Afternoon front page: Israeli hijacking tragedy averted; lawyer concerned synagogue attack could affect COVID vaccine lawsuit; and more

On Sept. 30, 2026, as the Flydubai flight to Israel plunged toward disaster, Yaniv Hayun, with fellow passengers and crew, helped overpower the attacker, then pulled back on the controls until another pilot took over. Photo by Kobi Gideon/GPO

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It’s Wednesday, September 30. Here are the top stories we’re following today.

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Passenger describes how he helped subdue co-pilot suspected of trying to crash plane

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“I grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold and pulled him out. I called the Israelis who were with us, jumped back in and pulled the controls,” says Yaniv Hayun, one of at least four Israelis who helped overpower the co-pilot, who, according to Israeli assessments, tried to crash the aircraft with 174 passengers on board on Wednesday.

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Sean Ward, the suspect who died in a shooting attack on a Belleville, Ont., synagogue, was involuntarily discharged from the Canadian Armed Forces in 2022 when he was deemed “unsuitable for further service” after defying the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Photo by Doug Ward/Facebook

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Sean Ward’s lawyer worries his synagogue gun attack could taint image of other ex-soldiers in their large COVID vaccine lawsuit

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Sean Ward, who was fatally shot by a police officer while attacking a Belleville, Ont., synagogue earlier this month, was one of 128 members and former members of the Canadian Forces who claimed their military careers were damaged or destroyed by a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination mandate. “The litigation did not originate with Mr. Ward, and its factual and legal foundation does not depend upon him,” his lawyer says.

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Participants take part in a Rock Your Roots Walk for Reconciliation event in Saskatoon on Friday, June 19, 2026. Photo by Michelle Berg/Saskatoon StarPhoenix/Postmedia

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Federal Indigenous spending quadrupled to $40.8B under Trudeau, with ‘negligible’ improvement to communities: study

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In the decade leading up to 2024/25, inflation-adjusted federal Indigenous spending jumped from $10.3 billion to $40.8 billion, growing seven times faster than overall federal spending, says a new Fraser Institute study. Despite this, the small improvements to First Nations communities’ wellbeing are mostly due to an increase in the Canada Child Benefit, not federal Indigenous spending, the study argues.

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Trade advisor Peter Navarro, left, with U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 13, 2025. Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

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A Trump adviser’s outburst and a new poll suggest Canada’s tariff strategy is landing

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Referring to Canadian lobbyists at a conference, Peter Navarro said, “Memo to Canada: You cannot do that. OK, the game is up, and if you interfere in our elections in Maine or Michigan, you will pay even more dearly.” By naming those two states which have close economic ties to Canada and important Senate races, he showed the administration’s apparent concern about the trade dispute’s political effects.

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B.C. Premier David Eby and Attorney General Niki Sharma pictured in 2023. Photo by Felipe Fittipaldi/Government of British Columbia

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FIRST READING: B.C. NDP hints at lawsuits if Conservatives win the election they called

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The NDP seems to be suggesting that an election win by interim leader Lorne Doerkson would be illegitimate due to a B.C. Conservative constitution mandate that the interim leader “may not be a Leadership Candidate” in any selection of a permanent leader, Tristin Hopper writes. But he argues that “if every rule is followed to the letter, the result could be that there is a B.C. Conservative leader who just happens to be different from the B.C. Conservative premier.”

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