Northerners shocked, grieving in the wake of deadly Vancouver street festival attack

A deadly attack at a Vancouver street festival celebrating Filipino culture has left Filipinos in the North shaken, scared and grieving.

On Saturday night, a man drove an SUV through a crowd of people celebrating at Vancouver's Lapu-Lapu Day Block Party, killing 11 people and injuring more than 20 others. Interim Vancouver police chief Steve Rai has called it the "darkest day in the city's history."

The attack hit especially close to home for Whitehorse resident Jocelyn Curteanu, a board member for the Canadian Filipino Association of the Yukon. Her son was at the festival earlier that day, along with his partner and her daughter's boyfriend — and her sister almost ended up working at the event.

She said while no one she knows was injured, her son does know people who were hospitalized as a result of the attack. She said last she heard, none of those people are critically injured, but she doesn't know much more than that.

"It's just so horrific, I find it hard to even ask questions," she said. "When it hits that close to home, it's very, very disturbing."

The event also hit extremely close to home for Yvonne Clarke, a Filipino-Canadian MLA who represents Porter Creek Centre in the Yukon legislature.

"I'm thinking about the children, the families. It's a happy festival. We do that here in Whitehorse … every year, we have the Canadian Filipino Association Canada Day, we are at the Shipyards Park, we have the fiesta," she said.

"It's like, OK — if it happened there, can it happen here?" 

Vancouver police have said they do not believe the attack was an act of terrorism.The man who was charged following the incident has a history of interactions with police and mental health professionals. He is facing eight counts of second-degree murder.

But Clarke said it's hard not to feel scared when something so horrific happens, especially because so many Filipinos in Yukon have a connection to the community in B.C.

In Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Filipino resident Wilfredo Abuan was still waiting to hear that his niece in Vancouver was safe on Monday afternoon.

"It's a lot," he said.

Abuan, who is a carer at Rankin Inlet's adult group home, said he is feeling a lot of sadness and some anger about the attack, but he is focusing on staying present so he can care for his patients right now.

He said he feels that what is most important now is that police, mental health workers and governments work together to make sure violence like this is prevented in the future.