Canada now has the dubious honour of our own 9/11. A well-coordinated terrorist attack has shaken our nation to its very core, and the outside threat of a deadly militant organization lurking in every shadow has become our greatest national concern.

I’m speaking of course about the Armed, Unhinged, Crack-Addicts, or the AUCA. The greatest threat to our nation as a symbol is a demographic whose normal modus operandi is ripping off corner stores. Our Multiculturalisms are under attack, fellow Canadians, and we need to freak the fuck out because of it.

I don’t intend to demonize drugs addicts or the mentally ill. Those conditions do not necessarily lead to violence. However, they do not lead to a healthy state of mind either, and claiming that what happened in Ottawa was committed by a terrorist means that if you’re going to be an armed, unhinged, crack-addict, you just shouldn’t be Muslim.

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau had issues. He was even aware of them, and repeatedly asked to be incarcerated in order to properly recover from them. These were routinely denied, and the only way that Michael Zehaf-Bibeau could get help was to commit crimes, typically petty in nature, in order to get locked up. This is not a unique scenario, as those without any other help or shelter will on occasion seek the cozy confines of a jail cell in order to get it.

So Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was unhappy with the way the system was treating him, was in a headspace where violence seemed to be an appropriate reaction to that treatment, and shot up a public building because of it. To me, that doesn’t sound like terrorism, that sounds like the equivalent of a school shooting. Don’t get me wrong, this is a horrible tragedy, and government officials have the right to be shaken up, but do we need to “strengthen our resolve” against the global threat of “terrorist organizations”? Where the fuck does that even come from?

Maybe instead of calling on Canadians to harden our hearts for a more polite version of the war on terror, we should be providing more funds for our drug treatment centres, providing counseling for those who need it after this horrible attack, and providing better sheltering facilities for our homeless. Maybe better security at our parliament buildings would be a good idea too, even.

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau did not hate Canadian values. He loved Canadian values. He sought them out, and was denied them, or they were insufficient enough that he wasn’t able to get the help he needed. So he retaliated. That should be the story we focus on.

Of course, fear-mongering and sensationalism sells papers, and what better political opportunity to edge in some hard-right values into our government policy. Am I being cynical to think that those in power are taking advantage of this tragedy? Oh probably, but the most sensible opinion I’ve heard about this event so far has been from Rosie O’Fucking-Donnell.

Nathan Cirillo is not a martyr. He is a victim of a shooting, sure and that is a tragedy, but those happen all the time. Getting shot is even a part of his job description, which doesn’t make it right, but does spotlight the massive over-blowing of the narrative surrounding this story. There is no relationship between Michael Zehaf-Bibeau and ISIL, or even the previous attack on Canadian soldiers. Everything about this being a terrorist attack is unfounded speculation that is being capitalized on by our media and our politicians.

Please, please, please don’t get swept up in the tsunami that is beginning to form after this shooting. I really don’t want a Canadian version of the Patriot Act, in part because I know its kitschy name will probably have something to do with the monarchy or some other bullshit like that.