Listen to this article
Estimated 2 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and other federal leaders are set to attend a vigil mourning the victims of the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., on Friday evening.
The mass shooting on Tuesday, which left eight dead including five students, was perpetrated by 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, who police say died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
It has rocked the tight-knit community of Tumbler Ridge in northeast B.C., as well as the country as a whole.
Partisan politics are largely being put aside as federal leaders attend a vigil in the community on Friday evening. It is set to start at 6:15 p.m. MT. CBC News will carry it live.
Carney will be joined by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and NDP interim Leader Don Davies, among others.
On Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, NDP interim Leader Don Davies and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May mourned the victims of a mass shooting in the community of Tumbler Ridge, B.C., which left eight people dead, including students, an educator and the shooter’s mother and half-brother.
The vigil started with the congregation singing O Canada, followed by Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka asking for a moment of silence to honour the victims.
Earlier in the day, the leaders laid flowers at a growing memorial in Tumbler Ridge for the victims of one of Canada’s worst mass shootings.
Speaking to CBC’s Power and Politics, May told host David Cochrane that the prime minister had invited all the party leaders to travel to Tumbler Ridge in the same plane, a gesture she appreciated.
“There was nothing but shared grieving and shared sense that there’s no other place for us to be but together,” the Saanich-Gulf Islands MP said.
“I think if every Canadian could be here, people would say, ‘Yeah, I’d like to be in Tumbler Ridge and comfort people.’ It’s just so unbearable.”
