Canada woke up a changed nation this morning, much in the same way Americans did the morning after 9/11. It does not matter if a coordinated attack is carried out or just one lone gunman on a personal mission succeeds, the end result is the same: The vulnerability creates the overall feeling that nothing is safe. It is now believed Michael Zehaf-Bibeau acted alone yesterday when he gunned down Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at Canada's National War Memorial before waging an attack that left Parliament Hill on lockdown for several hours. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his country would not "cower in fear."
Investigators in Canada and the U.S. are quickly trying to piece together Zehaf-Bibeau's contacts and movements while security has been beefed up in both countries. Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers received a hero's welcome upon entering Parliament this morning. The former police officer is credited with saving an unknown number of lives by shooting Zehaf-Bibeau dead. After his welcome, Prime Minister Stephen Harper did his best to reassure the Canadian people that they be vigilant about fighting terrorism to keep their country safe.
"Canadians will not be intimidated. We will be vigilant, but we will not run scared. We will be prudent, but we will not panic. Our laws and police powers need to be strengthened in the areas of surveillance, detention and arrest. They need to be much strengthened ... that work will be expedited. We live in a dangerous world. Terrorism has been here with us for a while, and we've come dangerously close on a number of occasions," he said.
"In this struggle in which we are engaged, in which not only our finest values must be pushed to work, so must our unity and resolve. Those are our highest weapons, and that's what those people will face. We're all aware and equal troubled that both of this week's terrorist attacks were carried out by Canadian citizens, by young men born and raised in this peaceful country," he said, before reminding his country of what is already being done to combat the threat.
"Make no mistake, even as the brave men and women of our armed forces are taking this fight to the terrorists on their own territory, we are equally resolved to fight it here," said Harper.
As of now investigators know that Zehaf-Bibeau had active connections to Muslim extremists, including someone who had traveled to Syria to train for jihad.
Do you think that although he technically acted alone he was part of a larger group looking to carry out random acts of terror? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
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