Boulder, CO: Recent Tragedy - Member Statement

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : I rise today to acknowledge the horrific events that took place yesterday in Boulder, Colorado. I spent a decade of my young life in Boulder, and still have many friends and family in the area, and to them I send my love and strength. It is a small city nestled at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, smaller than Halifax, known for its friendliness and its beauty.

Like Nova Scotia almost a year ago, Boulder was rocked by tragedy yesterday when a man opened fire in a busy grocery store in a residential neighborhood, killing 10 people. This on the heels of the shooting rampage just last week in Atlanta, Georgia, where eight Asian American women were murdered.

Sadly, Nova Scotians can no longer look at these tragedies as bystanders. They trigger our own collective grief. Let them also be a reminder to all of us to always strive to remove the conditions for tragedies like this to occur.