OTTAWA — Members of Parliament held a moment of silence on Wednesday, and party leaders delivered statements in the House of Commons urging unity and kindness, in honour of the victims of the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.
“What happened has left our nation in shock and all of us in mourning,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said.
RCMP reported Wednesday afternoon that nine people were killed, including the alleged suspect, in a shooting at a school and a home in the small town in northeastern B.C. on Tuesday.
Mounties initially reported a death toll of 10, but said they originally believed one of the victims airlifted to hospital had died.
Carney told the House of Commons Tuesday’s events have left the nation in a state of shock and mourning.
“Mr. Speaker, in the days ahead, there will be important questions to ask and difficult conversations to have,” he said. “We owe that to the victims and to their families.
“But today, however, is for grieving and remembrance. Today is for the people of Tumbler Ridge and the Peace River region, for a community enduring the unimaginable.”
Carney said the investigation is ongoing and that law enforcement must be allowed time and space to do their work thoroughly.
The prime minister said Tumbler Ridge is a town of miners, teachers and construction workers and that it represents “the very best of Canada.”
Carney said he has spoken with B.C. Premier David Eby to express his condolences. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree was to join Eby in Tumbler Ridge later Wednesday, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
“Our officials are in close contact with their provincial and local counterparts to ensure that the community receives every support that we can provide, now and in the weeks and months ahead,” Carney said.
Carney said “we have been here before,” noting similar tragedies at the École Polytechnique in Montreal in 1989, at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City in 2017, in La Loche, Sask., in 2016, and in Portapique, N.S., in 2020.
“Each time, it breaks us open,” he said. “Each time, Canadians show who we are.”
Flags on federal buildings will be flown at half-mast for seven days to honour the victims.
Police said the deceased victims from the school include a 39-year-old female teacher, three 12-year-old female students and two male students, ages 12 and 13. Two additional victims, a 39-year-old female and 11-year-old male, were located deceased in a local residence.
Normal proceedings in the House of Commons were suspended Wednesday, including question period, planned votes and debate on bills. Instead, MPs gathered briefly at 2 p.m., held a moment of silence and heard from party leaders before adjourning until Thursday morning.
In his remarks, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said children who should have been thinking about homework and hockey were instead thrown into “terror, grief and unbearable uncertainty.”
“No parent should ever have to fear that their child will not return home from school,” said Poilievre, adding that all members of Parliament stand with the families of the victims.
“Canadians across the land are thinking of you. The world is thinking of you.”
Poilievre said there is “no partisanship on this day” and that Conservatives will work with the federal government, provincial leaders and local government to support the community.
Some members of Parliament appeared to be in tears during the moment of silence and as leaders delivered their remarks.
Yves-François Blanchet, leader of the Bloc Québécois, said in French that his thoughts are with the victims of this “nameless, senseless” violence and the government could count on his party’s “full co-operation.”
“Today, Quebec and British Columbia have never been closer,” Blanchet said, adding that all Quebecers are remembering the École Polytechnique tragedy.
Blanchet said Quebec also stands with those in the community of Kitigan Zibi, where Quebec provincial police say a father fatally shot his two children before taking his own life early Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Liberal MP Nathalie Provost — who is a survivor of the École Polytechnique shooting — said she felt grief for the students who lost friends, sisters and brothers, and for the families and first responders.
“They will all have on their soul images that are unbearable,” she said. “They are all in my heart and prayers today.”
Don Davies, interim NDP leader and MP for Vancouver Kingsway, said the nation is in mourning.
“To the families who are mourning, we grieve with you,” he said. “We stand behind you and we hold you in our hearts.”
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, who looked to be fighting back tears while delivering her remarks Wednesday, said she sent her love to Bob Zimmer, the Conservative member of Parliament for Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies.
“This is the kind of thing none of us want to have happen in Canada,” she said. “To have happened in a place like Tumbler Ridge, so small, everyone knows everyone, and I know that the member of Parliament knows everyone … It is a time that our hearts are broken.”
Speaker of the House of Commons Francis Scarpaleggia said there was a condolence book outside the doors of the House and invited MPs to write a message to the families affected by the tragedy in Tumbler Ridge.
“As we leave the chamber today, let us commit to compassion for all those affected by the tragedy, to fellowship with all those whose hearts ache and to support the families, friends and community that suffer in this dark moment,” said Scarpaleggia.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2026.
Sarah Ritchie and Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press
