After Ottawa shooting, Canadian media weigh liberty and security
So far 'restraint' is the main byword across the nation after Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot dead a soldier on Parliament Hill on Wednesday. He is one of two violent aggressors in Canada in recent days.
So far 'restraint' is the main byword across the nation after Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot dead a soldier on Parliament Hill on Wednesday. He is one of two violent aggressors in Canada in recent days.
Canadian columnists and editorial boards have weighed in on Wednesday鈥檚 fatal shooting in Ottawa, demanding answers from the government and offering condolences to a shocked and mournful public.
The outpouring of support by the Canadian public has been accompanied by calls for restraint from the media. Commentators are insisting on 鈥渂alance,鈥� 鈥済ood sense,鈥� and 鈥渄etermination without overreaction鈥� in responding to the tragedy.聽While acknowledging that 鈥淐anada may have to change鈥� in the aftermath of the shooting, The Globe and Mail鈥檚 editorial board writes:
The shooting has dominated front pages, home pages, and broadcasts from Ottawa to Vancouver since a gunman first appeared at the Canadian War Memorial Wednesday morning and fatally wounded a guard 鈥� his only victim. A security officer later killed the gunman, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, inside the nearby Parliament building.聽
The apparent ease with which Mr. Zehaf-Bibeau entered the building has prompted some to question the balance between personal liberty and national security in Canada. As John Ivison writes in the National Post:
The Toronto Star鈥檚 editorial board urges Canadians not to overreact, arguing that there鈥檚 no need to 鈥渨rap Parliament Hill in new and unnecessary layers of security.鈥�
But the Star also raises critical questions about the Canadian government鈥檚 handling of potential terrorism threats. It demands urgent answers to how much officials knew about Zehaf-Bubeau and Martin Courture-Rouleau, who ran over two soldiers with his vehicle in Quebec on Monday, and why they didn鈥檛 do more to stop them.
Canadian officials have yet to declare the shooting on Parliament Hill an act of terrorism. But that hasn鈥檛 stopped commentators from speculating about its potential link to radical Islam 鈥� and Canada鈥檚 place in the international fight against it.
鈥淎s Canadians, we've been lucky up to this point,鈥� Brian Stewart writes for CBC News, adding that the threat of Islamic terrorism expanded when Canada joined the coalition against the self-described Islamic State earlier this year.