The aftermath of the Ste-Foy mosque shooting was not atypical for when things go horribly in this country. MPs and political leaders of all stripes band together and make a show of solidarity. There are solemn speeches, and a moment of silence, and for as much as everyone decries the level of partisanship that permeates the hallowed halls of our democratic institutions, they all do put on a united front, that this is our country and we won’t allow it to succumb to violence and darkness based on the actions of a lone few.

As for the facts of the incident, what we know is that the suspect is a 27-year-old white male whose social media history has a lot of far-right connections. He was charged with six counts of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted murder, and there may yet be terrorism-related charges once the RCMP and the Quebec police forces complete their investigations. Talk of a second shooter or suspect turned out to be a witness on the scene who called 911 and was trying to help the wounded when he fled at the sight of police guns.

And then comes the aftermath. In a scrum following QP, Ralph Goodale offered assurances of police vigilance and noted that he wasn’t increasing the terror threat level from its current reading of “medium,” for what that’s worth. There is also speculation that this will be added impetus for the Commons to pass that private members’ motion on a study of Islamophobia in Canada – something some Conservatives like Kellie Leitch are opposed to, calling it “special status” for Muslims. And then there was the White House, cravenly using the incident to justify their “Muslim ban,” even though the suspect is an alleged white supremacist.

https://twitter.com/stephaniecarvin/status/826239354997727236

In commentary, John Ivison notes that moments like those today were when the Commons is at its best. Chantal Hébert noted that Trudeau has been silent about Trump’s “Muslim ban” while this has been going on. Deepak Obhrai, however, made the explicit link between the two. Michael Chong has also been vocal in drawing links between this incident and the rise in demagoguery, which he wants more politicians to stop engaging in. Robyn Urback looks at how the first twelve hours after the shooting were a giant exercise in confirmation bias as people struggled to fit the facts with their personal narratives.

Good reads:

• MPs will be holding an emergency debate tonight on the Trump “Muslim ban” and how it affects Canadians.
• The government won’t say if they got written assurances from the White House on Canadians being exempt from the “Muslim ban.”
• Harjit Sajjan is downplaying any threats to the safety of our troops in Iraq over Trump’s ban.
• Ralph Goodale seems to be open to the idea of better civilian oversight of the RCMP.
• The Aga Khan’s Global Centre for Pluralism is finally opening in Ottawa after years of delay. I await the conspiracy theorizing around the details any minute now.
• Andrew Scheer and Steven Blaney are trying to fundraise over the “hidden agenda” of “decriminalizing all drugs.” Not even kidding.
• If you see ads all over the Internet for get-rich-quick websites that feature Kevin O’Leary’s face, they’re using it without permission.
• O’Leary, incidentally, says he would force provinces like Nova Scotia to drop their bans on fracking. Not sure he would have that kind of jurisdictional power…
• Terry Glavin says that Trudeau should do the brave thing and resettle some of those Syrian refugees left in the cold by Trump’s “Muslim ban.”
• Stephen Gordon tries to make sense of Trump’s trade “policies” (such as they are) and finds them incomprehensible.

Odds and ends:

Here’s an analysis of MPs who were called out for heckling in the fall sitting of the Commons.

It's unfortunate everyone has to suffer for it, but politicians as a class certainly deserve the total lack of trust they enjoy.

— Chris Selley (@cselley) January 30, 2017