We mourn for the people who have been murdered.Our heartfelt condolences to all of the families and friends of the victims and to the Government of France and the French people who have been affected by these evil deeds. Paris is the capital of European enlightenment. It is the city of light the city of liberty, fraternity and equality. It is the city of love and beauty, poetry, architecture and music. It is the city of Picasso, Baudelaire,Matisse,Delauney, Soutine,Claudel, Rodin,Sartre,de Beauvoir,Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, Walter Benjamin and Charles De Gaulle. It must not be a city of fear blighted by terror.

France is one of our two mother countries. Its culture is part of our culture. More than seven million of our people speak its language on a daily basis,(ten million know how to speak it) consult its newspapers and magazines and enjoy its wines and cuisine.Canadian troops helped to liberate France from the grip of the Nazis in World War 2.The French are our close allies. Our new Prime Minister and his cabinet is committed to ending our participation in the bombing campaign of ISIS We need to carefully consider the decision and ensure that our alternative role contributes as much and more positively to the campaign to defeat terror. Secondly the government is committed to bringing to Canada 25,000 refugees from the war in Iraq and Syria as soon as possible. But heightened security now obliges us even more than before to thoroughly identify these refugees to ensure they are who they claim to be and whom the U.N. and our own security has approved as genuine refugees. We should take more time if necessary to do the job thoroughly, without retreating from our position to provide safe refuge.

We need each of us as Paris has always done to light a candle
against the darkness and illuminate the night . As le
crépuscule (dusk) leads to night l’aube (dawn) follows
faithfully.