It Just Got Personal

Today, everything changed.  A terrorist opened fire in our nation’s capital, killing a Corporal at the National War Memorial where we honour those who fought for and defended our country and the freedoms we cherish. He then took his weapon and his deadly agenda to the halls of our Parliament, where gunfire ensued and he was killed.  Our nation’s capital went into lockdown. We used to say this doesn’t happen in Canada. We cannot say that anymore. There is no going back.

We don’t know yet what motivated the attack, but experts are saying it should be seen as a terrorist attack, and that it may well be the first of more to come.   The world is watching as ISIS continues to develop and gain hold as an extremist force in the Middle East. As dangerous as Al Quaeda is, I believe the greater and more immediate threat is ISIS. Why? Because they radicalize citizens from within populations to turn against their own countries, forsaking families, friends and beliefs. And these people, once turned, commit unthinkable acts of violence and death on innocents. How the hell do we begin to fight that?

I am angry that this has happened in my country. I am so truly sorry for family of Cpl Nathan Cirillo, especially his six year old son. This was a good man whose life was senselessly taken by another on whom life was wasted. Extremists disavow themselves of the rights and privileges the rest of us respect and enjoy the moment they embrace their new belief of terrorism. I won’t give them the benefit of the doubt or consider them capable of reform. Theirs was a conscious choice to embrace something that they knew was wrong. How, in this day and age, post 9/11, post-genocides and holocaust, can anyone not know that radical extremism utilizing terrorism is evil?

I love my country. Fiercely. Proudly. We welcome the world, embrace diversity, excel at peace and diplomacy and hockey. Acceptance and tolerance are values I want to my kids to live every day. Canadians are known for being accommodating and non-aggressive. We get mad “in a Canadian kind of way”. That does not mean we are push-overs and that should not make us easy targets for any reason. I hate that terrorism isn’t just the physical carnage, but the emotional and spiritual costs paid by those who survive. Now, we don’t get to be so open and friendly with the world, or with each other. We know what’s out there, and how their game is played. There was a heightened state of alert before today’s attacks. We have reason to believe more will come because ISIS has come to roost.

ISIS is a global threat that needs to be dealt with swiftly and decisively. They’ve made it clear that they are intolerant, inhumane and exist to serve only their purpose, utilizing whatever means necessary. The only way to deal with them is to exterminate them, like the deadly infestation they are, anywhere they appear. We cannot afford the mistake of giving them more time to gain a stronger hold. And we are fools to believe nothing else is coming. ISIS has established they have no boundaries, globally or morally. God forbid we let them prove that on our soil.

I keep a mug in my kitchen, filled with pencils, where I see it everyday. It’s part of daily life in our family hub. Nobody important gave it to me; it isn’t an heirloom or expensive. But what it represents is beyond measure. The mug says Cantor Fitzgerald. If you, like me, watched those Towers fall, and lived through the endless days into nights of news coverage during 9/11, you learned this firm suffered the loss of most of their people. They were a family, with families. I can never forget.