Ottawa attack felt in Nunavut
MP Leona Aglukkaq, ITK offices, Nunavut Sivinuksivut locked down during incident
Casey Lessard
Northern News Services
Published Monday, October 27, 2014
OTTAWA
Concern for Nunavummiut living and working in Ottawa spread Oct. 22 after a gunman killed a Canadian Forces reservist and attacked Parliament.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Members of Parliament applaud Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers, who shot the shotgun-wielding man who killed a soldier. - photo courtesy of PMO |
"I express my sincerest condolences on behalf of Nunavut to those who have been affected to their families and loved ones as well to those citizens in Ottawa," Premier Peter Taptuna said in the legislature that afternoon. "It is a tragic and unimaginable situation."
As with other Parliamentarians and their staff, Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq was locked down for her safety.
"I owe my deepest gratitude to Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers and the rest of our first responders and police forces," Aglukkaq stated in a news release. "I will never forget the personal risk that these brave women and men went through yesterday in order to protect those of us at Parliament and ensure that we made it home to our families."
She expressed her sympathies for the death of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, a 24-year-old reservist from Hamilton, who was killed while guarding, unarmed, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Canadian War Memorial, a short distance from Parliament Hill. The gunman, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, then entered Parliament Hill, where a firefight ended in his death.
"On behalf of my family I would like to express our heartfelt prayers and condolences to the family and friends of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo for his sacrifice in the line of duty," Aglukkaq said. "Cpl. Cirillo will forever be remembered as a great Canadian."
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Terry Audla echoed her sentiments.
"On behalf of the Inuit of Canada, we honour the life of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo," Audla stated in a release. "We will keep his family and friends in our prayers during this tragic time and we hope that they find some comfort in knowing that Canadians from even the most remote areas of our country stand with them, saddened by Canada's loss of a bright, young man."
The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami office is only a few blocks from Parliament Hill, and was locked down during the incident. At Nunavut Sivinuksivut, also nearby, half of the school's students were kept safe within the building, while the other half were on a field trip to Carleton University.
