Being a Canadian I was very shocked to hear the news this morning. A very sad day. I moved to Texas from Ottawa and seeing this on tv this morning, did not make my day a good one.

RIP Corporal Nathan Cirillo.

I didn't hear until later in the afternoon. I am mortified. And incensed.

RIP Corporal Nathan Cirillo.

>:*(

Do people feel fear? Yes. Do people now feel hatred for Islam? Yes. Where I live they most certainly do. They have put all Muslims into one category = terrorists! What a shame. So so sad all this.

I lived on Lyon Street, a few blocks from the Parliament buildings, when I was a co-op student with the feds many moons ago. At that time, I could rollerblade up and down the streets, and even around the Parliament buildings. On Canada Day, we would lie (drunk) on the lawn at Parliament Hill to watch fireworks. In the winter we would skate on the Rideau Canal. Ottawa, in my memories, was the safest place on earth.

Today, the Nobel prize-winning Malala Yousafzai was to receive honourary Canadian citizenship. Could these recent attacks be related?

Ah..the Rideau Canal and ice skating. I felt safe in Ottawa to a point, of course. Where I lived, lots of racial tension.


I think the attacks are ISIS related. Whatever the reason, I feel we have to keep our eyes totally open now. Be aware, not afraid I guess....

Being afraid is what terrorists want. So far, the Midwest has been spared the drama. We have our own, home-grown issues I guess. Remember the guy who shot up the Omaha Von Maur store at Christmastime a few years back? Ferguson, Missouri is still in the news. It was a reality check when I visited my son's (Iowa) school to find all the classroom doors locked from the inside, I had to be buzzed into the building, and they practice "crisis drills." Fire drills, tornado drills, and "crisis" drills. Hopefully the boys do not learn what those crisis drills are really about until they are much, much older.

My first thought when I heard the news was, Canada? Why Canada? I mean, the US by its policies and attitude has made plenty of enemies around the world, but Canada doesn't bother anyone! (except maybe Bruins fans)

Very sad about what happened and sad for our country. I really wish we would stay out of American problems. I do not live in fear but I have been thinking of moving for years because of how our country has become since Harper has become PM. It feels Americanized, no offense meant to anyone but I love my country and there is a reason I live here and not the US. Sick of hearing the word terrorist, Obama this, ISIS that, Muslims blah blah. If you have to ask why Canada, pay more attention to our politics and your own. You may have to be a Canadian resident to see and understand how our policies and involvement around the world has changed. We were peace keepers, now I don't know...

Canuck Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Do people feel fear? Yes. Do people now feel
> hatred for Islam? Yes. Where I live they most
> certainly do. They have put all Muslims into one
> category = terrorists! What a shame. So so sad
> all this.


Yup! I think that is what I'm sick of the most is the intolerance. "Muslims" or their religion is not the problem. The "terrorist" was white.. I kind of want to go on vacation for awhile so I don't have to hear about it or politics in general anymore..

> Yup! I think that is what I'm sick of the most is
> the intolerance. "Muslims" or their religion is
> not the problem. The "terrorist" was white.. I
> kind of want to go on vacation for awhile so I
> don't have to hear about it or politics in general
> anymore..

We cut the cable at the house, and it is so much more peaceful. The only thing we can pull with our antenna is PBS. Iowa Public Television has three different stations, so there is some variety, but it all seemed pretty level-headed. The one station is all kids' shows during the day. Curious George is on right now. Many of their favorite shows on PBS come from Canada, like Wild Kratts and Red Green. I recommend cutting cable to make your home more of a sanctuary.

This summer we had a homeless man living in our granny flat for a few months. He was working for us, painting our house, and painting neighbours' houses. This guy's been homeless, hitchhiking around the country with his dog for 23 years. Long story short, I could see what too much Hate Talk Radio can do to someone who has limited interaction with real people. He often would tune in to Hate Talk Radio all day long with his headphones as he worked, sometimes for eight or ten hours' straight. He'd start answering the radio, like when people cheer or yell watching a sports game. He had headphones in, so I could not tell you if he was listening to Limbaugh or Hannity, but he'd be muttering about shooting people. Muslims, inner city residents, people from Latin America. Talking one night, I told him how we have joined a group to offer foster homes for some of the child refugees coming up from Central America, and he called me a Nazi. A Nazi? His theory was that the Democrats were bringing all these kids in to be future voters, so they will have total control to take away our guns and start exterminating us… (This man is obviously mentally ill, and okay most of the time, so we did not kick him out for this, but limited how much time the boys spent with him.)

We cut our cable in July.. No one watched it and pretty much for for the same reasons as you. I feel badly for people who have to live in Today's America. It is a very beautiful yet heartbreaking place when you look at how society is and the ideology (gun rights, racism, etc). It is beautiful here too but I see so much racism everyday in some form despite the diverse city I am from. It makes me feel very sad.

And while I don't watch the news, I read the paper everyday. Politics is very much a popular topic now on Facebook, it feels unavoidable. We have TV's in the subways stations here in Toronto. It's supposed just tell you when the next subway is coming but it also has news plastered all over it. C'est la vie I suppose..

Didn't have cable when I went to school at Waterloo. Still pulled in CITY, Global, CBC, TVO…. I'd stay up late just to watch this:

[www.youtube.com]

I don't remember the witness's name, but he said he thought he was hearing fireworks when the shooting was going on.

Well? I might've thought that too if I was still living in Canada. But, I live here in America and I would definitely think of gunshots, not fireworks now.

I was disappointed to know that the supposed 'terrorist' was actually born here and a Canadian citizen. I was not born here but I actually immigrated first to the US where I completed my graduate studies, then decided to move to Canada. From that time on, I have loved this country and cannot understand anyone who was born here not to have that kind of deep feeling.

Who would have thought there was any danger for the late Cpl. Nathan Cirillos standing guard at the National War Memorial in Ottawa? Ottawa was quite a peaceful city that I used to visit it a number of times a year with my family.

dixiewhiskey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Very sad about what happened and sad for our
> country. I really wish we would stay out of
> American problems. I do not live in fear but I
> have been thinking of moving for years because of
> how our country has become since Harper has become
> PM. It feels Americanized, no offense meant to
> anyone but I love my country and there is a reason
> I live here and not the US. Sick of hearing the
> word terrorist, Obama this, ISIS that, Muslims
> blah blah. If you have to ask why Canada, pay more
> attention to our politics and your own. You may
> have to be a Canadian resident to see and
> understand how our policies and involvement around
> the world has changed. We were peace keepers, now
> I don't know...
As an American, absolutely no offense taken, DixieWhiskey. I completely agree with your sentiment. FWIW, I cannot stand PM Stephen Harper.

Stephen Harper, the oil hugger? It is a switch when the president of the United States takes more time to approve oil pipelines than Canada's prime minister. remember when Canada was a leader in environmental concern? I wonder how many kids would not recognize a photo of Dr David Suzuki.

I was surprised to know that some schools are excluding any mention of Remembrance Day or Veteran's Day in grade schools
because of religion. They could only mention peacekeeping and such, but not anything about our heroes on Remembrance Day to accommodate Jehovah's Witness children. And I had to read this today after watching the ceremonies in Toronto and Ottawa.

That's odd. When I was a kid, the JW's stood in the hall when we opened the day with the O Canada, and had a pull-out class for special activities when the regular classes focuses on holidays. No big deal. We all got along fine. That was in a small Ontario town.

Currently, our son attends a Lutheran school in Southwest Iowa. Yesterday they had an assembly to celebrate Veterans' Day. I suppose there aren't too many JW's at the Lutheran school.