Ottawa Shootings

23 thoughts on “Ottawa Shootings”

1. I’m glad you’re okay, Jonathan.

   I, too, hope that they won’t close off the Parliament Hill grounds after this. When I lived in Ottawa I liked being able to go there and just sit on the lawn and read. It made me feel like Parliament is ours, something belonging to the public, not just to the politicians. Turning our governing institutions into fortresses seems to undermine something about the spirit of democracy.

   I’m worried they’re going to feel like security demands the grounds be closed off now, though.Report

   1. Turning our governing institutions into fortresses seems to undermine something about the spirit of democracy.

      That was part of why my last trip to Washington, when I actually had business in the House offices, felt so surreal. I couldn’t just walk in, announce that I was there as a constituent (or in my case on behalf of an employer within the district) and be welcomed as a citizen interacting with his government. I had to make arrangements beforehand and get on a list and get vetted first. (I never really minded the metal detector back in pre-9/11 days.)

      Canada has always stood differently than the US on issues like this and in many ways been an example of how things might be better. I hope the official reaction to whatever is really going on shows the same sort of calm and enlightenment with which our friends to the north have distinguished themselves in the past.

      Meanwhile, best wishes, deep concern, and an open-ended offer to help in any manner requested are what we can send. And we do.Report

      1. Sadly, I think the degree of calm and enlightenment in the reaction will depend considerably on the religion of the attackers.Report

      2. Our current PM has a rather Republican mentality about security topics, hence my concern. He’s quite an anomaly for Canada.Report

      3. Dagonfrog:

         The terrorist has been confirmed as a Muslim. This is two attacks is as many days, the other was the Muslim that ran down two soldiers killing one. Maybe Canadians will wake up now.

         http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/canada/11181250/How-Canada-came-to-have-a-jihad-problem.htmlReport

      4. Oh yay, this is happening.Report

      5. Jonathan:

         Why can’t we have an honest discussion? This Muslim convert was considered so dangerous that the Canadian gov’t pulled his passport

         http://hidedoor.com/servlet/redirect.srv/spa/swl/swunanbzsw/srst/p1/news/article-2804099/Pictured-Recent-Muslim-convert-Michael-Zehaf-Bibeau-shot-dead-solider-opened-fire-Canadian-Parliament.html.Report

      6. If the Canadian government wants to get ahead of the problem, it needs to start surveilling all potential converts, i.e. non-Muslims.Report

2. Glad to hear you are OK. Figured you were, but I admit that when reports first started popping up on Twitter I thought of you and your wife.Report

3. I worked on those streets, in those buildings, for over 10 years. I cut across the War Memorial every day on my way to my job. Until a couple of years ago, those would have been my friends locked down in their offices. I am so proud that no one panicked or indulged in premature speculations. First over the top at Vimy. Forever.

   And DND has confirmed that the soldier who was shot at the Memorial has died of his injuries.

   And here is the civil servant who shot his killer in a gun fight in the House of Commons: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/10/22/parliament_hill_sergeantatarms_hailed_as_hero_in_ottawa.htmlReport

   1. While still expressing horror and sympathy for the whole incident overall…

      The actual sergenat-at-arms, the dude who carries the ceremonial mace, personally fulfilling the rawest description of his job — that’s pretty bad-ass.Report

      1. I hate to inoke cliches, but some excepts from the piece DRS links:

         [as] incident commander for the Mounties [he sent] in plainclothes aboriginal officers carrying doughnuts and coffee to talk with protestors, allowing them to vent.

         [After an] RCMP crackdown […] delivering an apology to residents for police heavy-handedness and pledging the force would rely on mediation first in the future.

         There’s no other way to say it: the guy is just fishing polite.Report

      2. A good source of stories related to Mr. Vicker’s actions: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2804397/Canadian-sergeant-arms-58-hailed-hero-shooting-dead-terrorist-Zehaf-Bibeau-exchange-gunfire-30-year-career.html

         Also: there’s a story going around that after he shot the guy he opened the door to the government caucus room and told the MP’s there: “I put him down.” I’m 99.999% sure that never happened as the door of the room was barricaded heavily and it sounds more like something a renegade Clint-Eastwood fan would say. Vickers has more class than that.Report

   2. Kevin Vickers is one hell of a guy. Whenever I hear about something like this, I’m always amazed at how low the body count is compared to the potential number of bodies that could have been made.

      I’m hoping that they find the other assailant without the numbers changing at all.Report

4. Holy crap. I have been off the news sites all day, and had no idea about this.

   Glad to hear you guys are all ok.Report

5. I’m glad to hear you’re okay, but of course sorry to hear about what’s happened. I’ve been to Ottawa three times to do research and it’s such a lovely town. I agree it would be a shame if it were necessary to “fortress it up.”Report

6. Here is hoping the Canadians show the yanks how it’s done. Keep calm and carry on. Kooks will kook- turning every public space into a fortress is just pants wetting cravenness.Report

7. Thanks for the kind words, everyone. And thanks for all the cross-border love.Report

8. My family and I visited Ottawa for a day this past summer, and one of the highlights was visiting Parliament. Other than the metal detector, which I’ve always detested as a sign of a ruling class mentality, it was so different that Washington. There was no sign of the armed camp that D.C. has become, with our elected officials cowering inside their locked office buildings, requiring citizens to be announced as they hold court.

   I sincerely hope that the actions of a couple of lunatics up there won’t change the character of your capital city.Report

9. Glad you’re ok, @jonathan-mcleod . My friends and relatives in the city are also okay. Hoping everyone stays as okay as possible for the next long while. (There’s a Canadian wish for ya. 🙂 )Report

10. And your media is classier on covering the story as well:

    http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/10/22/7041159/ottawa-shooting-cnn-cbcReport

    1. I don’t think the photo shows a great difference, but from what I’ve seen the media has done a great job.Report

11. I was watching the Devils play at Ottawa last night.

    The crowd singing “O Canada” was moving.Report

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