Quebec City: One Shooter

02 Thursday Feb 2017

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, Terrorism

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Alexandre Bissonnette, Craig S. Smith, Dan Levin, Muslims, one shooter, Quebec City shootings, the Migrant Crisis, The New York Times

Rumours: Muslims are attacking Muslims

Rumour has it that the suspect in the Quebec City shootings, Alexandre Bissonnette, may have had a Muslim accomplice. There is no evidence supporting this rumour and I wish to quell it. In fact, we do not know Alexandre Bissonnette’s motives. All we know is that the suspect is 27-year-old Laval University student Alexandre Bissonnette, a Quebecer. At first, two suspects were named, but this theory was abandoned. Alexandre Bissonnette is the only suspect.

In short, New York Times journalists Craig S. Smith and Dan Levin gave an accurate and balanced description of events. Canada is growing into a multicultural society and Quebec political leaders advocate interculturalism. However, Canada has its share of extremists and Islamophobia exists in my country as it does in other areas of the world.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/31/quebec-city-mosque-shooting-canada-far-right-politics

Alexandre Bissonnette’s Facebook account revealed that he was following Marine Le Pen‘s National Front, a nativistic French political party. Moreover, it seems that Alexandre Bissonnette was a fan of American President Donald J. Trump, a nativist. The suspect may also have shared sovereigntist Parti Québécois‘ ideology, but I haven’t read from a reliable source that he did and the Parti Québécois does not advocate violence. (See Quebec Sovereignty Movement, Wikipedia.) The more pertinent fact is that the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec has not been identified as an Islamic terrorist cell.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-city-mosque-gun-shots-1.3957686

The Migrant Crisis

The Migrant Crisis has played a significant role in a shift to Far-Right ideologies in many countries. It started with the inconclusive Brexit vote and, on 8 November 2016, the United States elected Donald J. Trump to the presidency of their country. The United States is resisting and such figures as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the daughter of refugees from Czechoslovakia, bemoan the fact that the inhabitants of Syria and six other majority-Muslim countries are temporarily denied entry to the United States. American President Donald J. Trump is keeping his campaign “promises.” On 30 January 2017, the morning after the Quebec City shootings, he announced his anti-immigration and travel policy. Americans are protesting.

Conclusion

We cannot and will not assume that Alexandre Bissonnette was working for a group of Muslim extremists unless clear evidence supports that view. Such a theory is consistent with President Trump’s offensive notion that all Muslims are terrorists. The investigation into the Quebec City attack started as soon as the shootings occurred, but results will not be known until the matter has been fully investigated. It is Canada’s policy to welcome, help and protect its refugees and immigrants, and this will not change. The victims were fine Canadian citizens and Alexandre Bissonnette is the only suspect.

As noted above, events are as described by New York Times journalists Craig S. Smith and Dan Levin.

RELATED ARTICLES

Mosque Attacked in Quebec City (31 January 2017)
Muslims Attacked in Quebec City (30 January 2017)

Love to everyone ♥

hold-alexandre-bissonnette

“Lest We Forget” & the News, 11 November 2012

11 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, Sharing

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Giovanni Antonini, Le Monde, Lest We Forget, President Obama, The New York Times, Treaty of Versailles, Veterans, WordPress

: Poppies, by A. J. Casson (1919-1920)

A. J. Casson (Group of Seven): (May 17, 1898 – February 20, 1992)

Photo credit: The National Gallery of Canada

The Veterans

It is November 11th. Many of us lost dear ones to a battle fought during WW I and WW II. My grandfather lost his brother. One of my uncles “survived” D-Day, but he was sick for years. The Canadian government provided him with the little house he still lives in. I believe that for him, that house is like a security blanket. He does not know how he survived. I may have told you that I visited all the D-Day beaches with another survivor. We also have dear ones who died in Vietnam, in the Middle-East and elsewhere.

Somehow WW II is the one war I find particularly atrocious. Hitler is responsible for the death of 6 million Jews. But Hitler was also a dictator who harmed the people of Germany using the war reparations imposed on Germany under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (28 June 1919). Fortunately, this mistake was carefully avoided after WW II.

I am pleased to see that President Obama is looking after the veterans of wars fought in the wake of 9/11, as if these brutal attacks had not made enough victims. I am also pleased that President Obama was re-elected. He did not have the funds Mr Romney could use, but he went to the people and there were last-minute endorsements from influential sources.

Gratitude

I wish to thank my WordPress colleagues and followers who clicked the “I like” button and those who did not. It was magical. A little compassion goes a very long way. You were very helpful. If you are the victim of fraud, I will be there for you and will not suspect carelessness on your part. We all experience difficulties we keep to ourselves because we consider these personal. However, fraud is an exception. One tells so others are warned. The advice I gave you is advice that was given to me.

The News

The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/

The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Le Monde diplomatique: http://mondediplo.com/ EN

CNN News: http://www.cnn.com/

The Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Montreal Gazette: http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html

CBC News: http://www.cbc.ca/news/

CTV News: http://www.ctvnews.ca/

Le Monde: http://www.lemonde.fr/

Le Monde diplomatique: http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/

Le Devoir: http://www.ledevoir.com/

La Presse: http://www.lapresse.ca/

Die Welt: http://www.welt.de/

_________________________

composer: Henry Purcell (10 September 1659 – 21 November 1695)

piece: Chaconne in G minor from Fantasies and In Nomines (1680) (Z 730)

performers: Il Giardino Armonico

Alessandro Tampieri,

Enrico Onofri,

Giovanni Antonini,

Marco Bianchi,

Riccardo Doni.

Micheline Walker©

November 11th, 2012

WordPress

Remembering, Varia & the News

11 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, Sharing

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Gazette, Handel, Harmonious Blacksmith, Ilya Repin, Le Devoir, Le Monde, Le Monde diplomatique, National Post, Sviatoslav Richter, The New York Times, the saddest day, United States, WordPress

Apples and Leaves (1879), by Ilya Repin (State Russian Museum)

Photo credit: Wikipedia

9/11

It was the saddest of days. I was in my office, but was told to come and see what was happening in New York. We were crying. All flights to the United States were redirected to Canada and in localities where there were no hotels, motels, inns, such as Gander, Newfoundland, local families took in bewildered passengers.

I worried. If they needed medication, did they have enough? Did they have their nightgowns or pyjamas. Little things. I think my concerns were of a motherly kind.

However, later that day, I received a telephone call from a person of considerable influence in Ottawa, Allan J. MacEachen. We discussed the attacks. He wanted to know what I would do under such circumstances. I answered that, personally, if I were the President of the United States, I would not do anything. I explained that, in my opinion, the terrorists had to be tracked down, but that the United States should not engage in a war.

And what would you do as a Canadian, he asked. I answered that, in my opinion, we were doing what we could and should do. Planes headed for the United States were landing in Canada. We had to be compassionate, hospitable, generous. We had to be good neighbours.

President Obama’s Campaign

As a Canadian, I cannot even imagine life without the social programs put into place about 50 years ago. The person I mentioned above, had lost his elections and was coming back to Antigonish, Nova Scotia. However, Lester B. Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972), an extraordinary Canadian, asked him to stay in Ottawa and design social programs: universal health care, students loans, the Canada Pension Plan, which he did. We are very fortunate. I have written a blog about this person, the Honourable Allan J. MacEachen.

The pictures : I will let it be

Regarding yesterday’s posts, I have decided to feel flattered and let things be. I am not engaging in hostilities as it could harm some of my colleagues at WordPress. They could lose a sponsor.