The last day of the federal electoral campaign acquired a gloomy tone when the leaders reacted to the death of nine people at a Filipina Street Festival in Vancouver on Saturday night.
Vancouver police said a black SUV driver crashed into a crowd just before 8 PM PT at the Lapu Lapu Day Festival, which celebrated the contributions of the Philippine-Canadian community.
Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the Canadians on Sunday morning, offering their condolences to the families of the nine victims. He said 20 people were injured in what the police are calling a “car frame attack.”
“Last night, families lost a sister, a brother, a mother, a father, a son or a daughter. Those families live the nightmare of each family,” said Carney.
“I know that I join all the Canadians in mourning with you. I know that the Canadians are united with you.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking from Hamilton, Ontario. On the last day of the electoral campaign, he says that all Canadians are mourning after the driver of a SUV led to a crowd at a philipino-canadian street festival, killing nine people and hurting more than 20. Carney says it was informed during the night and that officials do not believe there is an active threat to Canadians.
The liberal leader was scheduled to spend part of Sunday in British Columbia, but his team said he delayed his campaign in the light of the horrible events.
Carney said she was informed during the night by the Minister of Public Security and the National Security Advisor, who believe that “there is no active threat” for Canadians.
The public members held the suspect, a 30 -year -old Vancouver man who was known by the police, until the officers arrived at the scene and arrested him.
Carney thanked the lifeguards and said that the local police and the officials have the full support of the federal government. He said he will talk to BC Prime Minister David Eby and the mayor of Vancouver Ken Sim in the next few hours.
The last day of an electoral campaign is usually an agitated sprint of events, since leaders try to develop a final impulse and transmit their message to undecided voters, but all leaders observed the gloomy incident in Vancouver.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, speaking in Mississauga, Ontario. In a Filipina church on Sunday, he says that all Canadians are united in mourning after nine people were killed when a SUV driver led to a crowd at a Canadian film festival in Vancouver on Saturday night. At least 20 people were injured in the attack.
Carney had planned to make a bombing through the country, which went from Ontario to stops in Saskatchewan and Alberta before finishing the day in Vancouver and Victoria. It is not clear how it will proceed.
The conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has a demonstration in Oakville, Ontario, planned for this morning, but first offered their condolences to the congregants in a community church.
“I know that many of you are shocked, disconsolate and saddened by this act of meaningless violence and for the innocent and treasured lives that have been lost,” he said, holding hands with his wife Anaida Poilievre.
“All Canadians are united in solidarity with the Philippine community.”
Singh left minutes before the car got into the crowd
The leader of the NDP, Jagmeet Singh, had been at the festival and left a few minutes before the incident occurred.
The leader seemed visibly shocked when he spoke with journalists later, telling the families he met.
“There were children there, there were families there, they were so full of joy,” he said. “I don’t have the words to describe the pain I am feeling right now, the lives that are lost.”
The NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh, was at the Lapu Lapu Festival in Vancouver, a few minutes before a SUV driver led to a crowd, killing nine people and wounding more than 20. In statements to journalists later, Singh says that the faces of the people he met, especially the children, were in their mind, and that they would be there to support the community while they would support the community.
Singh said the Philippine community should know that it is not alone.
“We are going to defend you, let’s protect you, let’s protect you, we’re going to hug you,” he said. “This is so horrible.”
Singh continues with an event planned in Penticton, BC, on Sunday morning, but has canceled all its other campaign stops following the attack.
Lapu Lapu’s day celebrates Datu Lapu-Lapu, an indigenous boss who faced the Spanish explorers who arrived in the Philippines in the 16th century.
Millions of Canadians are expected to throw their vote on Monday in the general elections.
