‘Finest hour’ feeling on Hill

Reassurance, stability in wake of shootings

It was reassuring, amid the maelstrom of bad news, that the House of Commons returned from its Christmas break to debate amendments to the Statistics Act. Sometimes this flawed but precious institution can make you very proud indeed.

Canadians woke up to headlines about the shooting in Quebec City after a weekend of anxiety following Donald Trump’s executive order banning travellers from seven Muslim countries from crossing America’s borders.

A deep sense of discord gripped the country, and people looked to Parliament Hill to provide ballast. On Monday the leaders of our political parties did not disappoint, providing the stability and reassurance Canadians sought.

The House of Commons is the umbilical link between the people and actions of the state. On its best days, Parliament acts as a mirror on the nation, verbalizing how the country feels on any given issue.

Justin Trudeau told a hushed House of Commons that Canadians will meet fear and hatred with love and compassion. The Prime Minister specifically addressed Muslim Canadians: “You are important to us … you are at home.”

Rona Ambrose, the interim Conservative leader, said the attack on the mosque negates one of the principles upon which Canada was founded: the freedom to worship without fear.

NDP leader Tom Mulcair said that while hearts are broken across Canada, “with love and hope, we come together in the shared belief that we will overcome.”

This was not typical parliamentary boilerplate.

The American consensus may have been extinguished, but the Canadian consensus still burns brightly — a faith that all political parties operate within broad parameters and govern sensibly in the interests of all citizens.

Support for that slow compromise is obviously not universal, as the tragedy that played out Sunday evening in Ste. Foy underlines.

There are Canadians who endorse Trump’s Muslim ban; those who think all Muslims are radical jihadists; and those who believe that the innocuous looking Motion M-103, which calls for the House of Commons to condemn systemic racism, heralds an acceptance of Shariah law and threatens free speech in this country.

I heard from people expounding all this intellectual halitosis Monday. But they were a whisper compared to the raging roar of millions of Canadians proclaiming their unity with their fellow citizens who were attacked while at prayer.

Consensus didn’t mean the House of Commons was an echo chamber Monday. During Question Period, Ambrose intruded into an area of private grief for the prime minister — his vacation on the island owned by the Aga Khan. Mulcair gently tried to goad Trudeau into criticizing Trump by asking whether the prime minster agreed that targeting people based on religion or place of birth is an affront to Canadian values.

But their hearts weren’t in it. The tone was set by the Maple Leaf flag flying at half-mast on the Peace Tower and the mood was one of solidarity.

Trudeau urged the Commons, and all Canadians, to “show the best of ourselves” in this difficult time. Parliamentarians of all stripes did just that, and in doing so acted as an effective shield against the reactionaries and extremists who seek to lay desolate the sensible middle ground that most Canadians cherish.

It may not have been Winston Churchill defying the Luftwaffe during the Blitz but there was a “finest hour” feeling to it when, after the leaders’ speeches had wrapped up, MPs then returned to debating amendments to the Statistics Act.

THE TONE WAS SET BY THE MAPLE LEAF FLAG FLYING AT HALF-STAFF.