Canada was once known as "the Peaceable Kingdom." So how could such
chaos unfold in the country's sleepy capital? Journalist Andrew Cohen
found himself caught up in the aftermath.
FULL STORY
Police enter Canada's Parliament
building on Wednesday, October 22, in Ottawa. A Canadian soldier was
fatally shot at the National War Memorial nearby, and there were
gunshots at the Parliament building itself, Ottawa police spokesman Marc
Soucy said. One male suspect was also killed, police said.
W.H. stresses strong alliance with Canada
Witness: Soldier was targeted
Witnesses: Shooter is short with long hair
This is not supposed to happen in Canada
October 23, 2014 -- Updated 0257 GMT (1057 HKT)
Police enter Canada's Parliament
building on Wednesday, October 22, in Ottawa. A Canadian soldier was
fatally shot at the National War Memorial nearby, and there were
gunshots at the Parliament building itself, Ottawa police spokesman Marc
Soucy said. One male suspect was also killed, police said.
HIDE CAPTION
Gunshots at Canada's Parliament
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Andrew Cohen was swept into chaotic aftermath of Ottawa soldier shot, was in lockdown
- This isn't supposed to happen in Canada, known for peace, low crime, immigration, he says
- He says Canada lost ignorance, complacency; and why not? It's ally to U.S., player in the world
- Cohen: Naïve to think that country on way to war would not face violence one day
Editor's note: Andrew Cohen is a best-selling author and journalist who writes a nationally-syndicated column for The Ottawa Citizen. Andrew_Cohen.html His latest book, to appear in the United States in November, is Two Days in June: John F. Kennedy and the 48 Hours that Made History (Signal/Random House).
Ottawa, Canada (CNN) -- It was a surprise, even for a
journalist, to be driving down Wellington Street, the city's ceremonial
thoroughfare, and to find myself swept into the chaotic aftermath of a
disaster. I was rushing to a television studio at mid-morning and
passing by the National War Memorial, just minutes after the shooting. A
solider was down.
Police were closing
streets, stopping traffic, barking orders, brandishing machine guns,
fingers on triggers. They soon imposed a lockdown, lasting until
mid-afternoon. It is from that confinement that I began writing this.
Andrew Cohen
This is not supposed to happen in Canada -- much less Ottawa, its sleepy, self-absorbed capital.
Sentries do not die on
duty at the National War Memorial in this, our season of remembrance.
Politicians do not cower in the committee rooms of Parliament, as its
Gothic hallways ring with gunfire. Sharpshooters do not take up position
on oxidized copper rooftops nearby, looking for men with long rifles.
This is Canada, once
known as "the Peaceable Kingdom." Now we have learned, like so many
other countries, that terrible, unsentimental reality of the 21st
century: It can happen here.
When a gunman killed that
lone soldier in front of the memorial today, when he -- and possibly
his accomplices (at this moment we do not know whether, who or how many)
-- then swept through the front doors of the Parliament of Canada and
began firing, something changed here.
When hundreds of
parliamentarians, gathering in their weekly party caucuses, pushed
leather chairs and tables against the doors and barricaded themselves
inside their rooms and offices, something changed here.
And when the city center
was locked down and a perimeter thrown up around the parliamentary
precinct and beyond, confining thousands to their offices and shops,
something changed here.
It is too much a cliché
to say -- as many surely will -- that Canada has lost its innocence
today. Canada is surely not innocent; a nation that marched into the maw
of two world wars and left 100,000 of its sons in Europe understands a
few things. That's particularly true at this time of year, when
Canadians wear red poppies in their lapels until November 11,
Remembrance Day.
What we might say, though, is that Canada has lost its ignorance today -- and, perhaps, a good part of its complacency, too.
This country is now
chillingly aware that bad things can happen here, even in the seat of
its democracy. Many of us blithely thought it could not, or would not,
happen. In 147 years as a democracy, we have never had a revolution, a
civil war or a foreign invasion. Abroad, we have not fought wars of
conquest, we never had colonies, and we never fought alone. For years,
we were the world's leading peacekeepers, projecting the sense of
compromise abroad that we practice at home.
W.H. stresses strong alliance with Canada
Witness: Soldier was targeted
Witnesses: Shooter is short with long hair
Ours is an open, diverse
society that has one of the highest levels of immigration in the world.
It may be we thought ourselves impervious to pathologies and prejudices
from home or abroad. Not here. Not us.
Then again, why should
Canada be immune? Canadians fought in Afghanistan. We are a member of
NATO and an historic ally of the United States. Earlier this month our
Parliament voted to join the air campaign against the Islamic State in
Iraq. This week or next, our warplanes will go into action there.
We should not be surprised. There have been ominous signs. A plot was foiled a few years ago
to bomb Parliament and behead the Prime Minister. More recently, there
have been increasing reports of "radicalized" Canadian Muslims joining
jihadists in the Middle East.
If what happened here
is, in fact, an organized terror attack -- and even if it is something
less, based simply on religious or ideological fervor -- it is another
reminder of the dangers that have always come with a successful if
complex society that aspires to a place in the world.
Unlike the United
States, Canada has little violent crime. It is among the safest of
industrialized countries. Murders, even mass slayings, can and do happen
in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, its three largest cities. But
they're unusual.
Ottawa, Canada's
fourth-largest city, is a government town. It is Canberra in Australia
or Sacramento, California. It is not London, Paris or Rome. It's a
parochial place whose mayor thinks that replacing a crumbling public
library or building light rail -- years after other cities in Canada
have done both -- is a bold idea.
So, it is jarring,
alarming and sad that this has happened here, of all places. But it was
naïve to think that a country of 35 million people, on the way to war in
Iraq, would not face this kind of violence one day.
Now we have. Our long, sweet season of ignorance is over.
Canadian MPs return to work after shootings that killed a soldier and
shook nation, giving an ovation to the official credited with stopping
the gunman.
- Canada shooting: What we know
- PM: 'Terrorist' murdered soldier
- Victim known for big smile, big heart
- Shooting raises fears of ISIS link
- How it unfolded | Photos
- Gunman a 'convert to Islam'
- Shooter 'had good upbringing'
- PM: 'We will not be intimidated'
Parliament reopens after shooting: 'Canadians will not be intimidated'
October 23, 2014 -- Updated 1438 GMT (2238 HKT)Canadian soldier killed at memorial
(CNN) -- Canadian lawmakers somberly and defiantly returned to work a day after shootings that killed a soldier and shook the Parliament area, giving a standing ovation Thursday to the ceremonial Parliament official credited with taking down the gunman.
The legislators' return came as the capital and the country were coming to grips with the second killing of a soldier on home soil in three days, and questions as to why the attacks came and who exactly was behind them."When faced with attacks on the country we all love ... I know we will always stand together," Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the House of Commons Thursday morning."Canadians will not be intimidated," he said.Lawmakers stood and cheered Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers, who officials say took down the suspect in the halls of Parliament minutes after the killing of Canadian army reservist Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at a war memorial nearby.Vickers, who regularly leads a procession into the House as sessions begin, appeared emotional during the ovation.Authorities say a man shot and killed Cirillo, who was standing guard at Canada's National War Memorial on Wednesday morning. The gunman then entered the nearby main Parliament building in downtown Ottawa, where witnesses say shots were fired -- many by security officers -- before he was shot dead.The shootings left government workers and others locked inside offices for hours while police searched buildings to ensure that no other culprit was loose.The gunman was Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, U.S. officials told CNN, citing information given to them by Canadian authorities.Zehaf-Bibeau, who was born in Quebec as Michael Joseph Hall in 1982, was a convert to Islam and had a history of drug use before he converted, two sources said.Investigators haven't provided any possible motives for the shooting. A U.S. law enforcement official told CNN that a connection to terrorism hasn't been ruled out.Canadian authorities had confiscated Zehaf-Bibeau's passport when they learned he planned to go fight overseas, a U.S. law enforcement official told CNN's Susan Candiotti. The official said it was not clear when that happened."In the days to come, we will learn more about the terrorist and any accomplices he may have had, but this week's events are a grim reminder that Canada is not immune to the types of terrorist attacks we have seen elsewhere in the world," Harper said Wednesday.Police are satisfied that only one person was responsible for Wednesday's shootings, Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau told Canadian media outlet CTV News on Thursday morning.Wednesday's deadly attack was the second on Canadian soldiers this week. On Monday, a convert to Islam who Canadian authorities said was "radicalized" hit two soldiers with a car in Quebec, killing one of them. Police later killed the man.CNN's Ana Cabrera contributed to this report.copiado http://edition.cnn.com
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