Prime Minister Mark Carney asked for flags on Parliament Hill to be flown at half-mast for the next week.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney said the country was in mourning after the mass shooting at a school in tiny Tumbler Ridge, B.C., as leaders from around the world offered condolences to the town’s residents and all Canadians.
“This morning, families in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., woke to a different world. Parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters began this day as their first day on Earth without someone they love dearly,” Mr. Carney told MPs in a sombre special address to the House of Commons. “What happened has left our nation in shock and all of us in mourning.”
The shooting Tuesday afternoon at a school in the small British Columbia mining town about 400 kilometres north of Prince George left nine dead, including the shooter, RCMP confirmed on Wednesday.
The event reverberated across Canada and around the world, prompting statements of sympathy from a long list of world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
King Charles among world leaders to offer sympathy after Tumbler Ridge shooting
The tragedy also stunned Canada’s Olympic athletes competing in Italy at the Winter Games.
Politics in Ottawa was put on pause, with Question Period and the Prime Minister’s scheduled trip to a Munich defence conference cancelled. Mr. Carney said he asked for flags on Parliament Hill to be flown at half-mast for the next week.
Speaking in the Commons, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said that no parent should ever have to bury their own child.
“Children who should have been thinking about homework and hockey were instead thrown into terror, grief and unbearable uncertainty,” he said.
He said that his party would work with the federal government, as well as provincial and local authorities, to ensure the community and emergency first responders have the support they need.
“We all stand together,” he said. “There is no partisanship on this day.”
RCMP have identified the Tumbler Ridge, B.C., shooter.
Reuters
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said in English that he wanted to offer his deepest condolences to the community. He said the government can count on the Bloc’s full co-operation.
“Quebec and British Columbia have never been closer,” he said in French.
Mr. Blanchet also spoke to the First Nation community of Kitigan Zibi, which is in the western part of Quebec. Provincial police confirmed Wednesday that a father there had fatally shot his two children before killing himself.
Governor-General Mary Simon said in a statement that she and her husband, Whit Fraser, send their deepest condolences to Tumbler Ridge and expressed thanks to the first responders.
“In this unimaginable moment of tragedy, the whole of Canada has Tumbler Ridge in its thoughts,” she said. “Let us stay united in our compassion and reach out to one another with love and tenderness today, as we join the entire nation in grieving.”
King Charles III expressed shock and sadness at the mass shooting, noting that the grieving B.C. community was small and close-knit and calling the tragedy “an appalling shadow.”
RCMP identify shooter in Tumbler Ridge mass shooting
Premiers across the country also offered condolences and solidarity. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a social-media post that his thoughts are with everyone affected by the shooting. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith ordered flags at the Alberta Legislature to fly at half-mast.
The shooting hit close to home for Canadian Olympians at the Milan Cortina Winter Games.
Sam Reinhart, a forward on the Canadian men’s hockey team, said he was devastated to hear the news when he woke up Wednesday morning.
“We are all talking about it,” said Mr. Reinhart, who is from West Vancouver and plays for the NHL’s Florida Panthers.
“You feel it all the way over here. We’ve been thinking about them all day and we will continue to all Olympics. We are here to do what we can to represent the country and take some minds off it for an hour or two.”
Jon Cooper, head coach of the Olympic men’s hockey team, grew up about four hours away in Prince George. He said it was hard to get his head around what happened.
“You think about tragedies that happen, usually they happen somewhere else, so you never really feel the effect of it touching close to home,” said Mr. Cooper, who coaches the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL. “This one’s close to home, and my heart goes out to all the families.”
In Cortina d’Ampezzo, Canadian women’s curling coach Heather Nedohin said she was raised about an hour away from Tumbler Ridge, in Fort St. John, where she learned to curl and still has family.
“I can only imagine the heartfelt, broken hearts with what’s going on. The complete details, I’ll be honest, no, we don’t know,” she said. “But it’s a tragedy. I can’t imagine what everyone’s feeling across Canada.”
U.S. President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, said in a statement that his country’s “hearts and prayers” were with Tumbler Ridge and all of B.C.: ”My personal prayer is that in these difficult times, they find the peace and comfort that only He can provide.”
With reports from The Canadian Press, Jamie Ross, Rachel Brady, Laura Stone and Eric Reguly