A Canadian flag flying outside Parliament Hill is backlit by the setting sun on Oct 22 2014. (Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail)Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
It's an old tradition for terrorist groups to retrospectively embrace perpetrators of attacks against innocents as their own. Al-Qaeda and Islamic State both claim involvement in the Paris attacks.
Now IS seems – at least tangentially – to be linking itself to the Parliament Hill shooting via comments one militant has made in a new online recording. The RCMP, meanwhile, has a video made by the Ottawa assailant himself before the attack that may outline his motivations.
It was always in the public interest for that footage to be released. The IS glorification of the attack adds to the need to do so.
In the immediate aftermath of the Ottawa attack, in which Corporal Nathan Cirillo was killed, RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson indicated the video would be made public.
Then he quickly reversed himself.
The Mounties contend the video constitutes important evidence. As the months roll by with no arrests of putative accomplices or facilitators, the assertion seems more like a hope than an aspect of an investigation.
It is appropriate to be sensitive about giving the attacker a platform for posthumous self-justification and aggrandizement. But here's something more important: testing IS's claims.
The organization has proved adept at recruiting radicalized youths to its cause. If a young adult from these shores was inspired by it or acting on its behalf when he stormed the national seat of democracy, Canadians are entitled to know more about it.
It shouldn't have to be pointed out that the video is also germane to the current public debate on how to address domestic terror threats and on Canada's military efforts in Iraq.
It may well be that the RCMP can confirm that IS has a link to the shooter, or deny it. Even if that's not the case, Commissioner Paulson should follow his initial instincts and order the video's release.