Two weeks after the shooting that claimed the life of Cpl Nathan Cirillo and rocked the nation, the emotions are beginning to ease for local MPs Dave Van Kesteren and Bev Shipley.
The two men were only a few feet away from the drama that unfolded when a lone gunman stormed Parliament and was shot dead by Sergeant At Arms Kevin Vickers in a hail of gunfire.
Moments before, the gunman had shot and killed Cpl. Nathan Cirillo who was standing ceremonial guard at the National War Monument only a kilometre away.
Shipley, MP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, said a different decision during a tour could have been terrible that morning.
“I had 22 folks with me. I met them and took them on a tour of the House of Commons,” he said. “We were coming back down and if I’d have turned left, I’d have taken them back to the front doors.”
That was where the shooting took place, he said.
Instead, he was showing the agricultural contingent another meeting room where MPs gather prior to walking into the House.
“I was showing them that, and that’s when the gunshots started,” Shipley said. “Instead, had we gone back down to the front doors, that would not have been very good…”
It was still terrifying.
“All of a sudden we were just by ourselves. One of the guards burst through the doors and said there was gunfire and for us to get down,” Shipley said. “It was loud. You could hear rapid shots. We did what we were told.”
Van Kesteren, MP for Chatham-Kent-Essex was in the Conservative caucus room next to the shooter. He said the incident brought a flood of emotions.
“There was shock and disbelief at what was happening,” he said. “The first hour was pretty terrible but after that there was relief and then another eight hours to think about it before we got the all-clear.”
He said the following day was surreal.
“Going back was unquestionably the right thing to do but the added security made it seem so strange.”
Shipley said the opening of Parliament the next day was very important.
“It was an interesting walk,” he said of his trip to the front doors of the Centre Block building that is home to the House of Commons. “I’d done it a couple of thousand times, but it was a bit of a different feel that day. One, I was so proud to be a Canadian. Two, I was so thankful to be alive.”
From there, Shipley walked through the Hall of Honour, where the shooting took place.
“It was wide open for us to go through. You could see the bullet holes, where bullets ricocheted and windows that had been hit by stray bullets,” he said. “That whole area is marble and stone. Think of the ricochets. It was a miracle it (the shooting) wasn’t much, much worse.”
Although both MPs received well wishes, they said the real story is the tragic loss of Cpl. Cirillo, W.O. Patrice Vincent who died after being intentionally struck by a vehicle Oct. 20 in Montreal and the security officers and police who killed the perpetrators in both events.
“Everyone in security did their jobs, those with and without guns,” Van Kesteren said. “We must always remember that.”
Van Kestern said in the days after he became extremely angry about the incident.
“Innocent lives were lost by people acting in a cowardly fashion,” he said. “That’s not my Canada nor anyone else’s I know of.”
Van Kesteren said there is a national sense that such incidents “shouldn’t happen in our house, our home.”
He said the resolve shown by Canadians to not let the incident change our society is remarkable.
“I feel so proud to be a part of this nation,” he said.
MPs and their staffs, as well as Parliamentary employees, have been offered counseling, something Shipley said he has yet to take.
He said others have, and some people are struggling with the mental aftermath of such a traumatic experience.
Shipley admitted he’s not immune.
“I left for home early the next day. It’s amazing how much I thought about it as I drove. I relived the sounds of the gunfire, what I said to people, what I think I could have said,” he explained.
Two nights after the shooting, Shipley was to drop the puck and say a few words at the Strathroy Rockets hockey game.
“We were standing near the glass before the game started. There were about three or four pucks in warm up that hit the glass,” he said, adding the sharp retorts reminded him of the gunshots. “Barb (his wife) looked at me and said it looked like I was going to come out of my shoes.”
Van Kesteren said the incident would make Canadians even stronger.
“We don’t stand for it,” he said. “We will rally around it and it will increase our resolve to keep Canada free from terrorism.”
