Carney and family members from the Association of Canadian Families of the Victims of October 7th, the group described its two proposals as steps “not only toward justice, but toward preventing future atrocities.”
The first call to action asks Canada to spearhead an international effort at the United Nations to formally sanction Hamas, similar to the blacklisting of ISIS and al-Qaeda. The Association said Carney’s experience “as an international economic authority” positions him to coordinate sanctions disrupting the terrorists’ financial and logistical networks and to rally “like-minded nations” to join the effort.
The second request urges Ottawa to launch a structural investigation into Iranian officials involved in arming, training, and funding Hamas, and to prosecute them under Canada’s War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Act. Such action, the families said, would “demonstrate Canada’s leadership in the global fight against impunity.”
Beyond foreign policy, the families connected their demands to growing domestic concern about antisemitism and foreign-inspired hate. Statistics Canada data show hate crimes have doubled in the past five years, with Jewish Canadians remaining the most targeted religious group.
The families said action equals memory.
“We honour those we lost by working together to combat antisemitism, hold perpetrators accountable, and build a safer, more just world.”
Seated with Carney last week were Raquel Look and Alain Haim, the mother and father of Alexandre Look, a 33-year-old Montrealer killed while defending others at the Nova music festival, and Jacqui Rivers-Vital, the mother of Adi Vital-Kaploun, a 33-year-old Canadian-Israeli murdered in her home while protecting her two small sons. After she was slain in front of them, her children — four-year-old Negev and six-month-old Eshel — were kidnapped but later released.
Look and Vital-Kaploun were among eight Canadians murdered that day.
The group thanked Carney for meeting with the families and for his “clear and unequivocal statement of solidarity with victims of Hamas terrorism.”
“We are grateful to the Prime Minister for taking the time to listen to our stories and for recognizing the humanity and heroism of our loved ones,” the group said.
Following the meeting, Carney shared an image of himself and the parents on X, writing:
“Their remarkable strength in the face of unimaginable grief is a testament to the resilience of the Jewish people,” he wrote. “My message to Jacqui, Raquel, and Alain: Adi and Alexandre will not be forgotten. Not by me, not by our government, and not by our country.”
Today I met with the parents of two Canadians murdered by the terrorist organisation Hamas on October 7th, 2023. Their remarkable strength in the face of unimaginable grief is a testament to the resilience of the Jewish people. My message to Jacqui, Raquel, and Alain: Adi and… pic.twitter.com/YNhpaWYcpF
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) November 7, 2025
The meeting comes as Carney’s government adjusts its approach in the Middle East, balancing firm condemnations of Hamas with support for humanitarian efforts in Gaza and criticism of Israeli leadership. In July, Carney said Canada would formally recognize the State of Palestine, conditional on democratic reforms, a move opposed by the families at the time.
Carney has also been critical of Iran’s destabilizing role in the region by sponsoring terrorism.
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