More than 1,500 Canadian writers and publishers have signed an open letter calling for the charges against anti-war protesters who interrupted the Scotiabank Giller Prize gala to be dropped.
During the ceremony on Monday, protesters shouted slogans and displayed signs accusing Scotiabank of funding “genocide” in Gaza. Scotiabank, which sponsors the literary event, has a 3.56 per cent stake, valued at around $431 million, in Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems. Ltd through its subsidiary 1832 Asset Management L.P. Scotiabank and Elbit Systems Ltd. did not respond to requests for comment prior to publication.
Three people are now facing charges in connection with the protest, according to Toronto police.
“As writers and publishers, we express our support for the protestors who disrupted the Scotiabank Giller Prize gala," an open letter, which began circulating on Wednesday, reads.
“We stand with the protestors, and we urge that the charges against them be dropped.”
The signatories on the open letter include award-winning writers and poets such as Rupi Kaur, Waubgeshig Rice, Billy-Ray Belcourt and this year’s Governor General Award winner, Anuja Varghese.
Among them are also former Giller Prize winners, such as Omar El Akkad, who won the prize in 2021 for his novel, “What Strange Paradise”, and authors who have been shortlisted for the Giller Prize, such as Noor Naga and Tsering Yangzom Lama.
The open letter noted that signatories were “proud and grateful” to have received nominations, grant funding and awards from literary institutions including the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
But it stated that these literary institutions should “be loud where our governments and news outlets have been silent,” in calling for a ceasefire and pressuring Canada’s government to end its military funding for Israel.
“In the past five weeks, Israel has cut off water, electricity, and communication to Gaza. Over 11,000 Palestinians have been killed, the majority civilians and non-combatants,” the letter stated.
“This week, Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza, was bombed until it could no longer be used. Among those who have died are more than 4000 children, many of them infants. This has been the deadliest attack for children in recent times. Many of our government officials and institutions swiftly condemned the October 7th deadly attack on 1200 Israeli civilians and the taking of 220 hostages. We ask that our institutions treat Palestinian civilians with the same concern and humanity.”
A protestor holding a sign saying "SCOTIABANK FUNDS GENOCIDE" is escorted off the stage during the Scotiabank Giller Prize in Toronto, on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Rob Gillies)
The child death toll cited in the open letter align with figures presented by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Global charity Save the Children has called it the deadliest conflict for children in recent times, based on those figures, and a spokesperson for UNICEF, the UN's children's agency, made similar comments to The Canadian Press.
The toll on Israel aligns with what has been reported by the Israeli government, which responded to Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 surprise attack with a siege on Gaza, weeks of airstrikes and an eventual ground assault into the enclave, and has said its military action is necessary to wipe out Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the idea of a ceasefire until all Israeli hostages have been released.
Elbit Systems Ltd. says it has long provided munitions to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), and in July, it was awarded a contract worth around US$60 million to supply the IDF with thousands of 155mm artillery shells over the period of a year.
In connection with Monday's protest, Evan Curle (25), Maysam Abu Khreibeh (25) and Fatima Hussain (23), are all facing charges of obstruct, interrupt or interfere with the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of property, as well as the charge of using a forged document.
The initial protest was met with boos from the audience at the Scotiabank Giller Prize gala, and protesters were escorted away by security. But it wasn’t the first time that Scotiabank’s ties to the Israeli defence contractor have been criticized.
Scotiabank came under scrutiny last year when it became the largest foreign shareholder in the publicly traded Israeli defence contractor.
SumOfUs, an advocacy group, launched a 2022 petition campaign calling on Canada’s third-largest bank to divest its stake in the company, which had been accused of manufacturing cluster munitions.
As previously reported by BNN Bloomberg, Elbit Systems Ltd. has been placed on lists of banned investments for a number of firms, and Australia’s Future Fund and Norway’s largest pension fund have excluded it from portfolios over its alleged production of cluster munitions.
At that time, the Israeli company denied producing cluster munitions and Scotiabank told BNN Bloomberg that it backs the company's position.
“1832 Asset Management does not knowingly invest in companies that directly manufacture cluster munitions,” Scotiabank spokesperson Heather Armstrong said in an October 2022 email.
“Our engagement with the company confirmed that they do not, and we verified this position with a leading global investment research firm that is commonly used by asset managers around the globe.”
With files from the Associated Press and BNN Bloomberg
David Lavery, a former Canadian Forces soldier who helped approximately 100 people flee Afghanistan during the fall of Kabul, has been 'picked up' by the Taliban this week, according to multiple sources who spoke to CTV National News on the condition of anonymity.
With Canada Post workers on strike, many individuals and businesses are facing the challenge of sending and receiving mail. Here are the answers to some of Canadians’ most-asked questions.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says Donald Trump's return to the White House has boosted Canada's influence in the world as other international partners turn to Canada for advice on how to deal with him.
As the country heads into the worst time of year for respiratory infections, the Canadian respiratory virus surveillance report tracks how prevalent certain viruses are each week and how the trends are changing week to week.
The Canada Revenue Agency will be eliminating approximately 600 temporary and contract employees across the country by mid-December.
The two biggest children’s hospitals in Montreal - the CHU Sainte-Justine and Montreal Children's Hospital - are asking the parents to avoid bringing their children to the emergency room if possible due to a surge in patients.
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has named Steven Cheung as his White House communications director, one of the top communications roles.
U.S. President Donald Trump's pick of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services "is an extraordinarily bad choice for the health of the American people," warns the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
Newly released documents show the Royal Canadian Mounted Police collected wreckage after an unidentified object was shot down over Lake Huron in February of last year.
With Canada Post workers on strike, many individuals and businesses are facing the challenge of sending and receiving mail. Here are the answers to some of Canadians’ most-asked questions.
The Canada Revenue Agency will be eliminating approximately 600 temporary and contract employees across the country by mid-December.
The "Roaring Lion" returned to the walls of Ottawa's Fairmont Château Laurier, nearly three years after the historic portrait of Sir Winston Churchill was stolen.
The two biggest children’s hospitals in Montreal - the CHU Sainte-Justine and Montreal Children's Hospital - are asking the parents to avoid bringing their children to the emergency room if possible due to a surge in patients.
Canada's Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault is apologizing after shifting claims about his Indigenous identity came under scrutiny.
Intense flooding that hammered British Columbia's coast last month has led to more than $110 million in insured damage claims.
Travellers aboard a Southwest Airlines flight preparing to leave Denver Friday had to evacuate after a passenger’s cell phone battery caught on fire and caused an airplane seat to catch fire as well.
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has named Steven Cheung as his White House communications director, one of the top communications roles.
Three daughters of Malcolm X have accused the CIA, FBI, the New York Police Department and others of playing roles in his 1965 assassination.
Mexico’s president lashed out Friday at Moody’s ratings service, after it downgraded the Mexican government’s debt outlook to “negative.”
Even though he won’t be there, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump will loom over talks at two global summits in South America this week.
Russia told Austria it is suspending gas deliveries from Saturday in a development that signals a fast approaching end of Moscow's last remaining gas flows to Europe.
Canada's Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault is apologizing after shifting claims about his Indigenous identity came under scrutiny.
Top officials in both Canada and the United States are pushing for the need to finalize the Columbia River Treaty to manage water flowing between the two countries before the administration change in America.
Canada's parliamentary budget officer says the federal government is overestimating the impact its new immigration plan will have on the country's housing shortage.
Despite decades of calls for more attention to patient safety in hospitals, people undergoing surgery still have high rates of complications and medical errors, a new study finds.
The two biggest children’s hospitals in Montreal - the CHU Sainte-Justine and Montreal Children's Hospital - are asking the parents to avoid bringing their children to the emergency room if possible due to a surge in patients.
U.S. President Donald Trump's pick of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services "is an extraordinarily bad choice for the health of the American people," warns the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
The moon has some new stories to tell. Scientists have published the first detailed analyses of the historic cache of lunar soil and rock that China retrieved from the far side of the moon this year.
Premier Doug Ford's government has signed a $100-million deal with Elon Musk's SpaceX to deliver high-speed internet to remote residents in rural and northern Ontario.
Jenni Gibbons was inspired to become an astronaut at a young age by Canada’s early space explorers, including Roberta Bondar. Now, the Artemis II backup crew member is hoping she can motivate the next generation to look to the stars.
Plenty of people loved Hugh Grant's character in the 1999 rom-com 'Notting Hill,' but Grant is not one of them. He talked about playing William Thacker, opposite Julia Roberts as Anna Scott, during a conversation for Vanity Fair’s 'Scene Selection.'
Toronto's Taylor Swift era is in full swing and fans are making the whole city shimmer with their outfits.
American sisters Lina and My Jae weren't worried about the thousands of dollars they dropped to see Taylor Swift in Toronto.
Canadian Union of Postal Workers said approximately 55,000 workers are striking, claiming little progress has been made in the bargaining process.
The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in October rose 30 per cent compared with a year ago, marking a shift from the market's holding pattern that the association has previously described.
Shares of prominent vaccine makers plunged Thursday after U.S. president-elect Donald Trump announced his pick of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The ancient Roman Colosseum will be the venue of gladiator fights -- albeit staged -- for the first time in two millennia under a US$1.5 million sponsorship deal with Airbnb that aims to promote 'a more conscious tourism.'
The Australian government's plan to ban children from social media to protect them from harm has won almost universal political support, but keeping them off social media looks far more difficult in practical terms.
The California Insurance Department said four Los Angeles residents were arrested Wednesday, accused of defrauding three insurance companies out of nearly $142,000 by claiming a bear had caused damage to their vehicles.
Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers is the CFLs outstanding player.
The world's tallest teenager might have to wait a year to become the world's tallest college basketball player.
Newfoundland and Labrador's return on investment for sponsoring a professional English soccer team was not quite as rosy as previously claimed.
In part two of a three-part series into how thieves are able to drive off with modern vehicles so easily, CTV W5 correspondent Jon Woodward uses a device flagged by police to easily clone a car key.
When a Tesla crashed on Lakeshore Boulevard in Toronto last month, the first people on scene knew there were occupants inside but couldn't immediately get them out.
Almost four out of five Canadian drivers switch to winter tires when the weather calls for them, according to a new survey.
Some Calgary residents caught what appeared to be a meteor streaking across the sky early on Wednesday morning.
Four years ago, Phill Hebb started up 'Phil’s Unique Birdhouses' and since then, they’ve made their way all across Canada and into the United States.
A New Brunswick fashion designer recently won the top prize at a national event for a dress she made using an unconventional material.
Dr. Ronald Weiss, who performed nearly 60,000 vasectomies on Ottawa men, establishing him as the "Wayne Gretzky" of the procedure, has died.
A congestion crisis, a traffic nightmare, or unrelenting gridlock -- whatever you call it, most agree that Toronto has a congestion problem. To alleviate some of the gridlock, the Ontario government has announced it plans to remove bike lanes from three major roadways.
For the second year in a row, the ‘Gift-a-Family’ campaign is hoping to make the holidays happier for children and families in need throughout Barrie.
Some of the most prolific photographers behind CTV Skywatch Pics of the Day use the medium for fun, therapy, and connection.
A young family from Codroy Valley, N.L., is happy to be on land and resting with their newborn daughter, Miley, after an overwhelming, yet exciting experience at sea.
As Connor Nijsse prepared to remove some old drywall during his garage renovation, he feared the worst.
Top officials in both Canada and the United States are pushing for the need to finalize the Columbia River Treaty to manage water flowing between the two countries before the administration change in America.
Intense flooding that hammered British Columbia's coast last month has led to more than $110 million in insured damage claims.
A 21-year-old man is facing nine charges in connection to a robbery investigation in Surrey, RCMP announced Friday.
Peel police are searching for a Toronto man who allegedly sold fake sporting and concert tickets to a victim, which resulted in a loss of over $38,000.
The FBI has released a new image of Ryan James Wedding, the Canadian ex-Olympian allegedly behind a deadly international drug ring.
A Toronto couple bought two tickets to one of Taylor Swift's tour stops in the city, but unfortunately their love story didn't last and now they're fighting for who gets the seats.
Canada Post workers are on strike after failing to reach a negotiated agreement with their employer.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) says a Calgary man, who served as an executive at a prominent Alberta ski resort, has been sentenced for not paying taxes on more than $350,000 he stole from his employer.
The CPKC holiday train is preparing to hit the road for another year of fundraising across Canada and the next week, with several stops planned in Calgary and throughout southern Alberta.
The Canada Revenue Agency will be eliminating approximately 600 temporary and contract employees across the country by mid-December.
An Ottawa resident has pleaded guilty to failing to keep a fire under control after a wildfire consumed almost 45 hectares of land on Centennial Lake in Renfrew County.
The Ottawa Police Service is asking the public for help in identifying two suspects allegedly involved in several robbery and carjacking incidents since Nov. 3 in the south end of the city.
The two biggest children’s hospitals in Montreal - the CHU Sainte-Justine and Montreal Children's Hospital - are asking the parents to avoid bringing their children to the emergency room if possible due to a surge in patients.
At long last, construction work on Sainte-Catherine Street in Montreal’s downtown core is taking a winter break, and with most of the underground infrastructure work completed, the city expects less disruptions in 2025.
The successor to Valérie Plante will be announced next spring. Projet Montreal said the party's nomination race to find a new leader will open on Dec. 9 and run through Jan. 31, 2025.
An Edmonton woman was charged in the drowning of a five-year-old girl last month.
A mother and her young daughter were abducted by a family friend in Viking, Alta., on Wednesday, RCMP said.
Canada's Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault is apologizing after shifting claims about his Indigenous identity came under scrutiny.
Thousands of Canada Post workers officially hit the picket lines Friday morning after negotiations with the Crown corporation on a new contract failed to be met by the strike deadline.
As the Nova Scotia election campaign continues, the Liberals are promising to “deliver a better deal on housing.”
Nova Scotia welcomed more than 350,000 cruise ship passengers via the port of Halifax and more 210,000 through the port of Sydney in 2024, the Halifax Port Authority said.
A Manitoba-based pool manufacturer has been charged with multiple counts of fraud following a lengthy investigation by RCMP.
A Winnipeg driver was in the right place at the right time when a paratransit van caught fire Thursday morning.
Oh, to be a Manitoba sports fan these days, with the Blue Bombers back yet again in the CFL Grey Cup -- and now the NHL's high-flying Jets are stomping all comers and breaking records.
Regina voters in two wards made history Wednesday night, electing two women of colour to serve on council for the first time in the city's history.
Two men have been arrested and charged with second-degree murder following the investigation of a homicide that occurred on June 1 in Regina.
Riders’ Rolan Millgan Jr. and Jorgen Hus were named award recipients at the 2024 CFL Awards on Thursday night.
Canadian Union of Postal Workers said approximately 55,000 workers are striking, claiming little progress has been made in the bargaining process.
The FBI has released a new image of Ryan James Wedding, the Canadian ex-Olympian allegedly behind a deadly international drug ring.
In part three of a CTV W5 investigation into how car thieves are able to drive off with modern cars so easily, correspondent Jon Woodward accompanied York Regional Police on a bust to find clues in one vehicle.
Here are the headliners for the 2025 Country Thunder Saskatchewan music festival in the Craven Valley.
Saskatoon firefighters responded to a garage fire on the 100 block of Avenue U South Thursday night.
Riders’ Rolan Millgan Jr. and Jorgen Hus were named award recipients at the 2024 CFL Awards on Thursday night.
Newly released documents show the Royal Canadian Mounted Police collected wreckage after an unidentified object was shot down over Lake Huron in February of last year.
A 72-year-old from Blind River has been charged with multiple counts of sexual assault involving a victim under the age of 16.
A motorcycle driver who sustained serious injuries in a crash on Manitoulin Island on Thursday evening was airlifted to Sudbury hospital.
An SIU report released on Friday has cleared London police of wrongdoing in the death of an 18-year-old man following a confrontation on the evening of July 16.
A couple in the Middlesex County village of Kerwood, west of London, says their neighbourhood has so many cats that it’s negatively impacting their quality of life - they say that their township, Adelaide Metcalfe, is allowing the problem to get worse.
The Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) says that work undertaken without a permit has cost some beach front property owners in Grand Bend a pretty penny.
Chris Forrester’s mother took the witness stand on Friday in the second-degree murder trial of a man accused of killing her son three years ago.
On Friday, Nottawasaga OPP officers successfully captured a two legged friend along Concession Road 4 in Adjala-Tosorontio.
One person was left with signs of hypothermia after being rescued from Kempenfelt Bay in the early hours of the morning.
A memorial stone and oak trees have been protected from excavation along the corridor where the two-lane highway is expanding to four in Kingsville.
The federal government has expanded a security program that aims to fight hate crime.
Two men who were arrested in connection to violent armed robberies are facing additional charges.
Intense flooding that hammered British Columbia's coast last month has led to more than $110 million in insured damage claims.
A Nanaimo nurse has agreed to a seven-day suspension for accessing patient records without authorization.
Ride-hailing giant Uber says it plans to expand its service area to cover all of British Columbia next year, and it's looking for drivers to help it do so.
British Columbia's independent police watchdog has cleared officers of wrongdoing in a crash where three people were killed south of Kamloops in July of last year.
A B.C. woman who stole more than $14,000 in volunteer-raised funds that were supposed to be spent on school supplies and programs – including hot meals for vulnerable kids – won't spend any time in jail.
The emergency department at South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver, B.C., will be closed for 31 hours this weekend, the second such closure in a week and the third since the start of November.
Lethbridge police say charges have been laid against five people in connection with a high-risk incident that unfolded at a motel on Thursday.
With Christmas fast approaching, MyCityCare's annual Shop of Wonders officially opened for the season Thursday.
Lethbridge business owners and organizations are being reminded the deadline for the annual waste diversion report is just around the corner.
After receiving reports of a dangerous and erratic driver, police in Sault Ste. Marie charged the driver of a vehicle on Highway 17 this week.
Members of the public are being asked to avoid the 2100 block of Queen Street East in Sault Ste. Marie on Friday.
On Monday, city council in Sault Ste. Marie will vote on a proposal that would see the quick demolition of the former hospital site, part of a larger plan to redevelop the area.
Newfoundland and Labrador's return on investment for sponsoring a professional English soccer team was not quite as rosy as previously claimed.
Police in Newfoundland say a man was electrocuted Saturday by a downed power wire about 10 kilometres north of St. John's, N.L.
On Thursday morning, Dave Penny officially ended a suggested hundred-day isolation period that followed his diagnosis and stem cell treatment for non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. On Thursday night, Penny returned to a stage at a downtown St. John's bar, regaling a small crowd with songs and stories with a distinctive Newfoundland flair.
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.
