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Updated 22.47pm
AN INVESTIGATION IS under way in Canada after one soldier was killed and shots were fired inside the national parliament building.
The soldier was shot at 9.52am local time (2.52pm GMT) as he was on duty at the National War Memorial, close to the national parliament.
Streets around Canada’s national parliament were closed off during the confused aftermath of the shooting, amid fears that there may have been a second gunman.
Immediately after shooting the soldier, the gunman ran inside the parliament building where he was shot dead by the sergeant-at-arms.
Officials identified the gunman as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, but gave no immediate details on his background. Canadian police would not speculate on a motive for the shootings.
In a press conference this evening, they would not confirm whether the suspect was a Canadian citizen.
The police admitted that they were caught by surprise with today’s shooting.
Video captured by a reporter for The Globe and Mail newspaper shows an exchange of gunfire inside the Parliament Hill building shortly after the soldier was shot, with police running towards the direction of the shooting:
Ottawa Police this evening confirmed the two deaths, saying that the identity of the soldier will not be released until his next of kin have been informed.
“He was a member of the Canadian Forces,” police said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his loved ones”.
A large number of people remain inside the parliament building amid warnings from police to stay where they are.
Police are urging people to stay away from the area around parliament in Ottawa. A number of streets in the area have been sealed off:
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has urged people to take extra care during the search:
Ottawa police confirmed to TheJournal.ie that the shooting began at 9.52am local time (2.52pm GMT).
Staff in the parliament building have been told to stay in their offices and hide. The building remains on lockdown this evening.
Heavily armed police raced to seal off the building and the office of Prime Minister Stephen Harper immediately after the shooting.
An official confirmed that Harper had left the shooting area safely.
The shooting comes two days after a 25-year-old man ran over and killed a soldier in Montreal, in what the government said was a terrorist attack.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson labelled the events a “sad and tragic day for the city and country”.
Additional reporting Associated Press and Christina Finn
Originally published 3.18pm
A lot of students will get shafted because of this. From personal experience, it was recommended by 4 of my teachers that I should drop to pass because they thought I was going to fail in the months leading up to the leaving cert. Based on class performance, test results etc, I would say their concerns were justified. I was however able to get a very respectable leaving cert through studying in the month leading up to the LC and cramming the nights before the exams. Under this grading criteria, those teachers would have failed me and I wouldn’t have been able to go to college as a result.
@will: unless you made a balls of your junior cert and most other exams you would have been fine. Probably 99% of kids cram late. Most in my yr got 100 pts more in LC than Mock. Teachers are not eejits they know this. If you are the 16th best in your class of 30 and the 16th best last year in your class got 405 pts that is about what youll be given. Its as good as they could do considering the overwhelming bandwagon to cancel it that was being driven not least by the kids themselves
@TESSERACT2020: I didn’t pass a biology exam i.e Pre, Summer, Christmas or class test for the entire duration of 6th year. I don’t see how my biology teacher could justify passing me under this grading criteria. But I actually got a D1 in Biology in the leaving cert. Which means people will get much lower marks then they would have got as a result of this in the LC, since its very possible to go from failing every test to passing the subject in a month which is my point. And there’s no way a teacher could have forseen me turning it around. All the teacher will have is past exam results, homework etc to go off of.
@will: I was told I should do ordinary level English and I got an A1 at higher. I know it sounds nice not to have to sit exams but I’d be livid if I was getting a grade based on my classwork
@Terrence Edwards: I’d say they just screwed up your result, you were lucky.
As a LC student what has caused me the most stress has been the departments handling of the situation. From being told to put my head down and study as the LC would happen “by hook or by crook” a few weeks ago, to now being told that they are doing predicted grades, an option that McHugh was extremely against, shows just how poorly the situation has been handled. All of my “covid” work is irrelevant because teachers are not to take this work into account. In one day, my LC has been completely changed and I am now “finished” school. The fact that they did not take a proactive stance on the matter a few weeks ago is very disappointing. It would have saved me and all of the other students a lot of stress. Other countries did not mess with their final year students heads like this.
@Ellen: Wait until you come into the real world and learn about real stress. The last few weeks will be like a walk in the park.
@Edwardson Mike: yes, living in a global pandemic is like a walk in the park. Thank you for your empathy.
@Ellen: the last few weeks of work wasn’t all in vein. You’ll have most of the curriculum covered, which for a lot of courses is continued on in college. As well of that, the school term is ongoing so it’s only right that work is still going on. If you need to sit the exams, this work is also useful rather than spending the summer learning new things.
Every exam I’ve taken since I did the leaving cert have been more stressful than any leaving cert exam. Obviously it depends on the course and the college, but it certainly doesn’t get any easier progressing into college
@Ellen: its far from ideal but if Leo had come out a month ago and cancelled the LC he would have got pelters for jumping the gun. About 50% of students wanted to go ahead then compared to 20% now. They had to give it every chance but ultimately bowed to public, teacher, and student pressure lead by the likes of Mick Barry
@Ellen: Stress? Stress? You don’t know what stress is. When I did my LC there were College places for 30%.Today it is 70%. There were NO jobs in the economy, the only alternative was emigration. So of you didn’t get in you were gone. While this was going on my parents were paying mortgage interest rates of 18%. If I had to repeat a year they would be lumped with my Fees on top of everything. Now, that is stress.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: Will you relax you eejit. Anybody who doesn’t think the current group of LCs is going through genuine stress is clearly not thinking straight. There has never been an LC year like this, and their grading is now at the mercy of their teachers who may or may not give them a fair assessment. That determines where they go in college, the overall proportion of college students nowadays isn’t important to someone who misses out on the course they really want.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: some good points and it’s yer man below who’s the eejet.
@sean o’dhubhghaill:
You think YOU had it bad? Back when I did the leaving cert our whole class were fitted with explosive collars and dropped on an island to fight it out to the death!! And then we had to walk uphill 20 miles to get home in time for our dinner (a lump of coal and a class of dirty water).
@: Perfect response hahahah
@sean o’dhubhghaill: I wouldn’t see that as stressful. Depends on your criteria for stress I suppose.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: back in my day we had to run both ways to school and walk back with no shoes . kids today
Complete joke, this is a cop out. They couldn’t get things more wrong if they tried. Very possible to have kept the 6th years in school and hold exams as normal. Antisocial media wins again.
@Mark Malone: tony holohan said it couldn’t happen so why don’t you challenge him on it
@Johnny O’Hooligan: it’s not for the likes of me to challenge a deity. Any man with a God complex and a platform given to him by our leader is way out of my humble reach.
@Johnny O’Hooligan: When did he say it couldn’t happen? I watched him say it was for the Dept of Education to decide.
Best of bad situation. Onwards and upwards. Time to get the country moving and ensure people stay healthy.
Part of the marking process will involve adjusting the grades so that the school’s average will match what’s expected based on previous years.
See: https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/74043/96076aa3e16240cc93e2a56a1ea94d75.pdf#page=1 Point 10.2
So, if you’re a sharp, hard working kid from Finglas or Ballymun, where schools have lower average grades due to social and economic issues… tough! The HEA will be giving your place to Donnacha or Ferghal instead, since his school is expected to do better.
@: yep….I’ve two classes to grade this year, one of which is really exceptional and would score way above my schools averages over the past number of years. Alas, previous student scores from the past few years is likely to chop them down with the standardisation process.
I think there’ll be another u-turn, I really can’t see this suggestion of predictive grades going ahead.
Asking teachers to rank their students, the elitism of using school tables to “adjust” grades to fit expectations and those studying independently effectively being excluded all seems incredibly dystopian and wrong.
@Rochelle: Can’t see it unfortunately. One u-turn makes the Department look bad enough, but even if sitting the exams in July or August is the right call they’ll hardly go back again now.
@Rochelle: school tables have always been used. This u turn your talking about how would that happen? If there is uproar now the uproar created from that would be off the scale. This is the final decision. We’re not puppets.
@Rochelle: if the 7th best student in Mount Anville for the last 10 years has got 535 points then chances are she will be getting 535 points circa this year regardless of what reverse snobbery towards fee schools is out there.
@TESSERACT2020: Why is she still repeating 8 years later?
@sean o’dhubhghaill: Really needed 540 points.
I’m more worried about next year’s LC, the amount of class time students in 5th year has missed, majority of the LC year is revision. Online classes just do t work
@Geraldine Cussen Lee: that’s why every year should have been cancelled and all start again in September with no new entries into Junior infants. That way they could properly continuously assesses the students if needs be. But the college’s would miss out on a years fees and all the overpaid lecturers couldn’t have that! Joke system.
@Bill: when people say voiding this year. I do wonder if they are trolling or just insane.
Will be some favouritism. Unfortunately some teachers may be intimidated.
@paul christopher cox: or bribed
If the schools were closed, was there not enough space considering empty classrooms for leaving cycle children to be given education and the other teachers available to assist? Plenty of safe space, the young adults are of an age responsible enough to adhere to social distancing. Primary school teachers could have helped invidulate.
Whoever suggested moving the exams to end July needs their head examined!! What a dreadful way to treat the students, a complete shambles.
@Brendan Barr: why?
A total shambles. Poor leadership from those responsible but not surprised by anything these days.
When is this tension between medics advising and government making decisions going to stop? Leo has got to stop hiding behind the skirts of Tony and be the caretaker etc.
Surely you can look at the children’s results to date and get an average and give them a mark on that basis , it will screw with the grind fee paying students who should not be getting higher points and help those who do their best all the way through
If you have an issue with it why not just repeat next year? It’s really not the end of the world, LC is completely out of touch with reality anyway and too much pressure put on young people.
Have exams fees been paid by parents and will these be reimbursed
@Liz Bermingham: yes they will be refunded.
Another win for the unions disgraceful carry om. Will the teachers ever just do a bit of work for Love of god the nurses would be a good lesson to them!
They will be looking for lost money for exam marking next !!
@Donie: ya what a joke never mind the health of everyone else it just has to be the teachers fault.
@Johnny O’Hooligan: God forbid they loose their summers and this year is just one long holiday for them !! Where there is a will there ‘s a way
@Donie: The teachers are still working! And the teachers who don’t mark or supervise exams get paid less than those who do. What is your gripe? Why didn’t you study education?
@sean o’dhubhghaill: I didn’t study teaching because I followed my dad into the trade honest living for me son. Would love ifI had the chance to do it would love summers off with the dog and wife
@Donie: made yourself look like a bit of an eejit there now Donie I’m afraid!! If you’ve been following what was happening you might be able to make more informed comments. Unions had been on board with whatever the plan was and is. They’re meeting tonight even to assess how all this is going to work out, from what I read elsewhere. And if you’re doing a trade, I’m guessing you probably have more holidays than teachers do….unless you work evenings and weekends on top of your days?
@Joe Kennedy: how could they be in board if they are only meeting tonight? Of course they influebcd decision w negativity, typical behaviour from them….
And I work 12hr days in trade, like most others. Bare in mind nxt time you have a leak in ur house!! Prawn sandwich brigade out again
@Donie: they were on board with the previous plan and they’re meeting tonight to discuss the implications of the new plan. You’ll have to read up on it to find out what’s going on. Plumber near me here certainly doesn’t work 12 hour days, so I’ll make the same jump as you and say most plumbers don’t work 12 hour days!!! I do know teachers who work those kinds of hours though.
@Donie: The teachers unions were both fully behind the previous plan to hold the LC in July actually. They actually have strong reservations towards a predicted grading system but accept it as a Plan B since Plan A is no longer feasible. I’ve been teaching from home since March and would love to be back in the classroom and not looking forward to the summer. I’d usually supervise and correct exams for most of it which won’t be happening now.
Should everybody not be encouraged in every way to continue their studies. I can never understand why you should potentially be excluded from education at 18.
@alan:
Not everyone can be an academic. Frankly I think schooling is going on for too long for too many. Masters degree is becoming the new standard, and increasingly colleges are making it 2 years to “be like the rest of the EU” (who have a 3 year bachelors, but no talk of shortening bachelors degrees here). I know people who are on their second masters degree, it’s going mad.
Education is great, but I wish there were more options to pursue it while working, more night courses, flexible part time courses, I shouldn’t have to quit my job to learn about something.
We are so obviously not “in this together” childcare workers, out of work, being paid by the state, and their employers, again benefiting from state aid, coz of a fear of contracting covid19,will not help our front line staff. Apparently Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) who were to be redeployed have been told by their union to do nothing! What a sham! I suppose these groups and their unions are out clapping in support every week for front line staff!
They might as well become bouncers so
@Trev Gilmore: nó comments from The unions yet.
@Dave Barrett: https://www.rte.ie/news/2020/0508/1137174-leaving-cert/
They are meeting now. Bit bloody late.
The leaving cert exam should not have been cancelled. There are enough rooms in the schools to separate the students safely, for those who wished to take part. I would say that it comes down to money, and the cost of paying the supervisors. Best of luck to all students who are now facing predictive grades.
Oh well
Must have been a Freudian slip where it was referred to as “the learning cert” in one paragraph above. Very apt
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