You may not know Judy Feld Carr’s name, but thousands owe their lives to her.

She was a music teacher in Toronto raising six kids. But from the 1970s to 30 years later, she secretly pulled off something extraordinary: she rescued more than 3,200 Syrian Jews under the radar. Jews being tortured and disappeared by the authorities.

She started by sending smuggled religious books to the Chief Rabbi in Damascus, communicating in secret by highlighting phrases in the Torah.

When official routes failed, she started raising money for ransoms and bribes. Not gala fundraisers, but whispers passed from friend to friend.

Often, she tried to negotiate down, arguing the person was too ill or unimportant to justify the full bribe.

Her final rescue happened just an hour before the world changed on 9/11.

The Underground Railroad

Long before Canada became a country, we were sanctuary.

From the early 1800s until the U.S. Civil War, about 30,000 Black Americans escaped slavery via secret routes, safe houses, even coded songs, making their way across the border into Ontario and beyond.

In places like St. Catharines, the Salem Chapel wasn’t just a church, it was one of the first stops on the Underground Railroad. 

The Iranian Embassy Staff

Decades later, when revolutionaries stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran in November 1979, six American diplomats slipped away. The Canadian ambassador hid them, risking arrest and, if caught, certain execution.

The Canadian government created fake passports, backstories, pretended they were a movie crew scouting a sci-fi film, and got them out.

Another Choice

When the world tips into chaos, and innocent people are being hunted, Canadians have historically chosen to step up. 

Now, we’re faced with that choice again. The choice of looking away, or opening the door. For immigrants. For women seeking medical care. For trans people. For journalists. For queer kids. 

But Canada’s immigration system — the one we have now — wasn’t built for the level of performative cruelty we’re seeing down south. 

So we can either wait for history to look back and ask why we didn’t act, or we can change the immigration rules now and let them in, before another door slams shut. Before it’s too late. 

This is the moment where we find out if Canada’s values are real or just words on a website. 

“You Are the Mother.”

Judy Feld Carr got to meet some of the people she saved. She even attended the wedding of the daughter of a woman she rescued.

As the ceremony started, she was invited to stand up front beneath the wedding canopy, where the mother of the bride took off her own corsage and pinned it on Feld Carr.

“Without you,” the woman said, “We wouldn’t be having this wedding.”

“You are the mother.”

What’s Next

On June 5, 2025, the government of Canada introduced Bill C-2. It gives the government the power to suspend or cancel immigration documents, restrict asylum hearings, and expand data sharing with U.S. agencies. More than 300 organizations, including human rights, refugee advocacy, and privacy groups, have called for its complete withdrawal

You can find contact information for your local Member of Parliament at ourcommons.ca/members

There’s Still Good News Out There ☺️

• Wilderness: 0, Pond Water Guy: 1: A man missing for nine days in the B.C. wilderness that survived on pond water, was rescued after etching the word “help” on a rock and drawing “SOS” in the mud.

• The federal judge whom Trump absolutely hates will now oversee a lawsuit seeking government documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, including communications with Trump officials, Trump himself, and Epstein’s client list.

• Cancer survivor Krystyna Locke celebrated her 63rd birthday by covering hospital parking fees for cancer patients in London, Ontario, knowing firsthand how those costs pile up after two decades of treatment.

• A London, Ont. woman found $1,000 left behind in an ATM and went the extra mile to return it... withdrawing her own cash, keeping the receipt for the timestamp, and holding onto the money until she could return it to the bank to reunite it with the roofer who’d forgotten it.

• Staying local: National galleries and museums across the country have seen a 15% increase in attendance this summer, as visitors have taken advantage of free or discounted admission through the Canada Strong Pass.

• Canada Games’ youngest athlete, 11-year-old Louisa Henry from Yellowknife, made a splash by winning her preliminary heat in the 50-metre breaststroke.

Wild Things 🦁

• Manifesting a trad wife: A miniature donkey named Hank from Erin, Ont., has gone viral with his wholesome Instagram dating profile, offering “long walks around the farm” as his owners search for the perfect mate to help grow their donkey family.

• B.C. Ferries is asking the public to help find Luigi, a cat that went missing from a vehicle on a sailing from Duke Point to Tsawwassen last week after slipping through a small window on the lower car deck.

Trade War: Canada vs U.S. 🥊

• A new poll shows Canadians are divided on whether to put their elbows up or down in the U.S. trade war. 

• Travel by Canadians returning from the U.S. fell for the seventh straight month in July.

• For the first time in at least five years, data shows more Americans are visiting Canada than Canadians are travelling to the U.S.

• Home resales in Canada are forecast to drop 3.5% next year as the trade war cools demand, with both sales and prices falling nationwide.

The First Peoples 🪶

• Indigenous ultra-runner Noah Allison is running a marathon a day for seven days to honour his father and raise money for the B.C. Cancer Foundation’s patient relief fund.

• B.C. will appeal a landmark Supreme Court ruling that granted the Cowichan Nation fishing rights and title to part of its historic lands along the Fraser River in Richmond.

• The Williams Lake First Nation is trying to reunite a jingle dress with its owner after it turned up in a local thrift store.

Wildfires 🔥

• Things are heating up as Maritimers remain divided over provincial bans on visiting wooded areas, with one Nova Scotian deliberately breaking the rules so that he can challenge the ban in court.

• No ifs, ands, or butts: Some people are risking a $25,000 fine to access Nova Scotia’s nude beach amid confusion over the government's ban on travel and activities in the woods due to dry conditions.

• Officials say Canada is committed to doing more to prevent and control devastating wildfires as smoke fuels more complaints from U.S. lawmakers.

Across Canada 📍

• That’s one way to skip customs: A Toronto man allegedly stole a Sea-Doo and illegally crossed the Canada-U.S. border after renting the 'Sea-Duo and Dine' package, leaving his second meal with rental staff before taking off… and hasn’t been seen since. 

• A London, Ont., hospital will immediately stop using dogs in medical research following public outrage over reports that dogs were used for heart studies.

  • Premier Doug Ford warned Ontario scientists he would be “hunting” them down to end experiments on cats and dogs, and promised legislation to ban testing on certain animals.

• Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal has ruled that a challenge to the province’s pronoun law, which requires parental consent for students under 16 to change their name or pronoun at school, can proceed at the Court of King’s Bench.

Dystopian Hellscape 💀

• Assault with a breadly weapon: A man was charged after allegedly throwing a sandwich at a federal law officer in Washington, D.C., amid Trump’s takeover of the city’s police.

• Hegseth, the man who oversees the U.S. military, reposted a video featuring pastors saying women shouldn’t be allowed to vote. 

• Melania Trump has threatened to sue Hunter Biden for more than $1 billion after he claimed she was introduced to her husband by Epstein.

• The Trump administration has rewritten and scaled back the U.S. government’s annual human rights report, cutting criticism of allies like Israel and El Salvador, and removing entire sections on government corruption and persecution of LGBTQ+ individuals.

• Nothing says independence like a cage fight: The White House will host its first-ever UFC fight next year as part of its 4th of July celebrations, marking the 250th anniversary of the country's founding.

• Shell shock: A man faces jail in the U.S. for shipping 850 turtles to Hong Kong wrapped in socks and falsely labelled as toys.

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