Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was quick to denounce the “hatred and violence” as “appalling” on social media, but he was also heavily criticised for appearing at a Taylor Swift concert in Toronto the same night. The images of the PM exchanging friendship bracelets with fellow Swifties as the riot took place in Montreal prompted comparisons to Nero, further confirmation to critics of his deeply unserious approach to what could prove to be the unravelling of Canada’s once-celebrated multicultural mosaic. In his own reaction to the event, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre minced no words in attributing blame directly to Trudeau: “You act surprised. We are reaping what you sowed.”

The same social media channels also featured defenders of the Prime Minister, who pointed out that he was simply “a dad enjoying a night out with his daughter”. Others argued for a more level-headed perspective, comparing the riot to past instances of violence by “window smashing anarchists” naturally inclined to cause havoc at high-level meetings.

But the fact is that the Montreal riot has taken place in the context of rising social tensions across Canada along the lines of race, ethnicity, ideology, and religion, with comparable flare-ups happening in other cities and provinces over various issues. It cannot be viewed in isolation from these broader trends. And while it has become easy to pin all the blame on the Prime Minister and his “post-national” vision, as Poilievre likes to do, the true challenge for him and others will be in finding positive and substantive ways to stitch Canadian society, including citizens from many of the same affected communities, back together again. Until then, Canadians can expect incidents like this to occur with greater frequency and intensity.