Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government will work to ensure the proper balance between protecting Canadians “while defending our rights and freedoms” as it considers how to respond to Friday’s deadly terrorist attacks in Paris.
Speaking on the eve of his first foreign trip as prime minister, a shaken Trudeau said Canada stands with its “French cousins.” He added that the government was unaware of any Canadians having been targeted or otherwise involved in the attacks.
“We’ll continue to engage with our allies around the world in ensuring the safety of Canadians and others both here at home and around the world,” he added. “But I’ve been speaking with our national security team to ensure that everything is being done to keep people safe.”
Trudeau wouldn’t say if he was reconsidering whether to withdraw Canadian military aircraft from the fight against the Islamic State, or change the controversial anti-terrorism Bill C-51, which was introduced by the Conservative government and provided intelligence services with more powers.
“It’s too soon to jump to any conclusions,” he said. “But obviously governments have a responsibility to keep their citizens safe while defending our rights and freedoms, and that balance is something that the Canadian government and indeed all government around the world will be focusing on.”
More than 100 people died in a string of shootings at a Paris concert hall, restaurants and streets, as well as in several explosions at a bar near a stadium where a France-Germany soccer match was being played.
“Everyone is very shaken in general,” said Lamed Beth, a Canadian who moved from Vancouver to Paris six years ago. Beth and her friend, Mary Sheridan, were out for dinner at a restaurant and watched events unfold on television.
“People were immediately taken off the streets,” Beth said. “Everyone that was walking was pulled into a restaurant or into a café and told to stay inside.”
Sheridan, who works for a caterer in Paris, said her boss was at Le Bataclan on Friday night, a concert hall in the 11th arrondissement that was the scene of a hostage crisis. She said her boss was shot in the leg twice and taken to hospital. Scores more were killed.
In Ottawa, additional RCMP patrol officers were dispatched Friday evening to “points of interest” around the city, including the French Embassy on Sussex Drive and Parliament Hill.
A security source said there were no threats directed at Ottawa and that the increased security is part of a planned protocol for dealing with international security events.
The source said the protocol also includes local police and security agencies at all levels opening channels of communication to share any local intelligence, and that the added security will remain in place “until we get clarity on what really transpired” in Paris.
At the French Embassy Friday night, a single RCMP vehicle was on guard.
Charles Romero, the president of France Ottawa, an association for French people living abroad, said he managed to reach his brother and sister in Paris and they are safe.
“I’m in deep shock because even if we were knowing the situation in France was tense because of what’s happening in Iraq, Syria, the intervention of the French army there, nobody can expect what happened tonight in Paris,” he said.
People rest on a bench after being evacuated from the Bataclan theater after a shooting in Paris, Friday Nov. 13, 2015. French President Francois Hollande declared a state of emergency and announced that he was closing the country’s borders.
Romero said he would call this weekend on French citizens in Ottawa to gather to express their support and compassion for victims and their families.
Former Citizen editor Keith Spicer, who lives in Paris, said the French government had been warning for months it was expecting another terrorist attack after the shootings at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo last January.
“It’s appalling and shocking, but they have been expecting this,” said Spicer. “The minister of the interior and the president and the prime minister have all said there will be more of this.
“This is plainly a highly skilled, orchestrated, multiple attack on France,” he said. “I don’t know of any domestic groups that could have pulled this off. For this to be organized so meticulously, it makes one think of the Islamic State.”
Gene Villeneuve of Ottawa, who is currently working in Paris, said he had plans to go out Friday evening.
“But our friends cancelled and we decided to stay in and have other friends over,” he said in an email.
He said he lives about 1.5 kilometres from the shootings, near several hospitals, and had seen “a constant stream” of emergency vehicles going by.
Amanda Fong, a 26-year-old Montrealer living in Paris, was having dinner in the 15th arrondissement in the central part of the city when she heard of the attacks and immediately headed home.
Ambassador Nicolas Chapuis, the Ambassador of France to Canada spoke to media outside of the embassy Friday November 13, 2015 regarding the attacks in Paris.
“It’s shocking,” said Fong, a community manager for a startup who moved to Paris in April. “I just hope my new home can recover from this.”
Nicolas Chapuis, the ambassador of France to Canada, said outside the embassy in Ottawa Friday night that he felt horror, tragedy and fear when he learned of the attack in Paris. His son in Paris e-mailed him immediately to say he was safe, and he reached other family and friends to make sure they were out of harm’s way. He doesn’t believe that he is a target in Canada.
Since the attack, Chapuis said he has seen an incredible amount of sympathy from the Canadian government and the citizens of this country.
Chapuis said his country is taking measures to make sure that French citizens around the world are safe.
“The attack on Paris is an attack on the world,” he said.
The political and diplomatic community in Canada offered their condolences by email and Twitter Friday evening.
“My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of those who lost their lives and those injured in the terrorist attacks today in Paris,” said Conservative interim leader Rona Ambrose in a statement.
Former prime minister Stephen Harper tweeted that “our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims of these savage terrorist attacks in Paris.”
Environment Minister and Ottawa Centre MP Catherine McKenna, who just returned from Paris days ago, tweeted that she was “utterly shocked by the attacks.”
“My thoughts are with the people of France. We stand with you.”
The Canadian ambassador to France, Lawrence Cannon, tweeted that Canada was “deeply shocked by the attacks … our support to the whole of #France and families of the victims.”
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair tweeted that “Catherine and I are shocked by news of the horrific attacks in #Paris. We pray tonight for the victims, their families, & all Parisians.”
“Horrific news from Paris of many innocents killed,” tweeted Green party leader Elizabeth May. “Others now hostage. All thoughts/prayers/sympathy with people of France in this dark hour.”
Michaëlle Jean, a former governor general and the Secretary-General of La Francophonie, tweeted that she was “shocked and dismayed” by the attacks. “Solidarity with the authorities and the French people. Thoughts for the victims.”
“My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and the people of #Paris in the face of this tragic attack and unfolding situation,” tweeted Jody Wilson-Raybould, the justice minister.
– With files from Meghan Hurley, Ian MacLeod and Jason Fekete, Ottawa Citizen and the Montreal Gazette.
dbutler@ottawacitizen.com
FOR INFORMATION
The Canadian government’s Twitter account for international travel asks Canadians who are in France to contact sos@international.gc.ca or call collect at 1-613-996-8885 in an emergency.
Related
Police and rescuers gather in front of a fast-food drive erstaurant outside the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, late on November 13, 2015, after a series of gun attacks occurred across Paris as well as explosions outside the national stadium where France was hosting Germany. A number of people were killed and others injured in a series of gun attacks across Paris, as well as explosions outside the national stadium where France was hosting Germany.
Rescuers workers evacuate a man on a stretcher near the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris, on November 13, 2015. A number of people were killed and others injured in a series of gun attacks across Paris, as well as explosions outside the national stadium where France was hosting Germany.
Spectators gather on the pitch of the Stade de France stadium following the International Friendly match between France and Germany at the Stade de France on November 13, 2015 in Paris, France.
Spectators gather on the pitch of the Stade de France stadium following the International Friendly match between France and Germany at the Stade de France on November 13, 2015 in Paris, France.
An elite police officer arrivesoutside the Bataclan theater in Paris, France, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2015. Several dozen people were killed in a series of unprecedented attacks around Paris on Friday, French President Francois Hollande said, announcing that he was closing the country’s borders and declaring a state of emergency.
Forensic experts inspect the site of an attack outside the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, early on November 14, 2015, after a series of gun attacks occurred across Paris as well as explosions outside the national stadium where France was hosting Germany. A number of people were killed and others injured in a series of gun attacks across Paris, as well as explosions outside the national stadium where France was hosting Germany.
A riot police officer stands by an ambulance near the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris, on November 13, 2015. A number of people were killed and others injured in a series of gun attacks across Paris, as well as explosions outside the national stadium where France was hosting Germany.
tdawson@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/tylerrdawson
dbutler@ottawacitizen.com
