Even the best-aired room can sometimes be fouled by stench. While the majority of Canadians were shocked by the slaughter in Quebec and demonstrated their solidarity with the victims in countless vigils coupled with innumerable expressions of sympathy, a small but toxic online community instead injected poison and blamed Liberals, immigration and Islam.

What these seem to ignore is that every mosque that has been vandalized, every hijab torn off and every slur hurled has not only provoked revulsion towards the perpetrators but elicited an unprecedented outpouring of sympathy for the targeted. It is possible these incidents have even stimulated an increased interest in learning more about that faith. That would be poetic justice.

Canada’s moral landscape is simply too grounded in rich soil, nourished enough by universal values and sufficiently invigorated by ethical winds to succumb to the occasional malodorous fume.