Canada Loses More of Its Innocence

CBSA Guard Shot at BC Crossing Point

Yesterday afternoon, a Canada Border agent was shot and seriously wounded by a man entering Canada, who subsequently shot and killed himself.  When I first read about it yesterday, I confess that I did not feel connected to it, tut tutted, and moved along.

At 12:30 am this morning we received a call from one of our children, telling us that the guard was a close personal friend of hers from Ontario.

That made a senseless tragedy somewhat personal, though I only know the young woman anecdotally.  But, in that she is someone highly regarded by one of our children, her assault took on more meaning for us.  MDW looked on this as a mother would, concern for the young woman's mother, as a mother for a mother, and of course, for the young woman herself.

By this morning, we were more aware of things that had transpired, and this random senseless act of violence was in some way mitigated by acts of kindness from co-workers of the mother, co-workers of the daughter, and friends of both, who have come to their aid and comfort already.

Most of us will only see the act of violence, as that is largely what the media will report and analyze to death in coming days, as they discuss the state of mind of the alleged perpetrator, how lax or tight border security is, whether the guard should have been armed, and blah blah blah.

This is the first time in history that a Canadian border guard has been shot in the line of duty.  In our travels in the southern US, we see border guards near the Mexican border, armed with machine guns,  wearing Kevlar, and ready to go to war on a moment's notice.  Innocence has been lost there, and it is now common place, and even to a large extent to us, as we see it so frequently.

But, the loss of innocence at US borders started with one random act of violence as well, and now we have joined that slippery slope.

This is a sad day for a young woman whose world has been turned upside down by an idiot with a gun, and it is a sad day for Canada, as like her, we have suffered some Innocence Lost this day.  It can never be recovered.

May God bring healing to this young woman, and to her family in the wake of this tragedy, and may God also comfort the spirits of her co-workers,  Also, may God have mercy on the soul of the man who set this all in motion.