A day in Canadian history
Yesterday, Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was standing guard at the National War Memorial outside of Parliament. A man with a rifle approached and fatal wounded him. The gunman then went into the Parliament building and fired 30 - 50 shots before eventually being gunned down by the House of Commons sargeant-at-arms.
I have had over 24 hours to try and digest the weight of this event and I continue to process. I feel like there is so much needless killing. An innocent Saskatoon mother gets gunned down in her home when gang members are given the wrong address for a hit. A storage locker full of the remains of infants is found in Winnipeg. A man serving our country is shot on duty in Ottawa. All tremendously sad and all unjust.
As the events unfolded on Wednesday in Ottawa, I paid attention, but not too closely. At one point on the radio the announcers noted that they had just watched video of Cpr. Cirillo having chest compressions performed as he lay beneath the memorial. All I could think about is that Cpr. Cirillo's mom could be watching that on the news. I understand the media wants to have live, up-to-date coverage, but showing a dying man having his chest pumped, seems like more of a ratings grab that a report of the news. . .
I'm not sure what to make of yesterday's shooting in Ottawa, in the same way I am not sure what to make of all of the innocent people that lose their lives in our country. It feels needless and senseless and certainly is not fair. That being said, I do know that events like these make me hug my loved ones a little tighter and feel very grateful for those who protect and serve in our country.
I have had over 24 hours to try and digest the weight of this event and I continue to process. I feel like there is so much needless killing. An innocent Saskatoon mother gets gunned down in her home when gang members are given the wrong address for a hit. A storage locker full of the remains of infants is found in Winnipeg. A man serving our country is shot on duty in Ottawa. All tremendously sad and all unjust.
As the events unfolded on Wednesday in Ottawa, I paid attention, but not too closely. At one point on the radio the announcers noted that they had just watched video of Cpr. Cirillo having chest compressions performed as he lay beneath the memorial. All I could think about is that Cpr. Cirillo's mom could be watching that on the news. I understand the media wants to have live, up-to-date coverage, but showing a dying man having his chest pumped, seems like more of a ratings grab that a report of the news. . .
I'm not sure what to make of yesterday's shooting in Ottawa, in the same way I am not sure what to make of all of the innocent people that lose their lives in our country. It feels needless and senseless and certainly is not fair. That being said, I do know that events like these make me hug my loved ones a little tighter and feel very grateful for those who protect and serve in our country.
a sad week in the history of our beautiful country.
ReplyDeleteI lived in Ottawa, grew up in the Ottawa Valley, the news yesterday hurt my heart...
And the babies... well, I can't say much about that except that it's so sad and unimaginable
This day made me so sad and makes me worry about what life in Canada in the future might be like for my children and my children's children. As for the news coverage, you can bet the family will never forget those images. I know I will never forget the images from tv and the papers of emergency personnel standing by my brother's car and the ominous yellow bag laying in the snow in the background. It makes me sad to think that reporting such graphic images has become the norm and obviously more important than respecting the grieving family members.
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