Canadian security agencies are “exercising increased vigilance” after the assassination attempt against former U.S. president Donald Trump over the weekend, the federal public safety minister said.
Dominic LeBlanc said in a series of posts on X that he had been briefed on Sunday by officials from Public Safety Canada, the RCMP commissioner and the director of CSIS in the wake of the deadly shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania.
“They have assured me that they are exercising increased vigilance and are in close contact with their American partners,” LeBlanc said.
“I have every confidence that they will continue to keep Canadians safe.”
Speaking to reporters in New Brunswick on Monday, LeBlanc said the government won’t talk about specific security measures.
“But I am confident that the RCMP will do what’s necessary to protect elected leaders in Canada,” he added.
Global News is still awaiting a response from the RCMP on increased security measures in Canada in the wake of the Trump assassination attempt.
CSIS told Global News it had nothing further to add to LeBlanc’s comments from Sunday.
U.S. investigators are still looking for the motive behind Saturday’s shooting that injured Trump and left two people dead, including the shooter, in Butler, Pa. Two spectators were also critically injured.
The FBI, which has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as the suspected gunman, said it was investigating the shooting as a potential act of domestic terrorism.
As the probe continues, LeBlanc said Canadian security agencies and law enforcement organizations “stand ready to assist” their U.S. counterparts in any way.
“The information we have to date shows no link to Canada,” he said on X.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has condemned the violence, spoke to Trump on Sunday afternoon, wishing him well and expressing condolences to the shooting victims.
“The Prime Minister condemned yesterday’s appalling assassination attempt and reiterated there’s no place for political violence,” a readout from Trudeau’s office said.
On Monday, LeBlanc acknowledged there have been threats of violence against Canadian politicians, but he wouldn’t share the specifics about how many, to whom they have been directed and where they are coming from.
Government documents obtained by Global News warn that the torrent of online threats against public officials has led some Canadians to believe they can threaten, encourage and cheer on political violence with impunity.
Canadian intelligence officials say threatening rhetoric is increasingly seen as a legitimate way to express frustrations, grievances and dissent, fuelling a surge of often violent threats against elected and public officials.
— with files from Global News’ Marc-Andre Cossette, The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
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