Carney orders flags at half-mast as MPs react in horror to deadly B.C. shooting

By Canadian Press on February 11, 2026.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney says flags on federal buildings will be flown at half-mast for seven days to honour the victims of Tuesday’s deadly shooting in B.C.

A visibly emotional Carney said Wednesday he has heard from leaders around the world offering condolences, including King Charles.

“Parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers in Tumbler Ridge will wake up without someone they love,” he said on Parliament Hill. “A nation mourns with you, Canada stands by you.

“We will get through this, we will learn from this. But right now, it’s the time to come together, as Canadians always do in these situations … to support each other, to mourn together and to grow together.”

MPs on Parliament Hill reacted in horror to news of the two attacks on Tuesday that left 10 people, including the suspect, dead in the tiny community of Tumbler Ridge in northeastern British Columbia.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on Canadians to unite in support of the families and the community.

“The fact that this took place at a secondary school, it makes it even more tragic,” he said. “As a father, I can’t even imagine the phone calls that parents might have received. I can’t imagine the heartache and hell that they’re living through at this moment.”

RCMP have said police don’t yet understand what motivated the shooter suspected of killing two people at a home before going to a school and committing one of Canada’s worst mass shootings.

Condolences have poured in from across Canada and beyond, with officials such as Ontario Premier Doug Ford, French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offering their condolences.

Don Davies, interim NDP leader and MP for Vancouver Kingsway, offered his “deepest condolences to the victims, the families, the friends in the community of Tumbler Ridge as they recover from the horrific attack that occurred last night in British Columbia.”

Davies, who said he was briefed by B.C’s public safety minister about the tragedy, also thanked first responders for risking their lives.

“Not only the, I believe it was the RCMP, but also paramedics and ambulance drivers and hospital and health-care workers who also were engaged in what was a dangerous and obviously very traumatic situation,” he said.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May called the deaths “incomprehensible.”

“As to support and federal support,” she added, “I’m sure first responders are going to need a lot of support emotionally for what they have gone through, being the first to show up to open the school doors. It’s unspeakable, it’s a terrible tragedy, and we mourn with those who’ve lost so much.”

Conservative MP Michael Barrett, who was on Parliament Hill Wednesday morning to make an announcement marking “Kindness Week,” said he’s sending his “prayers to everyone in Tumbler Ridge.”

“It’s tough to arrive here this morning and plan to deliver an uplifting message in the wake of such a tragedy, and I know that they’ll be on the minds and in the prayers of everyone today,” he added.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2026.

– With files from Ashley Joannou and Nono Shen in Vancouver, Wolfgang Depner in Victoria and Nick Murray in Ottawa

The Canadian Press