By Raisa PatelOttawa Bureau Tonda MacCharlesOttawa Bureau
(THE STAR) OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other political leaders denounced a deadly attack against a Muslim family in London, Ont., as an act of terrorism and set aside differences Tuesday to stand united at a vigil of grief to honour the victims of a crime that shocked the country.
Trudeau said in the House of Commons on Tuesday morning. “This killing was no accident. This was a terrorist attack motivated by hatred in the heart of one of our communities.” Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh followed suit in referring to the devastating incident as an act of terror, as did Premier Doug Ford, who labelled the tragedy as “nothing short of a terrorist attack.”
O’Toole also expressed concern that isolation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has caused Canadians to become “more separated from one another.” “Police services have warned of a dramatic increase in hate crime, violent extremism, Islamophobia and other signs of intolerance from one part of our country to another,” he said. Nadia Hasan, the chief operating officer of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, said it was important to see the word “terrorism” appear in Tuesday’s political statements,
Mourning in London, Ont.
A Muslim family out for a Sunday walk at dusk were intentionally run down by the driver who targeted the family because of their faith, London, Ont. police said, “hate-motivated killing” the city’s mayor called an act of mass murder. Members of the community placed flowers at the site of the attack the following day.
