The extraordinary tragedy we absorbed over the weekend—the 11 to die and the dozens injured from an SUV plowing through a celebratory Filipino block party Saturday night in Vancouver—provokes many questions deserving of answers.

Yet some of those questions are more perplexing than we seem willing to address.

The simplest one, for instance, is to focus on the emotional health of the driver who allegedly plowed indiscriminately through a crowd, and wonder how there weren’t obvious impediments to prevent him.

We can question why no one pushed back when, as witnesses suggested, a wooden barrier to the throughway was removed before the vehicle steamed through an unsuspecting crowd. And indeed, we need to ask why the heavy-truck or concrete barriers to the vulnerable open road weren’t proactively stationed as they commonly are in the community to avert the carnage.

We can look at those questions as evidence of fault or complacency, and perhaps through reflection ensure that these community gatherings secure a greater degree of protection from those who might take it upon themselves to unleash the most murderous acts.

But in searching through our security issues—as Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has asked—we are accepting a culture of papering over problems that requires........

© Vancouver Is Awesome