‘Canadians are with you. We will always be with you’: PM addresses vigil for Tumbler Ridge shooting victims
Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Prime Minister Mark Carney led federal, provincial and local leaders in offering support and praising the resilience and grace of Tumbler Ridge residents at a vigil in memory of the victims of Tuesday’s mass shooting in the B.C. community.
The shooting, which left nine people dead including six children, has rocked the tight-knit community of Tumbler Ridge in northeast B.C., as well as the country as a whole.
Partisan politics were put aside as federal leaders joined Friday’s vigil.
Carney was joined by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and NDP interim Leader Don Davies, among others.
WATCH | Leaders place flowers at a memorial in Tumbler Ridge:
Carney, party leaders mourn victims of school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.
On Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, NDP interim Leader Don Davies and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May mourned the victims of a mass shooting in the community of Tumbler Ridge, B.C., which left eight people dead, including students, an educator and the shooter’s mother and half-brother.
The vigil started with attendees singing O Canada, followed by Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka asking for a moment of silence to honour the victims.
“None of us walks through this alone,” Krakowka said during his opening speech.
“This evening is about remembrance, it’s about reflection, it’s about love.”
WATCH | District mayor opens the vigil:
Tumbler Ridge mayor opens vigil by asking for prayers
Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka, talking to a vigil attended by federal leaders after a mass shooting in his community, said the evening was about remembrance, reflection and love.
Carney began his remarks to the vigil by acknowledging previous crises in Tumbler Ridge — tough economic times and wildfires — and how the community came together to support each other then.
“And when the unimaginable happened on Tuesday, you were there again. First responders at the school in less than two minutes,” he said. “Teachers shielding their children.
“You held each other — as you’re holding each other right now.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon sing O Canada. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)
Carney went on to remember some of the victims in the shooting, and asked for prayers for those who were wounded.
He said Canada was with the people of Tumbler Ridge, a community that relied on each other’s grace.
“Canadians are with you. We will always be with you,” he said.
“When we leave here tonight, some you will go back to quiet houses, some of you will go home to empty rooms. Please know that you’re not alone.”
In his remarks, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called the people of Tumbler Ridge extraordinary. He made very clear that this was not a time for politics.
“We all lead political parties. But today? There are no Conservatives. There are no Liberals, New Democrats, Greens or Bloc Québécois,” he said.
Poilievre concluded by reciting the poem If Tomorrow Starts Without Me by David Romano, which reflects on bereavement.
Leader of the Official Opposition Pierre Poilievre, Carney and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon held hands before the vigil began. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)
Other speakers at the vigil included chiefs of local First Nations, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and B.C. Premier David Eby.
Eby shared a powerful tale of how a high school science class banded together as gunshots were heard all around them.
He talked about how older kids protected younger kids and tried to keep the mood light, and how a teacher administered first aid to a critically injured student.
“In those actions, in those heroic actions, are the seeds of the recovery of this community,” Eby said.
“The future of Tumbler Ridge is in that school, we know that.”
Mayor Krakowka concluded the vigil by asking everyone to step forward and light a candle in honour of the victims.
Shared grieving
Earlier in the day, the leaders laid flowers at a growing memorial in Tumbler Ridge for the victims of one of Canada’s worst mass shootings.
Speaking to CBC’s Power and Politics, May told host David Cochrane that the prime minister had invited all the party leaders to travel to Tumbler Ridge in the same plane, a gesture she appreciated.
“There was nothing but shared grieving and shared sense that there’s no other place for us to be but together,” the Saanich-Gulf Islands MP said.
“I think if every Canadian could be here, people would say, ‘Yeah, I’d like to be in Tumbler Ridge and comfort people.’ It’s just so unbearable.”
