23/11/2023
Yesterday at approximately 11:30am, there was an explosion on the American side of Rainbow International Bridge, a U.S.-Canada border checkpoint located in Niagara Falls. This lead to flights being briefly grounded at Buffalo Niagara International Airport as well as multiple border crossings being closed temporarily for several hours while the situation was being investigated.
Early in the investigation, many right-wing media outlets including , and even the Conservative Party of Canada leader, Pierre Poilievre were quick to jump to conclusions and called the situation a . This was incredibly irresponsible as this not only hadn’t been confirmed by governing bodies involved in the investigation but it also exacerbated across the country and furthered as people immediately started to criticize immigrants and some even called for mass deportations. Mr. Poilievre also wasted no time in politicizing this incident to attack the prime minister, Justin Trudeau.
As it turns out, a vehicle that was headed for from the U.S. was driving at a high-rate of speed before hitting a fence. This sent the car flying in the air and subsequently crashing, resulting in the explosion and killing the 56-year-old driver, a New York business man, and his wife as well as leaving a border patrol officer with minor injuries that were treated in hospital before being released.
At this point, it isn’t clear what lead up to the crash but the FBI have completed their investigation and have said that there is no threat to public safety or any evidence of “terrorist activity”.
At the time of publishing this post, has yet to issue an apology for trying to incite fear or for misinforming Canadians. Quite frankly, it’s sickening the way he instantly weaponizes tragedy even before the facts are known. This is not the first time and surely won’t be the last. Back in June, instead of sending his condolences to the family of a 14-year-old who lost her life due to substance use, he used the devastating news as another attack against . It’s obvious he couldn’t care less about the lives lost and would rather politicize their deaths to further his political goals. He is clearly not fit to be prime minister. Is this really who people want to run this country?
