Threat level to stay at medium: Goodale

OTTAWA • Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says he has no information to warrant a change in Canada’s risk level following the deadly Toronto van attack Monday that killed 10 pedestrians and injured 15 others.

Goodale and Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland were at a G7 foreign and security ministers meeting in Ottawa when the news broke.

The details of what happened and the motive behind the incident were still unknown, Goodale said as he confirmed Canada’s risk level was as yet unchanged.

“There is no information available to me at the present time that would lead us to conclude that there should be a change in risk level,” Goodale said.

“We cannot come to any firm conclusions at this stage. The police are conducting their thorough investigation to determine exactly what happened and why it happened.”

Canada’s current level is medium, which has not changed since October 2014, when a gunman killed a sentry at the National War Memorial before storming Parliament Hill, where he died in a hail of gunfire.

Both Goodale and Freeland expressed admiration for police and first responders on the scene and offered sympathies to the victims and their families.

“I think all of our hearts go out to the people hurt in this incident and to their families and loved ones,” Freeland said.

“It’s a very sad moment.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also offered his condolences to those involved in the moments after the incident occurred in Toronto.

“Our hearts go out to everyone affected. We are going to have more to learn and more to say in the coming hours,” Trudeau said in Ottawa.

News of the incident sent shockwaves through the House of Commons, with many politicians and staffers closely monitoring social media for updates. Police offered few details through the afternoon, adding to the ongoing sense of confusion as the hours passed.

Ali Ehsassi, MP for the Willowdale riding where the incident occurred, says there would likely have been many pedestrians in the area.

“It’s a very busy area,” he said. “(I’m) very much shaken up, as you can imagine, and just been glued to my phone just trying to obtain as much information as I possibly can.”