Canadian flags at half-mast after shooting, not transgender pride banner
- Published on February 13, 2026 at 19:48
- 2 min read
- By Gwen Roley, AFP Canada
Mourning gestures took place across Canada after the country's deadliest mass shooting in decades struck a remote mining town in British Columbia province, but Prime Minister Mark Carney issued no directive to fly the transgender pride flag, as social media users claimed after police identified the shooter as a transgender woman. In reality, federal buildings collectively lowered Canadian flags to half-staff to mark the tragedy, which AFP confirmed by observing a federal administrative complex in downtown Montreal.
"The Trans Flag will be flown at half mast- PM Carney," says a February 11, 2026 X post sharing footage of a visibly emotional Carney speaking in Ottawa.
In the clip, Carney says he "asked that the flags in the Peace Tower here and across all government buildings be flown at half-mast for the next seven days."
On X, the popular right-wing user "Catturd" -- whom AFP has repeatedly fact-checked for spreading disinformation -- amplified the transgender pride flag claim to his four million followers.
Similar allegations also jumped to posts on Facebook, Instagram and Threads.
The posts came after Canadian police on February 11 identified 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, a transgender woman, as the shooter who opened fire the day prior on a school in Tumbler Ridge, a tight-knit town of about 2,400 residents.
Police said the suspect -- who killed her mother and stepbrother and shot dead six other people at a school -- was a high school dropout who had been visited several times by law enforcement over mental health concerns (archived here). She was found dead at the school from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
AFP already debunked two claims misidentifying the suspect, sometimes attached to transphobic comments.
The posts claiming the transgender pride flag was ordered to be flown at half-mast are similarly inaccurate.
A February 10 posting on the Canadian government website declared that the country's national flag, bearing the red and white maple leaf motif, would be lowered to half-staff at all federal buildings for seven days (archived here).
Further keyword searches returned results reporting on several provincial and municipal governments flying their national banners in the same mourning posture (archived here and here).
AFP visited the Guy-Favreau Complex, a federal government office in downtown Montreal, and captured visuals of the Canadian flag at half-mast on February 12 (archived here).
A live camera feed of Parliament Hill in Ottawa on February 13 showed the Peace Tower referenced by Carney also flying the maple leaf flag at half-staff (archived here).
The prime minister and other federal leaders are scheduled to visit Tumbler Ridge to attend a mourning vigil on February 13.
Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.
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