NP View: Heroes in Belleville, cravens in Ottawa

Original source (on modern site) | Article images: [1] [2]

In a post on X, former Bay of Quinte MP Ryan Williams shared a photo of Const. Jeff Smith. Belleville police confirmed to National Post it was Smith in the photo. Photo by @Ryan_r_Williams /X

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For months, Canadian Jews have been warning that if nothing changes, an attack like the one that happened on Bondi Beach in Australia in December — when gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration, killing 15 innocents and wounding 40 — could happen here. On Sunday, that worst-case-scenario would have come to pass, if not for the actions of a real-life Canadian hero: Const. Jeff Smith.

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If our political leaders had just a thimbleful of Smith's courage, the antisemitism that has been rotting this country's core would have been stamped out years ago. Instead, when faced with unprecedented hate directed at Canadian Jews, Prime Minister Mark Carney recognized a non-existent state of "Palestine," effectively rewarding Hamas for its terrorism against Jews and starting a war with Israel. Meanwhile, the Liberals shamelessly mine for votes from anti-Israel communities. When a man like Smith risks everything to protect his fellow Canadians, the least the governing party could do is risk a few seats.

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The officer was stationed outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ont., on Sunday evening, as congregants were filing in for Yom Kippur services, when a gunman, alleged to be 29-year-old former Canadian Armed Forces member Sean Ward, screamed, "You are going to die for the Jews," and opened fire. Smith was hit almost immediately, before he even had a chance to exit his vehicle. But that did not stop him.

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Rather than taking cover and tending to his wounds, Smith got out of his car and traded fire with the gunman for nearly three minutes when a second officer, Const. Mike McCurdy, arrived and immediately engaged the shooter. Thanks to Const. Smith's bravery, the threat was ultimately neutralized. According to Belleville Police Chief Murray Rodd, Smith and McCurdy put a stop to "what would have become an unimaginable tragedy," in what he described as a "deliberate attack directed at members of the Jewish community."

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Thanks to Smith's selfless bravery, the only person who died in the attack was Ward, though Smith is still in critical but stable condition, having suffered gunshot wounds to his head and body. The response from Canadians has been heartening: a GoFundMe campaign for the officer had more than $700,000 as of Friday afternoon. But whether this is representative of a Canada that is finally confronting the growing threat to Canadian Jews remains to be seen.

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After giving a full-throated speech in Toronto in June, in which he admitted that "Canada's civic compact is failing Jewish-Canadians," Carney could only muster a boilerplate response to a terrorist attack that almost resulted in a bloodbath, writing on X that, "Jewish people must be able to worship safely. To live free, open, proud Jewish lives."

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That should go without saying. The question now is: what is the government going to do to stem the growing tide of hate in this country? Will it suddenly grow a spine? We are not encouraged.

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The Belleville attack represents a serious escalation, as previous synagogue shootings have taken place when they were largely empty. This incident, on the other hand, was clearly intended to be a massacre of Jews, a modern-day pogrom taking place right here in Canada, in a quintessentially peaceful Ontario town.