By Steph Wetzel
Citizens of Canada reacted very differently to the shooting that recently occurred in Ottawa. On Wednesday, October 22nd around 10 am, a 32-year old man from Montreal known as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot Corporal Nathan Cirillo at Ottawa’s National War Memorial. Afterwards, the shooter ran to Parliament Hill, located across the street from the memorial. Shortly after, thirty shots were heard and four people were sent to Ottawa Hospital. The shooter was also killed after a gunfight with the security of Parliament Hill. The shootings occurred a couple days after an attack on military personnel in Quebec, in which another Canadian soldier was killed.
People were ordered to stay away from windows and roofs, and cell phones in the area were blocked. Some people were surprised by this act of violence. They referred to it as an “end to Canada’s innocence.” Terrorist attacks are not what Canada may be accustomed to, whereas other places may be more prepared for this type of situation.
People also referred to this act of violence as “Canada’s 9/11.” Those were the people who also believed that Canada was not accustomed to acts of violence. Prime Minister Stephen Harper states, “We will not be intimidated. Canada will never be intimidated.” Regardless what the Prime Minister says, there were still a good amount of people who were intimidated. Perhaps they were more intimidated by the fact that they are now at risk with violent actions such as this one, which was why downtown Ottawa was put into lockdown mode. However, the Prime Minister also believed that Canada was not very well accustomed to acts of violence such as this one. It would have been surprising if it was any country, but the fact that it was Canada made it even more out of the ordinary.
There were also people who weren’t as intimidated, and say they have experienced terrorism before. These are the people who are not surprised and actually seem to be accustomed to these types of events. They say that mass murder and politically-inspired terrorism has been seen before. They agree with the Prime Minister when he says that Canada will not be intimidated, and believe that Canada has not lost its innocence.
Whether the citizens of Canada are accustomed to these types of threats or not, this event and the people’s reactions to this event will still leave a lasting impression on the area.
