Canadians are deeply disturbed and saddened by the attack on democracy in the United States, our closest ally and neighbour. Violence will never succeed in overruling the will of the people. Democracy in the US must be upheld - and it will be.

Statement on Twitter condemning violent attacks on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Donald Trump supporters, attempting to sabotage the confirmation of Joe Biden's victory in the Electoral College during the 2020 U.S. presidential election (6 January 2021); four people were killed in the attacks that saw hundreds of Trump supporters, some of them armed, force their way into the Capitol rotunda in what observers described as an "insurrection" and attempted "coup" fomented by Trump's increasingly hostile rhetoric. In Canada, commentators drew comparisons to the 2014 Parliament Hill shootings and were quick to point out that the country was not immune to "Trumpism" and the events unfolding in the U.S. could happen there too, as far-right extremism was on the rise globally, polling showed strong support for Trump among mainstream Conservatives, and it had only been mere months since a heavily-armed conspiracy theorist with ties to the QAnon movement had forced his way onto the grounds of the p