The Speaker Editors

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According to parliamentarians in Victoria, British Columbia, knowledge of a security threat to Canada had existed since earlier this week. Victoria parliamentarians were contacted days ago and alerted to a possible problem.

Parliamentary House Clerk Craig James said that “steps were taken” with regard to security this week. “We are aware and have been aware of a heightened concern from entities in Ottawa for least a few days.”

“We didn’t receive caution, we received information that there may be a problem,” said James. “We had discussions with certain members of the assembly to be prudent and keep them informed.”

Shortly after the attack Wednesday, Canadian Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister of Multiculturalism Kenney Jason tweeted, “Canada won’t be terrorized or intimidated.”

Many commentators are pointing to terrorism directed at Canada by militant Islamists as a possible source for the two attacks on Canadian military personnel this week.

Tuesday, two Canadian soldiers were hit by a car being driven by a Quebec man, 25-year-old Martin Rouleau, who had been “radicalized” by Islamists. Police shot Rouleau dead in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec after a car chase.

Also Tuesday, Canada sent combat aircraft to participate in the war against Islamist group Islamic State (IS, also referred to as ISIS and ISIL).

Wednesday, an attack on the War Memorial and other sites around the Parliament building in Ottawa, Ontario took the life of one military guard. One gunman was also shot dead in that attack.

IS distributed a call last month for attacks on civilians in countries that were members of the US-led coalition opposed to the Islamist group.

“If you can kill a disbelieving American or European–especially the spiteful and filthy French–or an Australian, or a Canadian, or any other disbeliever from the disbelievers waging war, including the citizens of the countries that entered into a coalition against the Islamic State … kill him in any manner or way however it may be,” said  ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani in the recording.

Following the events in Ottawa, US President Barack Obama condemned the attack, pledging continued coordination with Canada regarding terrorist attacks, and saying, “We have to remain vigilant when it comes to dealing with these kinds of acts of senseless violence or terrorism and I pledged as always to make sure that our national security teams are coordinated very closely. Not only is Canada one of our closest allies in the world, but they’re our neighbors and our friends.”

Also following the attack, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) increased its alert posture–increasing the number of planes on higher alert status.

By James Haleavy

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RCMP and Ottawa police briefed the nation Wednesday on the shooting that took place at and around Ottawa’s Parliament building. The situation, which the RCMP referred to as “ongoing,” “dynamic and unfolding,” was now focused mainly on the area immediately around Ottawa’s Parliament Hill, and Canadians were told to stay vigilant and report suspicious activities about anyone who may want to cause harm to Canadians.

“We’re asking the community to continue to be aware, to be vigilant, and to continue to report any suspicious activity that they deem serious–that could impact their safety,” said Ottawa police chief Charles Bordeleau at the briefing.

“In general terms, we’ve been asking the community to remain vigilant over potential acts that we’ve seen overseas and in in other countries. That is something that we’ve always asked Canadians to be aware of, and to be constantly vigilant, and to report any suspicious activity that may identify any individual that may want to cause harm to fellow Canadians.

“We’ve asked the public to stay away from the downtown core,” said Bordeleau. Police had set up a perimeter around Parliament Hill and were clearing the area. Bordeleau confirmed that the key area of focus was Parliament Hill and the immediate area around Parliament Hill.

Just before 10:00 AM Wednesday, shots were fired at locations around and including the Parliament building in Ottawa. The site of the first attack was the War Memorial, where one Canadian officer was shot. That officer died of his injuries. Another person was reported to have been injured by a stray bullet in the attack.

A barrage of shots was fired in Parliament in footage captured by the Globe and Mail. During the firefight, one RCMP officer was injured.

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The one male suspect confirmed to have died in the events is thought to have been the gunman involved in this firefight.

It had earlier been reported that there had been a shooting incident at the Rideau Center as well, but this was disconfirmed by the RCMP.

RCMP would not say whether there was currently more than one suspect in the crime, but they did repeat that the investigation was ongoing, and that they wanted to speak to witnesses.

When asked whether the dead suspect had been among the 19 people who had been identified by Canadian authorities as having been radicalized, the RCMP said it was too early to confirm. RCMP did comment on whether they would be investigating the 19 suspects.

“We basically draw all of our resources towards any threat that exists, and actively investigate those individuals,” said RCMP Assistant Commissioner Gilles Michaud.

RCMP would not comment on the weapon used in the incident, the identity of the suspect who had been killed, or whether he had driven his own car to the scene of the crime or had hijacked a car.

By James Haleavy

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Russian human rights ombundswoman Ella Panfilova has warned that a new, large-scale attack may be conducted by Russia against Ukraine in the near future. Panfilova made comments in an interview Monday in which the ombunswoman stated that Russia should prepare for a second wave of migration from Ukraine, despite a current ceasefire agreement that has existed in Ukraine since September. Panfilova said that the migration would not come only from southeast Ukraine–the only area so far affected by the conflict.

“We should be ready for the second wave of migration, and not only from the southeast of Ukraine,” said Panfilova, commenting on the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who had sought refuge in Russia over the past months of fighting, most of which had since returned to Ukraine.

“The first wave of refugees is now on a decline as people are inspired with a possible truce. But there will be winter, which will be hard to live through in affected Ukrainian territories. So we should be ready for the second wave of migration and not only from the southeast of Ukraine. We should also not forget that many refugees who arrived earlier remain in Russia,” said Panfilova.

Panfilova’s comments came the same day Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the self-declared “prime minister” of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR)–a pro-Russian separatist group in eastern Ukraine–declared on Twitter that the month-long ceasefire was over.

“After today’s shelling of Donetsk with rockets,” one Tweet read, “the ceasefire, even formally, has to be considered abandoned.”

In Zakharchenko’s second tweet, he wrote, “An hour ago, the [Ukrainians] carried out a strike near the old terminal, after which our artillery carried out a strike on the dillweeds’ positions near Peski.”

According to the UN, the death toll from the conflict in Ukraine sits at over 3,700–over 300 since the ceasefire was agreed upon–and almost 10,000 have been wounded. Ukrainians continue to flee areas of conflict. UN places the number of Ukrainian internally displaced persons (IDPs) at 415,000 and the number of refugees at 427,000, most of which have sought refuge in Russia.

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Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down by pro-Russian separatists on July 17, according to the conclusions of the German Foreign Intelligence Service, which completed its detailed analysis of the evidence this month. The conclusions of the agency were unambiguous, it reported, and Russian claims that Ukrainian soldiers had fired the missile were false.

“It was pro-Russian separatists,” said Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) President Gerhard Schindler. Pro-Russian separatists captured a BUK air defense missile system at a Ukrainian military base and shot a missile that exploded in direct proximity to the plane, according to the BND report.

Schindler said that the findings were unambiguous.

Schindler also disconfirmed Russian claims that Ukrainian photos had been manipulated and that a Ukrainian fighter jet had been flying nearby to MH17 when it was shot down. Claims that the missile had been fired by Ukrainian soldiers were also false, Schindler stated.

The German agency made its conclusions after completing a detailed analysis. BND presented their case to members of the parliamentary control committee Oct. 8, providing satellite image and diverse photographic and other evidence. The news was first reported Sunday in Der Spiegel.

MH17 was shot down while en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lampur July 17, killing 298 people, and since that time Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the downing of the plane.

Further investigations into the crime have been initiated, according to a spokesperson for the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office. The identities of the perpetrators of the attack on MH17 are being sought. The downing of MH17 is considered to be a possible war crime.

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The presidents of Ukraine and Russia met in Milan, Italy Friday to work towards a resolution in the ongoing dispute over gas supplies to Ukraine. A gas deal was reached, according to the leaders, but European leaders felt that Russia still had much work to do regarding the ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine.

“We agreed on all the parameters of this deal,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia will supply Ukraine with gas “at least for the winter,” Putin told reporters, but he urged European countries to assist Ukraine in settling its $4.5 billion gas bill with Russia.

Russia cut off Ukraine’s gas supply last June.

The Russian leader met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in a one-on-one meeting Friday.

The closed meeting was followed by talks attended by European leaders.

“I cannot see a breakthrough here at all so far,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “We will continue to talk. There was progress on some details, but the main issue is continued violations of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

Italy, Ukraine and Russia agreed, however, to join France and Germany in monitoring the Ukraine-Russia border with surveillance drones through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is currently overseeing the ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine.

Gas talks will continue in Brussels next week, according to EU officials.

Poroshenko told press that he hoped the deal reached Friday could be finalized by next week’s meeting.

“A deal on gas is now really within reach, which is very important for the Ukrainians and very reassuring for the Russians, because they really want to be paid,” said French President Francois Hollande of the prospective deal.

By James Haleavy

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President Shinzo Abe of Japan and President Xi Jinping of China may meet for the first time at the upcoming APEC summit. Abe has reportedly agreed to significant concessions regarding the disputed Senkaku Islands. The leaders of Japan and China have not met since taking their current positions on the status of the Islands in 2012.

Abe is prepared to acknowledge that China has a case in their claim to the Senkaku Islands, which China calls the Diaoyu Islands, altough Abe maintains that the Senkakus are an inherent part of Japanese territory, according to Japanese government sources.

Previously, Japan has refused even to acknowledge that a territorial dispute exists, repeating on numerous occasions, “There exists no issue of territorial sovereignty to be resolved concerning the Senkaku Islands.”

Abe intends to propose settling the issue through mutual dialogue, according to the sources.

Abe and Xi have not met since the two leaders were elected in 2012, but it is reported that the two plan to meet for 15 minutes at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing next month.

The main roadblock to a meeting between the two leaders has been Japan’s refusal to acknowledge a territorial dispute. China has made repeated calls for such an acknowledgment, and the two governments engaged in a public dispute over the issue last year during the UN General Assembly meeting.

“Japan needs to recognize that there is such a dispute. The whole world knows that there is a dispute,” stated Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in September, 2013.

Shortly thereafter Abe stated, “Senkaku is an inherent part of the territory of Japan in light of historical facts and based upon international law, and the islands are under the valid control of Japan.”

Abe insisted that “Japan would not make a concession on our territorial sovereignty.”

However, both governments have asserted their desire for better relations.

The dispute over the Senkaku Islands, which Japan has administrated since 1895, intensified last year when China announced new borders for its air defense zone which overlapped existing Japanese air defense zones.

During that time, the Chinese economy has slowed, and Japanese investment in China dropped 40 percent on an annual basis in the first half of 2014 after dropping one-fifth last year.