Ottawa considering ‘combination of approaches' to 20% military pay hike
The Canadian flag is seen on a soldier's shoulder during an interview in Calgary on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward JOH flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: pubinfo.section: cms.site.custom.site_domain : thestar.com sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false firstAuthor.avatar :
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Calgary Herald
an hour ago
- Calgary Herald
Families of Air India bombing victims find peace and presence at Irish memorial
Article content Both Turlapatis have been instrumental in organizing the annual service where a moment of silence at 8:13 a.m. on June 23 marks the time the plane exploded. They have worked to create colourful gardens surrounding the memorial wall. Article content A larger than usual crowd is expected Monday, June 23 to mark the 40th anniversary of the bombing. Dozens of relatives have travelled from Canada. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree will be here, as will Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin and representatives of the Indian government. Several RCMP officers from B.C. are also here to participate. Article content The Mounties and several relatives gathered informally at the memorial Saturday as rain threatened overhead. Article content Saroj Gaur hugged Padmini, who she calls 'auntie' because of the support Gaur was offered by the Turlapatis when her father Om Prakash Sharma died in the bombing. Article content Article content Gaur, who now lives in Toronto, said her dad wanted her to travel with him to India for the summer break. But she was 23, had just finished her studies and wanted to look for work. She was job-hunting in Toronto when she got the news about the flight from a family friend. Article content Despite her father's contributions to Canada, she still feels that Canadians don't care. Article content 'We were living in Canada, paying our taxes. My father was teaching Canadian children, and it hurts when he wasn't recognized. You know that it's a Canadian tragedy,' Gaur said with tears in her eyes. Article content Article content She also finds comfort here, near to her father, whose body wasn't recovered. Article content 'This is my third trip. When we were driving down here, I felt something very touching. I felt like I'm coming to my own place,' she said. 'I was feeling so joyous. I felt like I belong here.' Article content Article content She is also grateful to the Irish for their support over four decades. Article content 'The Irish people made this beautiful monument here. It doesn't matter how many times you come here, how many times you've seen it, you still want to come back. This is the place where they lost their life and you can't forget it.' Article content Sanjay Lazar, who lives in Pune, India, was just 17 when he lost his father Sampath, stepmother Sylvia and toddler sister Sandeeta to the bomb planted by B.C. terrorists. Article content It is here that Lazar feels closest to his family. Article content For many years after he was orphaned, Lazar ran away from his pain. Four years ago, that all changed here at the memorial when he felt for the first time that his family was sending him a message. Article content
Toronto Star
5 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Ottawa considering ‘combination of approaches' to 20% military pay hike
The Canadian flag is seen on a soldier's shoulder during an interview in Calgary on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward JOH flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: : sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false :
Toronto Sun
a day ago
- Toronto Sun
KINSELLA: Anxious times as Israel has become a war zone
The 'unrelenting' alarms prompt people to take shelter for hours at a time to survive the long days and nights Smoke billows from a building at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba in southern Israel following an Iranian missile attack on June 19, 2025. Photo by MAYA LEVIN / AFP What's it like living in Israel, right now? This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account When this writer was there last month, there were lots of sirens and alerts, but not much in the way of anxiety. Even when a Houthi ballistic missile penetrated the Iron Dome and landed right beside Terminal Three at the country's main airport – where my partner happened to be, along with dozens of Canadian kids – nobody seemed to lose their cool. They swept up the shrapnel and the dirt, and flights continued. These days, it's different. There's lots of anxiety, now. On June 13 – one day after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) censured Iran for continuing to enrich uranium that could be used in the dictatorship's covert nuclear weapons program – Israel acted. It had no choice. It commenced bombing Iranian military and nuclear facilities. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Read More Iran, meanwhile, responded by targeting Israeli civilians: hospitals, schools and apartment buildings, in Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Rishon Lezion, Bat Yam and Rehovot in central Israel, and Haifa and Tamra in the North. Everywhere, really. And Iran continues to target civilians. So what is that like? Mark Berlin is an Ottawa lawyer (and, full disclosure, a longtime friend). He was invited to Israel for a mission by its Foreign Ministry to meet with the country's thriving LGBTQ community, and to celebrate Pride month. 'It was otherworldly,' said Berlin, who is now back home in Ottawa. 'It was like something I've never experienced before.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Ottawa lawyer Mark Berlin was invited to Israel for a mission by its Foreign Ministry to meet with the country's thriving LGBTQ community, and to celebrate Pride month. Photo by Suplied For Berlin, that's no small thing. He worked in Ramallah in the West Bank for a decade, during the first and second Intifadas. He's worked in war-torn Sudan. I know him to be brave and determined man. After visiting the site of the Nova Music Festival and some of the kibbutzim attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023 – when thousands of Jews and non-Jews were murdered, wounded, raped and kidnapped by the terror group – Berlin and his delegation went to Tel Aviv to join in Pride celebrations. And that's when Hell broke out. 'The sh– hit the fan, and we were in a war zone… When the alarms go off, you have one minute, 30 seconds to get to the shelter,' he explained. 'And so you scramble to it. And the first day, we thought, okay, it's gonna be once a night. Then it was twice a night.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. And then, he said, it started to happen multiple times, every night – and then during the day, too. It hasn't stopped. 'It was unrelenting,' he said. 'We were getting two, three hours of sleep at best, in 45-minute chunks.' People take shelter in an underground parking lot in Tel Aviv amid a fresh barrage of Iranian rockets in Israel on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP / Getty Images They'd sleep on the concrete floor in their hotel's parking garage, which they were told was reinforced and was the best protection against Iran's barrage. 'It was hot,' Berlin recalled of what it was like, sitting on the concrete, waiting for the all-clear. 'I don't want to say there was a stench of fear, but there was an odor of anxiety, if that makes any sense.' He paused and laughed a bit. 'I don't think that describes it properly, but I would say there was anxiety.' He and the others in his delegation became friends. Berlin and an Emmy Award-winning New York comedian Judy Gold became close. They'd sit on yoga mats they brought into the bomb shelter, and talk about everything and nothing. Then they'd get the signal to go back to their rooms. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'And sure enough, an hour-and-a-half later, we'd be back (in the shelter),' Berlin said. Beachgoers leave during a missile alert from Iran, in Tel Aviv, Israel on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. Photo by Ohad Zwigenberg / AP One time, an explosion was heard. 'There was a massive boom, and all of a sudden there was a cloud of silt and dirt and dust that came up the garage ramps,' Berlin said. 'I had a friend who actually had her mouth open, and she got a mouth full of grit. Okay, holy sh–.' When the group got outside, they saw a building a block away had been hit, and there were ambulances and rescue crews everywhere. How did they eventually get out? They left Tel Aviv, Berlin said, and went through what he described only as 'a friendly Middle Eastern country.' From there, to Dubai, then to Montreal, then to his home and husband in Ottawa. Smoke rises after a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Friday, June 13, 2025. Photo by Leo Correa / AP Photo Berlin concluded by saying there is something he wants to be known: 'I felt quite abandoned by the Canadian government. I can tell you we weren't impressed. It wasn't impressive.' He pauses and sighs, then adds: 'But we're here and and we're safe.' And that's what matters. But for the ten million people who live in Israel? For them? For them, there's nowhere else to go. And Iran's missiles continue to rain down on their heads. Columnists Toronto & GTA Editorial Cartoons Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA
