Prime Minister Mark Carney, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and the leaders of the federal opposition parties in Parliament travelled to Tumbler Ridge, B.C., on Friday to attend a vigil honouring the victims of Tuesday’s mass shooting.
The prime minister, his wife Diana Fox Carney, the local member of Parliament Bob Zimmer and the party leaders — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, Bloc Québecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, NDP interim leader Don Davies and Green Party MP Elizabeth May — each laid flowers at a memorial honouring the eight people killed.
The group held a moment of silence after laying their flowers.
Carney and Simon are set to speak at a community vigil Friday evening along with B.C. Premier David Eby and Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka.
The Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday said Carney would travel to Tumbler Ridge at the mayor’s invitation, and extended his invitation to the federal party leaders, who all accepted.
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, who is leading the federal response to the shooting, and Housing Minister Gregor Robertson travelled to the community on Wednesday to provide support to local and provincial officials. They attended a community vigil Wednesday evening that was attended by hundreds of residents.
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The small mining community and the country is reeling after the devastating mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and a local residence that killed eight people and left dozens of others injured.
The shooter, identified as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, was found dead of a self-inflicted injury.
On Wednesday, the RCMP identified the eight victims: five students of Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, aged between 12 and 13, a 39-year-old education assistant at the school, and the mother and stepbrother of the shooter.
Carney and federal party leaders delivered statements in the House of Commons on Wednesday, after MPs held a moment of silence in honour of the victims.
The B.C. government declared Thursday a provincial day of mourning.
MPs from all parties have been signing a book of condolences that has been placed in the House of Commons. The condolence book will be delivered to the community by Zimmer, the MP for Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, after Feb. 17.
“There’s been countless offers from across the country to help and there’s been so many that it’s just difficult to manage all that information,” Zimmer told Global News in an interview Thursday.
“You’re talking about a little community of about 2,500 people, and all of a sudden the whole, it seems, world is saying, ‘How can we help?’ It’s very personal at the same time and very difficult because it’s such a terrible and tragic event that’s tough to process.”
Larry Neufeld, the MLA for Peace River South, the riding that includes Tumbler Ridge, said there has been extraordinary solidarity across the political spectrum in British Columbia.
“I am an opposition politician. That being said, I am very thankful to the government and to the government ministers for the response and for the genuine human emotion that was displayed and the execution of the resource envelope that was brought to this community in such a rapid timeline,” he said.
“Tumbler Ridge and the people of Tumbler Ridge are incredibly resilient, incredibly strong. This community will survive.”
— with files from Global’s Ariel Rabinovitch
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