One of the things that we’ve seen during the past six weeks, time after time, is that adversity has brought out the best in many of us.
Sure, we’ve had to shake our heads at the wackos and the keyboard warriors who post conspiracy theories, lies and false rumours during this pandemic. We’ve rolled our eyes at those who verbally attack people with articulate, dissenting views.
But for the most part, people have been sensible, and they’ve been generous with helping others.
Those of us in Saskatchewan saw it first-hand two years ago following the Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy, when we all came together to help a grieving community and the many people affected by that tragedy.
And now we’re witnessing it again following the murderous rampage by one person in Nova Scotia on the weekend.
As of our press time, we’re still learning more about this tragedy. Eighteen people were killed by the gunman, but that number is expected to rise, thanks to the number of crime scenes involved. It seems like some people were known to the killer, while other victims were completely random. And we’re finding out more about the victims – a veteran member of the RCMP, two corrections officers, two nurses, a teacher, a volunteer firefighter and others.
It shattered the idyllic and peaceful small-town tranquility that has long enveloped these rural Nova Scotia communities. While there’s a big difference between rural life in Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan, they share common bonds.
People choose to live in these communities because of their small size but their ability to provide the basic amenities we need. We love the peacefulness. We love the lack of traffic and we love the bonds that exist – bonds that are lost as a community grows in size.
This incident reminds us all that the odds of such a tragedy are remote, or almost non-existent, but they can happen. It’s the biggest massacre of its kind in the history of the country. But the odds of it happening there were as good as they were here.
This isn’t just a big-city issue.
We just have to hope it never happens again in our lifetime.
This tragedy has had a unifying element. There was the viral video of the hero’s welcome for an RCMP officer who was injured by the shooter. People lined the streets of a small Nova Scotia community and applauded while a police escort helped bring the officer home to his family.
There have been the tributes to the victims, some by those who knew them, but others by those who didn’t and only wanted to find a way to share their sympathy. In a province like Nova Scotia, where music is such a big part of their lifestyles, music has helped bring healing.
It’s particularly tough at this time for the families and friends of the victims. Due to COVID-19 and the restrictions on crowd sizes and the need to social distance, there won’t be the funerals, the celebrations of life, the chances for people to gather and say good-bye to a loved one – not for a while yet.
They’ll get a chance to gather eventually.
There are tough questions that need to be asked about what happened, and if something could have been done differently to have warned people about what was happening after the initial shootings.
First, however, we need to go through the healing process.
There are some questions that will remain unanswered, and for those who are grieving, that might be tough to know.
We should be focused on remembering the victims for who they were and what they meant to their family and friends. We should not be trying to remember the shooter.
But we also know that this tragedy will bring out the best in most people, through acts of care, compassion and sympathy.
We’ve been seeing it across the country in the past few weeks since COVID-19 became a reality to all of us.
It’s just tough when one tragedy is compounded by another.
