Carney warned 'polarization' and 'false claims of transgender violence' spread after Tumbler Ridge shooting

OTTAWA — Days after a shooter opened fire on a school in rural British Columbia, a memo addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that “false claims” and “misinformation” was circulating online regarding violence and those who identify as transgender.

Officials also flagged that the incident risked giving rise to criticisms around firearm regulations.

The document, released partially redacted to National Post under federal access-to-information legislation, was dated three days after the shooting of nine mostly school-aged children that injured dozens more at a secondary school in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., located in the province’s interior.

Prepared for the prime minister by the Privy Council Office, the document includes an appendix of analysis of the “sentiment” that was being expressed by the public and online in the immediate aftermath, which noted the spread of “grief, shock, and national mourning” as well as calls to support victims.

“Early signs of polarization are emerging,” the note read, “particularly on social media, where identity-related narratives, policy debates, and misinformation are beginning to fragment public discourse.”

It specified that polarization was being observed on social media when it came to the shooter’s identity, from “identity-based political commentary” and “disputes over police handling of gender identity” as well as “hostile exchanges between ideological groups.”

“False claims and misinformation involving transgender violence have circulated online,” it added. “Media reporting confirms social media narratives fuelling anti-trans rhetoric.”

The shooter, identified by police as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar whom officers said was found dead from a self-inflicted wound, was born a biological male and later transitioned to female.

The memo prepared for Carney pinpoints that among federal departments that stood available to offer supports was Women and Gender Equality Canada, which funds LGBTQ organizations, noting “the tragedy’s impact on the “broader trans” and LGBTQ community.

It also pointed to an anti-stigma campaign which the department had launched, meant to address the discrimination faced by those who identify as gender diverse. “This may be useful for community leaders, educators and parents to discuss these issues with children and others impacted by the tragedy,” the memo says.

When it comes to firearms, the memo to Carney outlines how the sentiment on social media was shifting from grief to more accountability driven questions, such as mental health interventions “firearms access, and whether warning signs were missed.”

Driving some of those questions were details revealed by the RCMP that guns seized from Van Roostlear’s home had been returned in spring 2025 and that officers had been at the residence in the past dealing with mental health concerns, confirming that Van Rootselaar had spent time apprehended under B.C.’s provincial mental health act.

“The RCMP noted that the suspect’s motives remained unclear,’ the memo said.

It added how the incident has “already given rise to more discussion around gun control.”

Under a section labelled “communications risk assessment,” the document lists as medium risk “criticism of firearms regulations” and “mental health system accountability.”

It identifies “identity-based polarization” as well as “misinformation polarization” and “politicization of tragedy,” under “high risk.”

The memo outlines that in the three days after the shooting the social media landscape was still largely empathic, but “beginning to fragment into policy and identity debates” and “highly vulnerable to polarization and misinformation amplification.”

The major crimes unit of the B.C. RCMP has not yet confirmed the specifics around what weapons were used to carry out the shootings at the school as well as the family home, where the shooter’s mother and step-brother were found dead, believed to be killed before Van Rootselaar entered the school.

Police have said that a long gun and hand gun were collected from the scene. Van Rootselaar was said to have a gun licence that expired in 2024 but no registered firearms to their name.

PolySeSouvient, a prominent gun control advocacy group founded by former students and others affected by the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique school in Montreal as well as Danforth Families for Safe Communities, a group made up of the same from a 2018 shooting in Toronto, recently called for information on the weapons used in Tumbler Ridge to be released.

“Withholding this information prevents informed debate about Canada’s gun control laws and how they are enforced. Canadians have a right to information that directly affects public safety — and to receive it without undue delay,” it said in a statement released last week to mark 100 days since the B.C. shooting.

It took issue with statements made by federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree who cited the unfolding police investigation before confirming any details.

“The RCMP should immediately disclose the types of guns used at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, along with basic facts about how the shooter obtained them,” the statement read. “With public safety at stake, Canadians cannot be asked to wait indefinitely for information they need to hold their institutions — and their gun laws — to account.”

National Post

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