Federal and provincial leaders joined a large crowd of mourners outside Tumbler Ridge Town Hall on Friday evening to pay respects to the victims of this week’s horrific mass shooting.
The event began with attendees—some holding pictures of the deceased and lanterns—singing the national anthem.
“Tonight, we gather as a community in grief,” said Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka.
“To stand with the families who are carrying unimaginable pain, and to remind one another that none of us walks through this alone.”
To the side, Prime Minister Mark Carney stood with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, NDP interim leader Don Davies and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, in a unified show of solidarity with the devastated community.
Nine people died in the shooting on Tuesday at a home and school in the town of about 2,400 people in northeastern British Columbia.
U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra said in a statement on X that all flags at American consulate buildings in Canada will be flown at half-mast to honour the victims of the shooting.
U.S. President Donald Trump did not extend public condolences to Canada after the shooting, as many other world leaders did.
With file from The Canadian Press staff
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