James Mangan
Team Member

n October 22, a gunman, later identified
O:. Canadian-born Michael Zehaf-Bibeau,
launched a short-lived rampage at the
nation’s parliament buildings. Ottawa, and
Canada, are now in the eyes of the world.

The Ottawa shooting was a headline story
internationally. President Barack Obama,
British Prime Minister David Cameron, and
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
personally offered Canada their sympathies
and aid in the aftermath of the attack.

This act is terrifying and people should be
afraid, but only for a short while. The world
is watching Ottawa, and Canada’s next
actions will be closely observed. Canada
must not let fear dictate national policy,

or it will risk losing the liberal democratic
rights that characterize Canada’s values.

On that Wednesday morning, Zehaf-Bibeau
shot a Canadian Reservist, Cpl. Nathan Cirillo,
on the steps of the Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier. Cpl. Cirillo was pronounced dead
within hours. The gunman then proceeded to
enter the center block of Parliament, where

security forces engaged him. The following
shootout occurred only meters away from
Canada’s highest ranking parliamentary
representatives. Long after Zehaf-Bibeau
was pronounced dead at the scene, Ottawa
continued to search for any further gunmen
both within the Parliament buildings as
well as throughout the downtown area.

This event, although shocking and tragic,
was not unfamiliar to Canadians. The

day prior to the Ottawa shooting, Martin
Couture-Rouleau, a recent radicalized
convert to Islam, intentionally struck and
killed a Canadian soldier with his vehicle
in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, before
being killed in a gunfight with local police.

In June of 2014, Justin Bourque conducted
a rampage in which he gunned down
three on-duty Mounties in Moncton, New

Brunswick, before submitting to local police.

Bourque, who was inspired by allegations of
police misconduct, was known to support
extreme anti-police and pro-gun views.

In 2006, the local authorities arrested
the Toronto Eighteen, a group associated
with the terrorist group Al-Qaida. This
group intended to bomb prominent

buildings in Toronto, as well as establish

an Al-Qaida cell in central Canada. Each

of these events share constant themes:
radicalized young men who can justify killing
through their personal belief systems.

So what can Canada do against such a threat?
The government’s answer is to be vigilant.
Many questions and inconsistencies remain
surrounding the Ottawa shooting. The full
intentions of the gunman, or even if there
was only one gunman, are still in question.
Canadians, especially on the southern border
of Ontario and Quebec, are asked to keep

an eye out for suspicious activities. For the
next little while, the nation shall grieve.

However, even on the eve of the shooting,
Canadians began to numb themselves

from the fear of extremism, both home-
grown and external, by concentrating on
the seemingly senseless murder of Cpl.
Nathan Cirillo, and then reinvigorating their
spirits using the heroic acts of Sergeant-
at-Arms Kevin Vickers, who’s attributed
with ending the gunman’s rampage.

Prior to this event, the Conservative Party
of Canada had planned to review Canada’s
national security policies as a result of the

nation’s intended combat role in the Middle
East. In the wake of this shooting, Canadians
must not only be vigilant (within reason)

of extremism, but must also be wary of the
dangers that could emerge from fear-based
national security policies. Canadians need
to hold their government accountable to
any revised national security policies, and
ensure that such revisions do not force
Canadians to abandon their values.

In the aftermath of the Ottawa Shooting,
the Prime Minister claimed that Canada
has become a target due to its societal
values, characterized by the prioritization
of an individual’s liberal-democratic rights.
Canada’s fear of extremism must not result
in any breach of these individual rights,
but must rather promote them. If Canada
is to resist intimidation from those who
oppose our values, as the Prime Minister
claims, then national security policies must
promote and guard the constitutionally-
enforced liberal-democratic rights of every
single Canadian without exception.

By upholding these values, Canada will
become the prime example for the world
as a nation that refused to compromise
its values in the face of extremism.