A debate has emerged among MPs and party leaders about whether the deadly shooting in Ottawa one week ago should be deemed an act of terrorism.
MPs held their regular weekly caucus meetings on Wednesday, one week after the Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot and killed Cpl. Nathan Cirillo before storming Parliament Hill. He was killed in a shootout with security officers in the Hall of Honour, just steps from where NDP and Conservative MPs were holding their weekly caucus meetings.
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair was criticized Wednesday for saying that Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was a criminal, not a terrorist.
"I don't think we have enough evidence to use that word," Mulcair said. "When you look at the history of the individual involved, you see a criminal act, of course. But . . . I think that we're not in the presence of a terrorist act in the sense that we would understand it."
Conservative MP Peter Kent called Mulcair鈥檚 comment 鈥渞idiculous.鈥�
"It was clearly an act of terror (based on) his background and motivation. RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson's remarks about his motivation I think are very clear," Kent said.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau also said the RCMP has made it 鈥渃lear鈥� that the attack was an act of terrorism.
NDP MP Jinny Sims said that she is prepared to let the RCMP investigation into Zehaf-Bibeau run its course.
鈥淭hey are the experts and right now I don鈥檛 want to jump to too many conclusions,鈥� Sims said on CTV鈥檚 Power Play.
Though she called the shooter鈥檚 actions 鈥渦nacceptable鈥� regardless of the motivation, Sims said that many reports pointed to Zehaf-Bibeau as a 鈥減erson who is very mentally disturbed, a person who tried to get help, but it wasn鈥檛 made available to him.鈥�
Conservative MP Erin O鈥橳oole said on Power Play that he stands behind the terrorist act label, both in the case of Zehaf-Bibeau and Martin Couture-Rouleau, who struck two soldiers with his car in a Quebec town on Oct. 20, killing Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent in what is believed to be a targeted attack.
鈥淲arrant Officer Vincent and Nathan Cirillo weren鈥檛 attacked for who they were, they were attacked for what their uniform represented, so inherently that鈥檚 terrorism,鈥� O鈥橳oole said.
The RCMP has called the shootings in Ottawa a terrorist act. On Sunday, they issued a statement saying that Zehaf-Bibeau had recorded a video prior to the attack on Parliament Hill, and that they had identified 鈥減ersuasive evidence鈥� that shows his attack was 鈥渄riven by ideological and political motives.鈥�
Liberal MP Sean Casey, a lawyer by profession, said that the terrorism label would hold up in a court of law.
鈥淨uite simply, the RCMP has said that he鈥檚 a terrorist or that was this was an act of terrorism,鈥� Casey said. 鈥淲e trust their judgement, so at a political level I don鈥檛 think it needs to go further than that.鈥�
