In the news today: Oct. 7 anniversary, Tumbler Ridge details, Canadian buoy sets sail

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed …

Anniversary of Gaza war marks 3 years of pain for Canadians with ties to Middle East

For Edmonton mother Salomy Abusalim and her 10-year-old son, Rashid, the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, and the ensuing Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza, marks three years of relentless pain.

Salomy and Rashid moved to Canada in 2018, but her husband, Saed, has not been able to join them.

His application for permanent residency, initially delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been stuck in bureaucratic limbo ever since, because he can’t leave Gaza to get the biometrics done.

Salomy says her husband has at times struggled to find food, and she no longer knows what to tell her son, who has spent eight of his 10 years living without his father.

—

Oct. 7 anniversary marks three years of threats on Jews living in Canada

Three years after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Jewish communities across Canada say life has changed dramatically, as antisemitism has increased.

Police statistics show Jewish communities have been the most frequently targeted group in hate crimes since 2023, despite making up less than one per cent of Canada’s population.

Montreal Rabbi Lisa Grushcow, whose temple was firebombed in June, says the anniversary for Jews in Canada marks three years of fear.

Grushcow says the best thing someone can do is invite non-Jewish friends to attend services at a synagogue so they can see the level of security now required for people to feel comfortable going inside to pray.

—

FBI depicts Tumbler Ridge shooter’s guns, including ‘SKS’ once confiscated by RCMP

An FBI complaint against an American accused of conspiring with the Tumbler Ridge mass shooter offers new details about the guns that may have been used in the attack, and how they may have been obtained.

The complaint says James Bryant, charged with conspiracy to murder in a foreign country, told officers that Jesse Van Rootselaar stole firearms and ammunition from her family’s gun safe and hid them in her room.

It also says 18-year-old Van Rootselaar told Bryant that she convinced another person to buy ammunition on her behalf

Van Rootselaar killed eight victims on Feb. 10, including her mother and brother at their home, and five students and an educational assistant at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, before turning the gun on herself.

—

To get a suitable home, buyers figure out what they’ll accept as a trade-off: Re/Max

A new survey from Re/Max says 65 per cent of respondents would compromise in at least one way to afford a larger or more suitable place to live. 

Such compromises might include living further away from city centres or choosing an older home that may need renovations.

The survey finds 41 per cent of buyers were also willing to make trade-offs beyond the home itself, cutting discretionary spending such as travel and dining out, to afford a home.

The survey comes amid a slowdown for the housing market, and Re/Max says slower sales and more choice in certain markets could provide more time to compare properties.

—

Canadian buoy drifts across Atlantic, washes up on shore of Irish island

Officials in northwestern Ireland say they’re working to recover a large Canadian buoy that floated across the Atlantic Ocean and washed up on a coastal island.

A news release from Mayo County Council says the mariner marker, weighing in at roughly 3.5 tonnes, came ashore on Achill Island, known for its rugged mountains and bright sandy beaches.

The council is looking to recover the buoy so as to prevent it from floating away and becoming a hazard to vessels or coastal infrastructure.

The council adds the discovery is a lighthearted reminder of Mayo County’s connection to Canada through generations of emigration, before demanding a blithe bit of a ransom — if the Canadians want the buoy back, they’ll have to come get it.

— 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2026.