canada loses its innocence: but shouldn't over-react

8/10/2019 Canada Loses Its Innocence: But Shouldn't Over-react

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CANADA LOSES ITS INNOCENCE, BUT SHOULDN’T OVER-REACT

by Alan L. Chrisman

I’m writing this from Ottawa, Canada’s capitol, a couple days after a shooter killed

a soldier next to the War Memorial and then attacked the Canadian Parliament

buildings. Many have said this is when Canada lost its innocence.

I don’t often write about politics (although I sometimes comment about social

effects), preferring to try and change things through music and art.Understandably, Canadians are still in shock and upset. And as when it happened

in the U.S. with 9/11, people are reacting emotionally, waving flags, and calling

for more security and surveillance. And like then, there will be politicians waiting

to exploit this upset.

But as, perhaps in the Ebola scare (where doctors have now said the biggest fear

is fear itself), things must be kept in perspective. Some have tried to characterize

the shooter, for example, as a Muslim extremist (he was a convert to Islam, but

was born in Canada). But more information is becoming available about him: He

was also a cocaine and heroin addict and had several criminal offenses. At one

point, he even tried to rob a McDonalds in Vancouver with only a stick so he’d get

put in jail, he had said then, to force himself to kick his drug habit. He clearly was

a very disturbed person and a portrait is emerging, more of a loner, with a history



of problems, closer perhaps to several of the school shooters in the U.S. He also,

as far we can tell, came from a good home; his mother had a high-level Canadian

Immigration government job, and he came from a decent family, although his

parents were divorced. His mother hadn’t seen him for 5 years, except the week

before the tragic incident, for lunch.

There had been a hit and run killing of another Canadian soldier with a car in

Quebec, a couple days earlier, by a Muslim sympathizer, so some are trying to

connect the two. But people, who had talked with the Parliament attacker at a

homeless shelter where he had stayed in Ottawa the past couple weeks, said he

told them he was in Ottawa, from Vancouver, to try and get a passport to go Syria

or maybe Libya, where his father had been from. In fact, the Canadian

government had been holding up his passport, because they wondered if hemight have been a security risk. So the Canadian authorities already knew about

him (although they didn’t think he was dangerous). And he may have resorted to

this desperate act partly, out of anger, over that.

He might well have just been, as one former FBI profiler described it, a misfit and

copycat killer, who had latched on to radical religion, to try and justify his drug

habit and personal problems. We will probably never know, as with so many of

these mentally-confused people, what exactly were their motivations, if any. Wecan’t understand irrational individuals and acts, so we too often look for re-

assuring easy answers.

But that’s not the picture, the media and politicians are presenting to an insecure

public. Like in the U.S., there are calls for more guns and guards and giving the

intelligence services more far-reaching eavesdropping powers. He was killed by

an armed guard at the Parliament buildings, who bravely, defended the Prime

Minister and Members of Parliament and staff. The soldier, who sadly died, was

ceremoniously guarding the War Memorial, but had been unarmed. But more

guns and security even may not prevent someone, clearly bent on the destruction

of others or himself, from carrying out these kind of attacks. The U.S. White

House, has been breached already 7 times this year alone, despite being one of

the most guarded places.



The present Canadian Conservative government will, no doubt, try to use this

latest incident to push through legislation for tougher security and surveillance.

The Conservatives, had right before this, because of their majority status, been

able to send Canadian warplanes to fight ISIS in Iraq (although it’s unclear

whether most Canadians really wanted that). The Conservatives had sent soldiers

to Afganistan, despite the earlier Liberal government not sending Canadian troops

to Iraq. Obama (despite not intervening in Syria andsaying he wouldn’t allow

chemical weapons- we don’t hear much about if Assad really is complying with

that, in the media, these days), and now Canada too, is back once again in that

quagmire. It will be hard for even the opposition parties in Canada to resist in this

mood of fear.

Canadian Remembrance Day for war veterans is coming up November 11 andthere will be calls for supporting soldiers and the military, much as there was for

the First Responders and U.S. military after 9/11. George Bush exploited that

mood in America, and intelligence budgets blossomed and privacy rights were

lessened. Edward Snowden revealed that at one time, the NSA wanted every

device sold to the public, to be secretly outfitted with eavesdropping

capabilities (and they almost got it!).

So things, as I say, should be kept in perspective. This killer, appears to have beenmore of a disturbed lone gunman, more influenced by personal demons and with

religious leanings. There could well be more “lone wolf” copycat attempts, as

there was after the school shootings (there was the following day, reports of an

attack on two NYC policeman with a hatchet, which they again have called

“terrorism”, although his friends said he more just hated police and whites). But

all the emotional calls for more guns and tougher public surveillance laws should

be tempered in an atmosphere of public unease. The media’s and politicians’

own agendas should be examined too. But all the flag waving andunderstandable emotional outpourings, now in Canada too, brought up by this

senseless act, aren’t necessarily going to solve the problem.

In that sense, yes, Canada has lost its innocence.



(NO GUNS ALLOWED)

“IMAGINE” by John Lennon

Imagine there’s no countries

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living Life in Peace

Watch below Lennon’s words of wisdom:

http://youtu.be/vND53ZrQD9M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vND53ZrQD9M

canada loses its innocence: but shouldn't over-react

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