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Obituary: Dianne Kipnes, 81, a philanthropist who transformed Edmonton’s hospitals, arts and Jewish community
A passion for helping people and her empathy for those who were suffering propelled Dianne Kipnes into becoming one of Edmonton’s most significant philanthropists supporting scores of charities locally, nationally and internationally with her husband Irv.
She died in Edmonton on Dec. 26. She was 81.
Dianne and Irv Kipnes donated millions of dollars through their family foundation to numerous charities.
“One thing that comes through for all of us who had a chance to work with Irv and Dianne on anything was Dianne’s interest in making sure that what was done was done right,” friend Howard Sniderman said. “She was a very elegant and graceful woman and everything she did had a touch of elegance and grace.”
The couple embraced charities in healthcare, the arts, and education both locally and nationally and were recognized as transformative leaders in Edmonton’s Jewish community of approximately 5,000.
They were major benefactors of Edmonton’s University Hospital Foundation, the Dianne and Irving Kipnes Urology Centre, and created chairs in Radiopharmaceuticals, Lymphatic Disorders and Finance and Development at the University of Alberta. They also helped fund programs in music, engineering and Jewish studies.
In the early 2000s Dianne developed lymphedema in her legs after treatment for cancer. At the time there were very few options available, and she established the Dianne and Irving Kipnes Chair in Lymphatic Disorders—the first position of its kind in Canada—with an $5-million donation. When the announcement was made, Kipnes described lymphedema as an ‘underdog disorder,’ which was originally misdiagnosed when she was in Europe as “either an allergy, an insect bite or a psychological reaction to the horrors of visiting Sachsenhausen concentration camp. The despair was worse than the illness,” she said. “But the antidote to despair is action.”
Kipnes met her husband in 1977 when he stopped in Montreal for dinner with his first wife on a return trip to Edmonton from Israel. Dianne and her first husband joined them with mutual friends. Several years later Dianne had relocated to Edmonton with her husband—and when her marriage ended, she reconnected with Irv, who was also single again.
“Theirs was a true partnership,” said Sniderman. They did it hand in hand together.”
Fielding Graduate University mourns the passing of Dr. Dianne Kipnes (PSY’98), a distinguished alumna and former trustee whose profound contributions left an enduring legacy within our community: https://t.co/C1NXrrsBMj
— Fielding Graduate University (@FieldingGradU) January 2, 2025
Kipnes was a psychologist by profession. She had a master’s degree in social work from McGill and a PhD in clinical psychology from the Fielding Graduate University. She worked at the University of Alberta’s psychiatric walk-in clinic from 1984-1994.
“In her practice she was healing people in difficult straits. And she wasn’t prepared to let this go,” Sniderman said. “She took significant steps to help people. For example, she wanted to see a place where veterans, and later first responders, could get treatment, but in a respectful place, not an institutional setting. She was very concerned that they be treated with dignity. So, she and Irv established the CapitalCare Kipnes Centre for Veterans. It’s no surprise to see that someone who is a healer by profession can reach out in the rest of her life and find other ways to heal people.”
In 2022, Irv and Dianne were honoured by Jewish Federation of Edmonton “as among the most influential and largest lifetime donors in the history of Edmonton UJA.”
They supported a variety of Jewish initiatives including a Holocaust symposium for Edmonton high school students, provided bursaries for teens to go on March of the Living and funded a classroom in Israel at Bar-Ilan’s Azrieli medical facility in Safed. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the Kipnes’ provided a leadership gift to the federation’s fund for food and medical care for Jews in the Ukraine.
Stephen Mandel, a former mayor of Edmonton, said that Kipnes was always looking for ways to give back to the community, and helped transform the city into a hub for the arts.
“Dianne was very quiet and reserved but knew how to get things done in a remarkable way. She set a standard in Edmonton for things our city would never, ever have seen. She was the creator of the Edmonton Opera Gala, a fundraiser which became one of the key events of the year in Edmonton. It was Dianne’s vision to create something special. Ballet Edmonton only exists today because of Dianne and Irv. It was ‘typical Dianne’ to come up with a way they could really give back to the community. She had an uncanny ability to see what was needed to get it done. It was Dianne’s way. It’s no different when you look at the National Arts Centre’s Kipnes Wall in Ottawa. They came up with that idea.”
The five-storey Kipnes Lantern rises above the National Arts Centre’s front entrance and incorporates transparent LED screens to display images of Canada’s leading artists and productions. It is North America’s largest transparent LED wall and was illuminated with Dianne’s image when she died.
In a statement the National Arts Centre said, “The Dianne and Irving Kipnes Foundation has done immeasurable good in the world, supporting various causes including cancer research, veterans, education and the arts. The NAC’s five-story architectural glass tower is named the Kipnes Lantern in recognition of their extraordinary philanthropic support. Today, it honours her lifetime of work effecting change.”
“The community is going to miss her,” said Mandel. “We are a small community, and you need real leaders and it’s hard to find them. Dianne was one of them.”
She was the recipient of the Alberta Centennial Medal, the Peter Lougheed Award for Community Service and the Order of Canada.
She leaves her husband of 35 years, Irving, her sister Brenda and daughter Kendra as well as her stepchildren, Harry, Rozanne and Ronee, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The post Obituary: Dianne Kipnes, 81, a philanthropist who transformed Edmonton’s hospitals, arts and Jewish community appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Surge of Antisemitic Incidents Rocks France Amid Growing Security Concerns
The Paris Holocaust Memorial, three synagogues, and a Jewish restaurant were all vandalized with green paint last weekend. Photo: Screenshot
France has been hit by a wave of antisemitic incidents in recent days, despite increased security at Jewish sites nationwide following last month’s antisemitic shooting in Washington, DC — prompting urgent calls from the country’s Jewish community for stronger government action amid growing fears of escalating violence.
On Friday, a French rabbi was violently assaulted by three drunken individuals in the town of Deauville, located in the Normandy region of northwestern France.
According to local police, Rabbi Eli Lemel — a prominent figure in French Jewry — was attacked around 3:30 pm by three men who approached him, repeatedly punched him in the stomach, and shouted antisemitic slurs.
French authorities have launched an investigation into the assault, but no arrests have been made so far.
After the incident, Lemel called on the Jewish community to draw spiritual strength amid the increasing hostility that Jews are facing across France.
“I’m deeply moved by the outpouring of support following the attack. Thank God, I’m okay,” the Jewish leader wrote in a post on X. “I was struck and verbally abused in a language I didn’t understand.”
In a separate incident, a 21-year-old man was arrested on Saturday after climbing a synagogue in the town of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine in north-central France, removing an Israeli flag from its façade, and attempting to set it on fire.
According to local media, the suspect — who was already known to authorities for prior offenses — confessed to committing the attack and admitted to being intoxicated at the time.
French police confirmed that the man is being charged with trespassing in a place of worship, theft by climbing, and causing damage to property on religious grounds.
The local Jewish community has voiced deep concern following this incident, viewing it as part of a broader surge in hostility targeting Jewish institutions across France.
Sandrine Dos Santos, the city’s mayor, expressed “[her] solidarity, as well as that of the city, toward the Jewish community directly targeted by these unacceptable antisemitic acts.”
“Faced with the increase in violence, our commitment against discrimination remains unwavering and will not waver. We repeat it loud and clear: no form of racism or rejection of others has a place in Poissy,” the French leader said.
In a separate incident on Saturday, three Serbs were arrested near Antibes in southeastern France, suspected of painting several Jewish community buildings green in Paris — an act currently under investigation as possible foreign interference.
Last weekend, the Paris Holocaust Memorial, three synagogues, and a Jewish restaurant were all vandalized with green paint in an incident denounced by the French government.
On Monday, an elementary school in Lyon, east-central France, was set on fire and defaced with antisemitic and pro-Palestinian slogans, as well as swastikas, marking one of the latest antisemitic incidents to impact France in recent days.
As the school had no direct connections to the Jewish community, local police have launched an investigation to determine the motive behind the attack.
French authorities reported that the fire was limited to the outdoor bathrooms, causing no significant damage to the school. They also found antisemitic graffiti and swastikas in three classrooms.
Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), denounced the attack, saying that “the Palestinian cause is used as justification for burning down a school” and that the “Nazification of Israel serves as fuel for crass antisemitism.”
“When a populist pro-Palestinian narrative is allowed to take hold, it is French Jews who ultimately pay the price,” Arfi wrote in a post on X. “The twisted use of the Palestinian cause is turning into a rallying cry of hatred against both Jews and the Republic itself.”
Voilà où nous en sommes !
La cause palestinienne sert de justification pour incendier une école
Quand on laisse gagner un discours populiste propalestinien, ce sont les Français juifs qui en paient le prix.… https://t.co/dMaQBnbfqi
— Yonathan Arfi (@Yonathan_Arfi) June 1, 2025
Beyond France, other European countries have also experienced a surge in antisemitic incidents in recent weeks.
On Monday, several headstones were vandalized at a Jewish cemetery in a suburb of Belgrade, located in north-central Serbia, marking the second such incident in the country in recent weeks.
The post Surge of Antisemitic Incidents Rocks France Amid Growing Security Concerns first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Vetoes UN Security Council Demand for Gaza Ceasefire
Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from Israel, June 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The United States vetoed a UN Security Council demand on Wednesday for an “immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire” between Israel and Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza and unhindered aid access across the enclave.
“The United States has been clear we would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza,” Acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea told the council before the vote.
“This resolution would undermine diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire that reflects the realities on the ground, and embolden Hamas,” she said of the text that was put forward by 10 countries on the 15-member council.
The remaining 14 council members voted in favor of the draft resolution.
Israel has rejected calls for an unconditional or permanent ceasefire, saying Hamas cannot stay in Gaza. It has renewed its military offensive in Gaza – also seeking to free hostages held by Hamas – since ending a two-month ceasefire in March.
The war in Gaza has raged since 2023 after Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people in Israel in an Oct. 7 attack and took some 250 hostages back to the enclave.
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Trump Picks Lawyer Who Called Oct. 7 Attack a ‘Psyop’ to Lead Federal Watchdog Agency
Paul Ingrassia. Photo: Screenshot
Paul Ingrassia, a 29-year-old lawyer who was recently nominated by US President Donald Trump to lead a federal agency dedicated to combating corruption and protecting whistleblowers, seemingly dismissed the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2o23, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel as a “psyop,” or “psychological operation, in resurfaced social media posts.
“This ‘war’ is yet another psyop to distract Americans from celebrating Columbus Day,” Ingrassia wrote on X/Twitter on Oct. 8, 2023.
“I think we could all admit at this stage that Israel/Palestine, much like Ukraine before it, and BLM before that, and covid/vaccine before that, was another psyop,” he posted a week later. “But sadly, people fell for it. And they’ll fall for the next one too.”
On the actual day of the Oct. 7 massacre, Ingrassia compared illegal immigration into the US to the Hamas-led onslaught.
“The amount of energy everyone has put into condemning Hamas (and prior to that, the Ukraine conflict) over the past 24 hours should be the same amount of energy we put into condemning our wide open border, which is a war comparable to the attack on Israel in terms of bloodshed — but made worse by the fact that it’s occurring in our very own backyard,” he posted. “We shouldn’t be beating the war drum, however tragic the events may be overseas, until we resolve our domestic problems first.”
Trump announced last week that he picked Ingrassia to serve as head of the US Office of Special Counsel, a position that requires confirmation by the Senate.
The Office of Special Counsel is an independent federal ethics agency that works to ensure fairness and accountability within the government. Ingrassia’s role, if he is confirmed, would involve investigating claims of wrongdoing, such as retaliation against whistleblowers or improper political activity in the workplace. The official can recommend disciplinary action and reports serious findings to Congress, helping to protect federal employees and uphold the integrity of the civil service system.
Ingrassia also maintains a relationship with and defends alleged sex trafficker Andrew Tate, who has promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories on social media. Tate wrote on X/Twitter that he refuses to “listen to women, Mexicans, or Jews” and that Jewish people are “subverting Western populations into mass genetic suicide” by advancing what he described as misguided immigration policy. Tate has also accused Israel of committing a “genocide” in Gaza against Palestinians and engaged in Holocaust denialism.
The furor surrounding Ingrassia is the latest dustup the Trump administration has had regarding controversial personnel and antisemitism.
The Trump administration’s appointment of Kingsley Wilson as deputy press secretary at the Department of Defense also sparked widespread criticism due to her history of promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories and extremist views. Wilson, formerly associated with the Center for Renewing America, has a documented history of social media posts endorsing white supremacist ideologies, including claims about the 1915 lynching of Leo Frank — a Jewish man whose wrongful conviction and subsequent murder galvanized the founding of the Anti-Defamation League. In 2023, she tweeted that Frank “raped & murdered a 13-year-old girl,” a statement aligning with neo-Nazi narratives.
Late last month, the Pentagon announced that Wilson will be promoted and serve as the department’s new press secretary.
The post Trump Picks Lawyer Who Called Oct. 7 Attack a ‘Psyop’ to Lead Federal Watchdog Agency first appeared on Algemeiner.com.