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Canada’s security apparatus is “exercising increased vigilance” in the wake of this weekend’s deadly shooting at former U.S. president Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania, the federal public safety minister said Sunday.
Dominic LeBlanc issued a series of posts on the social media platform X saying he was briefed by officials from Public Safety Canada, the commissioner of the RCMP and the director of CSIS, adding those organizations are in contact with their American partners.
“I have every confidence they will continue to keep Canadians safe,” Leblanc wrote.
Pennsylvania’s state governor said one rally attendee, Corey Comperatore, was killed while protecting his family from the bullets, while two others were critically injured.
The gunman, who the FBI later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, PA., also died. U.S. law enforcement officials have said the shooting is being investigated as a possible attempted assassination.
“The information we have to date shows no link to Canada,” LeBlanc added. “However, our security agencies and law enforcement organizations stand ready to assist our U.S. counterparts in any way.”
One retired RCMP officer said Sunday he doesn’t expect major repercussions on security provided for Canadian politicians in the aftermath of the shooting.
Chris Mathers, now a private consultant, said he believes the security provided to the prime minister and opposition leaders is in line with the threat levels against them and adjusted accordingly.
“I don’t think there ultimately will be any real repercussions, security is always heightened after an incident, that’s just human nature,” Mathers said in an interview.
Mathers said security experts will be studying what happened to see where things went wrong on Saturday and apply changes to their own procedures as needed. In a Sunday address to the American public, President Joe Biden also ordered an independent security review of the events leading up to the attack on his political rival.
But in this case, Mathers said, it’s clear that people aren’t supposed to be on the roof near a VIP, as Crooks reportedly was.
“So there’s not a lot to learn from this except that, you know, maybe you should make sure that people are doing their job,” he said.
None of the major opposition parties or Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office wished to comment beyond their initial statements condemning the U.S. shooting when contacted about security on Sunday.
But leaders of all three major federal parties unequivocally denounced the shooting in its immediate aftermath, and LeBlanc echoed those sentiments on Sunday.
“Violence is corrosive for democracy — and we will always stand against it. No matter our political disagreements, violence is never the answer,” he wrote.
“Such actions are an assault on us all.”
Politicians in Canada haven’t been immune to escalating threats in recent years, with increased security for some members of parliament, including several cabinet ministers.
In one high-profile case, a gunman shot and killed a lighting technician on Sept. 4, 2012 as the Parti Québécois and former leader Pauline Marois were celebrating victory in the provincial election.
While the prime minister and the Governor General are given permanent protective details, other MPs, cabinet ministers, senators and party leaders receive protection on a “case-by-case basis,” the RCMP told The Canadian Press earlier this year.
RCMP commissioner Mike Duheme said in May he would like to see a new law that would make it easier for the Crown to charge people who threaten elected officials.
Canada’s premiers also denounced Saturday’s shooting. They are gathering this week in Halifax for a Council of the Federation meeting.
“In a democracy, it’s important — it’s a requirement — it’s an ingredient, an essential ingredient to have differences of pinions and robust debate,” Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey said Sunday at an unrelated news conference.
“But there is no place and (there) can never be a place for violence.”
Mathers said the United States is a different political beast from Canada given the prolific number of guns among the general public.
“It’s a completely different playing field in the United States is the gun culture, Canada is not so much,” Mathers said. “You know, people have access to weapons everywhere in the United States.”
Mathers added that lone-wolf-style attacks are not always foreseeable for security details unless perpetrators post material online and are reported to authorities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 14, 2024.
— With files from The Associated Press and Lyndsay Armstrong in Halifax.
Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press