Last Wednesday Canadians were shocked to by the news that an armed man had staged an attack on the War Memorial and then the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa. While the nation still reels from the kind of news we’ve fortunately remained unaccustomed to hearing, and talking heads debate terror alerts and future precautions, one family is left to deal with the crushing reality of what happened.
Corporal Nathan Cirillo of Hamilton, ON was shot and killed while performing the honorable duty of ceremonially guarding the National War Memorial. Tributes have been happening across the country, and in typical Canadian fashion, in hockey arenas everywhere. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens both honored Cpl. Cirillo with the singing of the national anthem, as well as Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, killed earlier in a separate attack in Quebec. In Ottawa, emergency workers and service personnel stood with hockey players in similar tribute. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers, though on American ice, sang the Canadian national anthem prior to their game on the 23rd, the building awash in red and white.
Cpl. Cirillo was single father, leaving behind his 5-year-old son Marcus. On Sunday, Marcus took to the ice at a Minor Bantam game in Hamilton to drop the puck in tribute to his slain father. His two aunts accompanied him for the ceremony. The game was chosen as Marcus’s cousin plays for the Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs.
While my level of national patriotism can be described as “pretty chill,” it’s hard to see his father break down describing how much he loves his son, or see pictures of Cpl. Cirillo’s rescue dogs peeking under the gate, still waiting for him to eventually come home. Wherever we stand on the incident itself, these tributes unite us not only under the banner of our passion for hockey, but in the empathy and kindness that earns our Nice Guy Country reputation.
Click here for more information on the trust fund that has been set up in Marcus’s name.
