I am now in my fourth hour of watching the CBC's coverage of the shooting at the Canadian parliament today. There has been virtually no mention of Islamic fundamentalism, or ISIL, or ISIS, or any other of the popular bogeymen. Moreover, the only casual reference to any of that came from a CBC reporter who was reporting from outside the White House, and the only hint of a political reaction to come is some confusion as to whether Canada had been placed on heightened alert some time last week. (They don't use the phrase "terror threat," and the reporters are quick to point out that official talk about "chatter" can mean anything at all.) Nobody in parliament has blamed Stephen Harper or leaped to a microphone to yell about closing Canada's borders. The coverage has been calm, judicious, and remarkably intelligent.It's an enviable reaction—at the moment. Perhaps it will hold against Harper's likely moves to make the place more Homeland-y.
Meanwhile, south of the border: crisis over. Can't be long before our media are on to the next panic to be stoked.
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