Barely two weeks after a horrific bus crash on a highway in northern Saskatchewan claimed 16 members of the Humboldt Broncos Junior ‘A’ hockey team, Canadians are in mourning again after a lunatic in a van mowed down innocent pedestrians walking along Yonge Street in Toronto on a beautiful Monday afternoon.
One was a terrible accident that never should have happened; the other a deliberate act by someone apparently angry over constantly being rebuffed by women.
Although the causes were different, both are sombre reminders that we all should treasure each and every day because we don’t know when it will be our last one.
And in the case of Monday’s van attack, that left 10 people dead and another 14 injured, there’s the grim realization that we cannot safeguard ourselves against every possible scenario in which someone intends to inflict harm on others–whether behind the wheel of a vehicle, shooting on a crowd of concert-goers from a hotel room, or setting off a bomb.
All we really can take solace in is the resiliency of people in the face of such tragedies, whether it’s “Humboldt Strong” or “Toronto Strong,” and the strength of families asking for people to honour their loved ones by doing random acts of kindness or making their community a better place, as was the case in the aftermath of a Canadian women killed in the London Bridge attack last June.
Then there’s the tremendous outpouring of support for the victims, as seen by the various GoFundMe campaigns or that of a local business offering free flowers to lay at makeshift memorials.
Focusing on the positive, and bringing out the best in human behaviour in the wake of such horror, is the only way to help ease the pain and make some sense of the senseless. It is the only way to move forward.
We must stay “strong” to ensure good does prevail.
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Local News from Across the Rainy River District
