The Tumbler Ridge tragedy is A loss of innocence for Canada

All of Canada suffered a mortal wound when eight people died in a fatal shooting in a school and residence in the small tight-knit, mining town of Tumbler Ridge in Northeast, British Columbia.
 
The RCMP said the suspect, teenager Jesse Van Rootselaar shot her mother and stepbrother at their residence before killing six others and injuring more than two dozen others and then shooting herself at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School two kilometres away.

The RCMP said the family home of Rootselaar had been the subject of police calls related to mental health and weapons issues in recent years.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner, Dwayne McDonald was strong, dignified and professional in how he handled the announcement to the media and the public. There was none of the grandstanding seen in similar circumstances south of the border, where representatives of every agency seem to feel the need to express their opinion and take credit.

Three girls and two boys, all ages twelve through thirteen, were killed in the Tumbler Ridge shooting, and one educator was also killed. Some of the injured were seriously injured, one had received a bullet wound to the head.

There was a moment of silence in the House of Commons, after which, the leaders of all the parties in the House paid tribute to the people of Tumber Ridge and the grieving families.

Speaking first, Prime Minister Carney was heartfelt in his remarks. “Mr. Speaker, this morning, families in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, woke to a different world. Parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters began this day as their first day on earth without someone they loved dearly…

“What happened has left our nation in shock and all of us in mourning. Nine (later corrected to eight) people killed. More than 25 others injured. Some are still in hospital fighting for their lives. The investigation is ongoing, and we must allow law enforcement the time and space to do their work accordingly.”

The same spirit was evident in much of the rest of the world, with King Charles, and the leaders of France, India, Ukraine, Germany, Italy, Australia, Norway, Ireland, and Croatia, sending condolences, according to PM Carney.

The U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra sent sympathy on behalf of the United States, but there was no word from the U.S. President Donald Trump. In fact, he chose Wednesday to state: “Canada, they are among the worst in the world to deal with, especially as it relates to our Northern Border.”

PM Carney continued, “as this House knows, Tumbler Ridge is a community of some 2,400 people nestled in the foothills of the Rockies. It is one of the youngest towns in the great province of British Columbia. It was carved out of the wilderness in the 1980s, built on the promise of the resource economy and by the determination of its residents.

“It’s a town of miners, teachers, construction workers. Families who have built their lives there, people who have always shown up for each other there.

Pierre Poilievre, the Leader of the Opposition, Don Davies, the Interim Leader of the NDP, Elizabeth May, Leader of the Greens all spoke eloquently. Jean-Francois Blannchet, the Boc Quebecois Leader, who normally speaks only in the French language in the House, gave part of his memorial message spoke in English, directing his remarks to the grieving residents of Tumbler Ridge.

Prime Minister Carney continued the non-partisan spirit by extending an invitation to all the party leaders to attend with him the planned public vigil on Friday evening.

The RCMP have also said that Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, was born a male and transitioned to be a female. She attended Tumbler Ridge Secondary School until about four years ago.

There have been several shootings in educational institutions in Canada over the years, most notably Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique shootings in 1989, when 14 women were targeted solely because they were women, and the La Loche high school in Saskatchewan in 2016 when two students, a teacher, and a teacher’s aide were killed.

To explain the resilience and determination of the Tumbler Ridge residents to carry on, Bob Zimmer (MP for Prince George, Peace River and Northern Rockies) , who has just gone through his most difficult days in caring for his constituents, noted that the town is not on a major route to somewhere else,  and people are going to Tumbler Ridge because they set out to get there.
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Our sympathies and wishes for strength go out to Tumblerites…the whole country is with you.