I agree that it is too soon to change any laws. The events on the hill were tragic but do not merit an Americanization of our position on privacy and or violence

Hi and thank you for the opportunity to put in some of my thoughts.


I served in the military years ago and so have some feel for the issue of soldiers and their sacrifices. In this case it’s obvious that a review of security measures for Parliament hill and the area around the Memorial is needed. At the same time, I don’t think the government should go overboard in emphasizing police or military measures.


A predominant thought for me is the question of what we will now do for mental health care in this country. Various sober analyses over the years have shown that mental health care services available to people are completely inadequate. This includes clinics for people wanting to deal with addictions as well as people suffering from various emotional or mental disturbances. It also includes good services for dealing with people suffering from PTSD, whether soldiers, police, firefighters, or whoever.


People can rail on all they like about ‘terrorists’ imagined or real, but a continued ignoring of the issue of mental health services in Canada is unconscionable.


I have deep sympathy for the families of the fallen soldiers. But I also have deep concern about the people out there who need help in their lives and who are being ignored.


Surely we can do better.

I agree with your position. Resist Harper’s terrorist spin and the mainstream media’s hyperbole.

Like to start with this… “Setting people to spy on one another is not the way to protect freedom.”

Tommy Douglas

and this quote.. Miss you Jack…


“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.” -Jack Layton


STOP HARPER NEXT NOVEMBER!!

The right-wing Canadian government wasted no time in seizing on the incident to promote its fear-mongering agenda over terrorism, which includes pending legislation to vest its intelligence agency, CSIS, with more spying and secrecy powers in the name of fighting ISIS. A government spokesperson asserted “clear indications” that the driver “had become radicalized.”" Another Orwellian double speak word that is loaded and a total main stream media propaganda tool… “Radicalized” !!!! The real “State Terrorist” is the Tories and their puppet Harper…


In my opinion the Canadian military to stay out of the conflict in the middle east with the “mercenaries” who are masquerading as Islamic Jehad. I am not a conspiracy theorist. I am a Canadian who researches the truth and works to dissolve the common misconceptions of the Main stream media (propaganda from the corporatocracy), governments and the social media groups and bloggers. One common one often propagated is that Osama Bin Laden created " al Qaeda". This is a erroneous bit of propaganda that is used as part of the misinformation that is out there. Robin Cook, Foreign Secretary in the UK from 1997–2001, believed the CIA had provided arms to the Arab Mujaheddin, including Osama bin Laden, writing, "Bin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by western security agencies. Throughout the 80s he was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. In addition, the CIA used the Al Qaeda name which was a list of the Mujaheddin trained by the CIA. One thing you can be sure is that we may have to do more investigation and research to find out the whole truth.


As in the case of Saddam Houssain (please click on Link if you are not informed on these facts, many Canadians are.) who was funded by the USA and trained by the CIA, and their involvement did not created peace in the area and resulted in the deaths of both our soldiers and thousands of innocent women and children and destroyed once developed countries infrastructure to perpetuate them to remain undeveloped and resentful for our involvement in the destruction. We need to start creating peaceful solution, and not creating problems, creating a public reaction, and then bringing in a predetermined solution. I don’t consent to my tax dollars being used to these actions which could lead to another war in the region. I do mandate that you use my tax dollars to start looking at protecting our natural resources and environment by ending our dependence on fossil fuels by using alternative energy sources like geothermal, wind, wave, and passive solar energy. Supporting local Canadian companies and entrepreneurs who can put Canada in the lead in this clean alternative technology and develop a sustainable industries and long term jobs for Canadians.


In my opinion I think it is despicable that the Tories and Harper are set to yet again use a tragic event to try and destroy the freedoms we are all born with. This play book has been used by the elite Bankster families to control and justify taking the liberty away just as they did in the USA. I may not have money to contribute but I have my voice and 1000’s of FB and Twitter followers who I will encourage to support the NDP’s values of Peace and liberty…


In Lak ’esh,

Michael

I think our laws “MAY” need some tweaking BUT I’d rather explore what’s wrong with those laws before adding new draconian measures.

I have said this multiple times on social media……this man was not a terrorist, nor was he mentally ill. This act is the result of neglect of social welfare….. This was more about political economy and sociology than it was about individual psychology. This was about social alienation in a disfunctional society. Regards…..bill warriner

An open society cannot tolerate an imbalance in state powers of investigate, search and seizure. Given the track record of the Harper Tories I am suspicious that the Tories will exploit the fears in the citizenry and ram through laws that will play havoc with that delicate balance essential to an open society. The balance of laws introduced by the Tories has been undemocratic aimed at the few bastions of protection of the civil and economic liberties and entitlements we used to enjoy. First Nations, the Environmental Protection structure, and Labour Unions have faced an onslaught of Tory legislation. What’s left, individual liberties? They would re-write the Charter if they could. They are not to be trusted. The opposition should delay and blunt any attempt by the Tories to use this moment to water down our freedoms against arbitrary arrest and seizure and that attack our privileges such as the right to privacy.


If the Tories weren’t so blatantly jingoistic in foreign relations perhaps some the attention currently focused on Canada may be directed elsewhere. In this sense the Tories carry some of the responsibility for the recent tragedies that occurred in Quebec and Ontario. They should apologize to the families of the deceased for their brash rhetoric. There is little courage in that kind of bravado because the speakers carry little risk. Their protectors in the security forces shoulder the entire burden.


Paul Edwards

I am reminded of the unintended consequences of overly-broad suspension of civil liberties, recalling the invocation of the War Measures Act in 1970 in response to the criminal acts of the FLQ; officially 465 persons were arrested and held without charges. However I lived in Vancouver at the time and its conservative mayor used the suspension of habeas corpus as an excuse to “clean up the beaches” when at the time several hundred counterculture squatters were summarily detained. I note further that the War Measures Act was repealed and replaced by The Emergencies Act, which requires safeguards of both parliamentary review and a requirement that any laws made under the Act are temporary and subject to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Please do all that you can to fight any laws that purport to increase our security but are really only going to limit our privacy & take away our freedom. It shocks me to hear people willing to put up with USA style/Patriot Act-like legislation in the naive belief that they will be safer.

Both of those young men acted in dire states of poor mental health last week. They were not agents of any terrorist group who could have been stopped by increased police or CSIS powers. Do people really believe that?

My heart goes out to the families of their victims but I am no more scared of terrorism today than I was 2 weeks ago. What scares me is the ever increasing gap between rich and poor in this country. What scares me is the disappearance of our social security net. What scares me is the lack of opportunity for so many people – young, middle-aged and elderly – in this country.

It had nothing to do with religion, but two mentally disturbed individuals. You can never know when or where it can happen again, no matter how much security.

Thank you for asking. I fully support an increase in security on the Hill. I think that there is no need for a sentry at the monument. I think that we should be extremely skeptical about these wild accusations of “terrorism”. We should be funding emergency measures to address the dire shortage of mental health facilities and professionals. We need fulsome debate on foreign policy, playing into the hands of extremists abroad has not worked in the prrevious decade, why would we expect it to work going forward?

Over the past several weeks, Islamist terror groups have threatened to kill Canadians, Australians and people in several other countries and now it’s happening. We must pay far more focused attention to those with known affiliation to such groups. We must also look to adding a separation of church/mosque/whatever and state clause to OUR constitution in order not to end up with the mess they now have in Britain. I will NOT, under ANY circumstances vote for ANY candidate who supports granting Sharia Law equal status with Canadian law. I support freedom of worship in a democratic society but fiercely oppose any cordoning off of public areas as Sharia Law zones as has occurred in Britain.

First action taken should be to beef up security around grounds & in buildings with armed forces personel. Changing laws should be done with great care & only after tempers cool & lengthy debate takes place. For now we will mourn our dead But continue ton fight like hell for the living.

The ‘shock doctrine’ is heavily in play at this time. It’s likely the Harperguv has been hoping for something like this so dangerously intrusive laws could be passed in a hurry while people are scared. How can we stop Harper and how can we retract all of the stupid laws he’s put into place.

The ‘shock doctrine’ is heavily in play at this time. It’s likely the Harperguv has been hoping for something like this so dangerously intrusive laws could be passed in a hurry while people are scared. How can we stop Harper and how can we retract all of the stupid laws he’s put into place.

Nous savons maintenant l’intense collaboration des organismes de surveillance canadiens surtout avec les américains. Une entente de 1973 permettait aux Agences gouvernementales de sécurité des USA d’agir au Canada et réciproquement, ce qui permettait d’échapper à la lettre des lois US et canadiennes sur la protection de la vie privée. L’entente de novembre 2001 a permis aux agents des USA d’intervenir armés en territoire canadien, je ne suis pas informé de la réciproque. LA Cour suprème (R. c. Hape 2007 CSC 26) a jugé que la protection de la Charte des droits ne couvre pas l’action des policiers canadiens agissent à l’étranger. (confirmé in Khadr, ²⁰¹⁰ 1 R.C.S. 44) J’ai donc deux préoccupation:

Quel sera l’incidence du projet de loi sur l’action des agences US au Canada; et d’autre part est-ce que cette loi privera encore plus les canadiens de leurs droits constitutionnels lorsqu’ils se rendront à l’étranger.

The media reports a gentleman who had trouble with addictions and mental health. He was most likely struggling with poverty issues as well. Please look at the mental health and addiction strategy nation wide. Anyone can figure out how to get through the security loopholes on parliament hill. Please consider putting you efforts into prevention, not into supporting a heightened security and fear.

Gun laws should be relaxed rather than enhanced. If more law abiding people were allowed to carry guns there would be less violent crimes.

My parents were immigrants over 60 years ago. Although they came from a communist block country they were carefully vetted out. There was an understanding and expectation that they adopt their new countries law and culture.

I personally feel that the pendulum has swung too far the other way , where human rights and liberties take precedence over what is the true identity of Canada. I feel our immigration policy is not strict enough in regards who we allow to live in this great country.

As a result I believe there will be more attacks on out soil against law enforcement , military and government workers.

The attacks of last week , I don’t believe were the result of just one or two factors (mental health , frustration) . There are many other underlying issues. Religious beliefs , cultural values , mental health , peer influence and dozens more..

As a former student of sociology and a former reservist who participated in Ceremonial Gaud in Ottawa ….. I agree. We must not let fear, emotion and nationalism haste us into laws that will have over reaching effects. I reference the Maher Arar case a few years back. If we live in fear of our own laws then we have lost ourselves.


Finally someone posted an article on Facebook "the state has no business in our bedrooms (P. Trudeau) " … “Then why would we let them into our heads (article)?”

I fully agree that we must be very watchful that our democratic values and human rights are NOT curtailed in the interests of augmenting government control of our lives and responsible freedoms of thought and expression. Yes, we need to increase our surveillance — and our understanding! — of hostile elements among us, but NOT at the expense of ordinary citizens’ human rights and freedoms. Moreover, current evidence strongly suggests that MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS MORE SUPPORT BY GOVERNMENT SERVICES. If people with mental health problems are ignored or dismissed — as the shooter at the memorial apparently was, prior to his several offenses — how can we expect things not to go from bad to worse?

I feel this is a case of people being left behind in our society. We need to focus on mental health, not giving more powers to the police which are too great to begin with. Is it possible to have a review of all public violence (non-domestic, attacking strangers, authorities) that has occurred since the closure of mental hospitals? One wonders if an increase in random violence went along with the closure of such facilities. Please do your best to focus on the victims; not Canadians, as some wish but the two soldiers. The cause of these attacks likely has more to do with being marginalized than it does cheer-leading from a foreign group. Do not let the government pass legislation which would curtail civil liberties and privacy further. We need a just and caring society, not a vengeful and fearful bubble.

Thank you

Members of the NDP (and the Libs, of course) must keep the debate going. Stay in the public eye, however long it takes. This is your job and you are required to do it.

Unfortunately, the HarperCons will likely do as they please. But it can’t last forever.

These were instances of mentally ill persons. Taking advantage of that by calling it terrorism is wrong and I don’t support it. Police and courts have enough tools/powers now. I’d think calm reflection and gathering all the facts would be the appropriate first steps.

Beware the coming totalitarian state. Do not let this tragedy blind you to the need for compassionate mental health care rather than jails.

Tragedies are a time to reflect not act on haste. CISIS and RCMP do not need more power.

A right wing reactionary government will use any opportunity to justify some of the programs they want to implement. These recent events provide a convenient reason. Calm assessment of the overall situation is required. If Harper wants to avoid a similar situation in future, he should listen to healthcare professionals and social workers who have been warning us about the danger of cutting community resources for people with mental illness, for people despairing under the weight of poverty and all those who have been marginalized in the past decade of cuts to public services. This isolated incident of a shooter in Parliament may be unusual for Canada but not in other countries. A few days after the Ottawa shooting, a teenager in Washington State walked into his school and murdered and severely injured some of his classmates. That has become a common occurrence south of the border in a country that Harper wishes to emulate. A police state is not the answer. Neither is relaxed gun laws. The only threat to our democracy is the Conservative majority government.

The government are always too quick to change the laws. This person definitely has had lots of problems within the family and couldn’t get his passport to go back to his home country. Also he was on street drugs in Vancouver and in Ottawa. Also I wouldn’t be surprised if he was on psychiatric medications which cause people to react this way. SSRI’s and many psychiatric drugs cause a person to commit mass shootings just like Columbine school and many other horrendous suicides and murders. Of course they will never tell you that in the mainstream media. Check out Citizens Commission on Human Rights for more information.