XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
   XPost: sk.politics, man.politics, mtl.general   
   From: Panca@nyet.ca   
      
   Yep.  This is the brave leader who is now sending young military people into a   
   war in Iraq.   
   _________________________________________   
      
   CBC News Posted: Oct 29, 2014   
      
   Ottawa shooting: Stephen Harper tells MPs he's sorry he left during attack   
      
   MPs hold caucus meetings 1 week after attack amid show of solidarity and   
   questions about 'terror'   
      
      
   Prime Minister Stephen Harper addressed the country hours after the attack on   
   Parliament last week. Harper told Conservative MPs Wednesday he was sorry he   
   left them during the attack by gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau.   
                                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
      
   Prime Minister Stephen Harper told his hushed caucus Wednesday morning he felt   
   remorse for surreptitiously ducking into a closet during last week's assault on   
   Parliament Hill, CBC News has learned.   
      
   Many Conservative MPs were alarmed at the prime minister's sudden disappearance   
   during the terrifying 15 minutes between the moment Michael Zehaf-Bibeau fired   
   the first shot inside the Parliament buildings and when Sergeant-At-Arms Kevin   
   Vickers entered their barricaded caucus room to tell them the fusillade outside   
   their door had ended with Zehaf-Bibeau's death.   
      
   None of those MPs were critical of Harper when reached Wednesday, and all of   
   them said the prime minister didn't owe them an explanation.   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
      
   "He's the leader of the country, and he was the obvious target," one   
   Conservative MP said.  "He didn't need to tell us why he got out of there."   
      
   Harper was spirited out of the Parliament buildings moments after Vickers   
   sounded the all-clear while his MPs remained in lockdown for hours until police   
   were assured the gunman was acting alone.   
      
   The prime minister has told some MPs he felt terrible leaving them behind while   
   he was hustled off to a more secure location.   
      
   Across the Hall of Honour Wednesday, New Democrats were also meeting just as   
   they were one week ago during the attack.   
      
      
   Cheers for 'hero' guard   
      
   The NDP MPs applauded Alain Gervais, a House of Commons guard who blocked the   
   door to their caucus room when when the gunshots first rang out.   
   House of Commons guard Alain Gervais   
      
   MPs from all parties were back in the rooms where they dove under tables and   
   tried to take cover during the shootout that ended in Zehaf-Bibeau's death.   
      
   NDP MPs tweeted photos of Gervais with NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and caucus chair   
   Glenn Thibeault from inside the normally private caucus meeting.   
      
   ​Gervais used his body last week to block the door to the hallway where   
   Zehaf-Bibeau fought a gun battle with security officials.  MPs say a bullet   
   hole in the door serves as a reminder of the risk he took.  The bullet went   
   through the first set of wood doors and entered a second interior door but   
   stopped there, around the place where Gervais's head was.   
      
   Caucus chair Glenn Thibeault recognized Gervais in the large committee room   
   where the party meets and MPs gave him a standing ovation.  Gervais was   
   emotional, a caucus source told CBC News.  Mulcair shook Gervais's hand and   
   invited him to the podium, where he was applauded again.   
      
   Gervais didn't say a lot, but thanked the caucus and said he was very touched   
   by their applause, and that the House of Commons security staff were simply   
   doing their jobs.   
      
   "We're here to protect you. That's why we're here," he said.   
      
   The New Democrats tweeted their thanks.   
      
   "Our hero," Quebec MP Mylène Freeman wrote in French.   
      
   "Very grateful for his bravery," tweeted Anne McGrath, the NDP's national   
   director.   
      
   Gervais "put himself in harm's way for us," British Columbia MP Fin Donnelly   
   said.   
      
      
   Cross-party solidarity   
      
   Before the caucus meetings began, Thibeault and Conservative caucus chair Guy   
   Lauzon met in the rotunda, the grand hall through which Zehaf-Bibeau entered   
   Centre Block last Wednesday, to shake hands in a show of solidarity in front of   
   the cameras.   
      
   "We got back in the saddle at 10 a.m. the next morning.  We've got a strong   
   government, a strong Parliament, and we're going to go forward and keep all   
   Canadians safe and secure," Lauzon told reporters.   
      
   "It's an opportunity for all of us to get together … as parliamentarians and   
   to   
   say that we're ready to continue to get back to business, because last week   
   wasn't easy," Thibeault said.   
      
   Both men said MPs still feel safe in the parliamentary precinct and expressed   
   their desire to return to focusing on legislation.   
      
   The Conservative and NDP caucuses meet in large committee rooms with entrances   
   in the Hall of Honour where last week's shootout happened. At the time, no one   
   knew it was a single gunman: all the MPs knew was that there were dozens of   
   gunshots fired in the hallway next to them.   
      
   The Liberals meet in a smaller caucus room one floor below.   
      
      
   Was it 'terrorism'?   
      
   After caucus, reporters discovered some disagreement between NDP Leader Tom   
   Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau over how to describe what happened   
   last week.   
      
   Mulcair said he wouldn't call the shooting terrorism, the way Prime Minister   
   Stephen Harper did last Wednesday and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry did on   
   Tuesday.   
      
   "I don't think we have enough evidence to use that word," he said. "When you   
   look at the history of the individual involved you see a criminal act, of   
   course. You see something that was meant to provoke the type of reaction that   
   we had," he said.   
      
   "But when you look at the history of the individual, attempts to get help, even   
   to be in prison to get help if that turns out to be the case, I think that   
   we're not in the presence of a terrorist act in the sense that we would   
   understand it. And I think that we have to be very careful about the use of the   
   word terrorism, and make sure that that's actually what we're dealing with."   
      
   "Frankly the information that is now available to the public comforts me in my   
   choice not to use the word terrorism in describing the act," he said. "That's   
   our point of view.   That's my point of view."   
      
   During question period, Mulcair again pointed to what he described as "the   
   fundamental difference between the horrific acts of a profoundly disturbed   
   individual, and organized terror," and urged the Conservatives to work with the   
   other parties "to decide together the best legislative reaction to these   
   horrific events."   
      
   In response, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said there was "no contradiction in   
   individuals who may have a series of personal financial and mental   
   difficulties, and also be engaged in terrorist Jihadist activities."   
      
   "We do not think it helps Canadians to do anything but address these matters   
   head on, face them for what they are, and this government will take its   
      
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