OTTAWA – Public Safety Minister Vic Toews expressed sympathy to the victims and condemned the Boston Marathon attacks as “senseless acts of violence.”
He said authorities are at a “heightened state of vigilance” at border crossings.
“We want to ensure that if someone would be using our borders to cross into Canada…for any inappropriate reason, that those individuals are detected.”
He said at this time, “I don’t think there’s any need for Canadians to worry as a result of this specific incident.”
Toews said the authorities are working in cooperation with American authorities and consular officials are working with Canadians in the Boston area.
He declined to go into specific details but said Canadian agencies are working closely with the Americans, and if they need any help Canada will provide it.
“This presently is a criminal investigation in the United States and appropriate Canadian counterparts are working with them,” he said.
Toews added that authorities are very concerned about his type of “domestic violence,” whether it originates outside of our country or is developed in Canada.
“There are people out there who do not share our values, who work to undermine our institutions.”
He said the government wants to work with anyone who has information to help protect their own communities and Canada.
Toews said it is always a “difficult challenge” to protect Canadians at large events and it cannot be done by security agencies alone.
“We need the cooperation of those individuals who have information and we also call on communities to be vigilant.”
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