View From the Legislature

For the last several weeks Canadians have been united in a collective fight against COVID-19 as the global pandemic has been at the top of everybody’s mind as well as the top of every news cycle. And then suddenly this past weekend, the thoughts and prayers of our nation moved quickly to Nova Scotia as we began to learn of the horrific violence that claimed the lives of more than 20 innocent people. Included in those who were killed in the senseless rampage was Const. Heidi Stevenson, a 23-year veteran of the RCMP and a mother of two children.

As details of the crime continue to emerge in the days and weeks ahead, it will be important that focus remains on the victims. We will need to honour their memories and pray for their families and the communities that they call home. At times of tragedy, Canadians have always come together to offer support in the best way that we can. That is particularly a challenge today, where in Nova Scotia, like the rest of Canada, there are public health orders limiting the size of public gatherings including funerals and memorials.

It compounds the grief that those large gatherings to support family and community members cannot happen in the traditional ways during the pandemic. Yet, facing that reality, Canadians are finding ways to reach out and show their support for Nova Scotians and for those that have lost loved ones.

In Manitoba, the Nova Scotia flag is flying outside of the Manitoba Legislature as a sign and symbol that the people of Manitoba are united in grief with the residents of that province. Tributes from across Canada have been displayed on social media as a way of showing, even from a distance, that Canadians want to symbolically stand shoulder to shoulder with those closely impacted by this tragedy.

Even as Canadians are practicing forms of distancing and isolation, we remain closely connected in our hearts with each other. And that is truer than ever when it comes to the people of Nova Scotia, who the entire country now holds close in the best way that we can.