The mass shooting of nine innocent churchgoers at the Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17 by 21-year-old Dylann Roof sent shockwaves around the world. Public outrage and grief was immediate, with social media flooded with an outpouring of emotion.

Except from the leaders of Canada’s biggest political parties.

Since the Charleston shooting, no statement has been made condemning the egregious act of violence. Despite Canada’s close relationship with the United States, the prime minister has not tweeted, made a speech or sent a press release to show his support for our country’s grieving neighbour.

With acts of terrorism and violence such as the Charlie Hebdo shootings, the mass shooting in Copenhagen, the ISIS execution of Japanese civilians and many more, Harper was quick to condemn them publicly.

Horrified by the act of terror in Copenhagen. Our thoughts & prayers are w/Denmark. We stand strong w/our allies against such atrocities. — Stephen Harper (@pmharper) February 14, 2015

Canada’s thoughts & prayers are w/ the people of Jordan. We stand firm w/ our allies, we will not be intimidated by heinous acts of terror. — Stephen Harper (@pmharper) February 3, 2015

Canada condemns the barbaric act of terror against a synagogue in West Jerusalem. Our thoughts & prayers are with the people of Israel. — Stephen Harper (@pmharper) November 18, 2014

Perhaps Harper believes the Canadian public has grown weary of American’s seemingly endless gun violence, but that would be an incorrect assumption.

The Google Trends report on South Carolina shows a spike in Canadian interest about the state in the days after the shooting. The words “Charleston” and “shooting” were two of the most popular Google search terms from Canadian users last Thursday and Friday. But it’s not just Harper who didn’t condemn what happened in Charleston, neither NDP Leader Tom Mulcair nor Liberal Leader Trudeau made any public statement.

Why do political leaders view the shooting in Charleston differently than the Boston bombings of 2013?

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims in Boston http://t.co/d3AnhBBjjp — Stephen Harper (@pmharper) April 15, 2013

My thoughts and prayers are with Boston and all those at the Boston Marathon. — Tom Mulcair (@ThomasMulcair) April 15, 2013

Saddened by the news coming out of Boston – my thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected. — Justin Trudeau, MP (@JustinTrudeau) April 15, 2013

Professor Errol Mendes of the University of Ottawa, who specializes in constitutional and international law, says some might not consider the actions of a white supremacist an act of terrorism.

“People say, ‘oh it’s not like Muslim terrorism,’ and that smacks of racism,” said Mendes.

Max Abrahms, a professor of political science at Northeastern University and a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, echoes Mendes’ point, saying when American’s think of terrorism, they think of international actors, not domestic ones, and if they do think of homegrown terrorism “they think of them as Muslims who are perceived as unAmerican.”

“If you asked Americans to name the first ten terrorist groups that come to mind, I think relatively few would name the Klu Klux Klan, who was a group that used violence against civilians. They lynched black people to terrorize the population,” he said.

Many American’s wouldn’t realize that one of the biggest terrorists actions against the United States was caused by a homegrown white supremacist — Timothy McVeigh, who was responsible for the Oklahoma bombing in April 1995 — which left 168 people dead. “By most standards that is a huge terrorist attack,” Abrahms said.

In light of Charleston, it might be a tipping point in how Americans view acts of violence committed by white supremacists, Abrahms said, with Wal-Mart and other businesses refusing to sell Confederate battle flag merchandise and calls for the removal of the flag in South Carolina.

“The societal response is so at odds with what Dylann Roof wanted,” said Abrahms who further noted the shooting has bridged some pundits on the left and right.

“When Jon Stewart comes out and says this is unequivocally terrorism and Bill O’Reilly says the same thing, that shows a consensus from a wide spectrum of political views,” he said.

Mendes stressed that terrorism, whomever commits it, should be treated equally in its danger to society.

“There is no such thing as white terrorism or brown terrorism. Individuals use terrorism against the state, or individual to achieve some other political, cultural or religious end,” said Mendes. And the government should not perceive “a certain type of terrorism of deserving of special attention and others not.”

But political science professor Michael Zekulin of the University of Calgary, who researches terrorism and radicalization, said determining whether Roof’s actions are to be classified as terrorism depends on whether they are politically or personally motivated.

Zekulin said that terrorism experts themselves are split at the moment on how to classify the shooting. “You’re playing around the edges of a definition,” but he says it’s increasingly looking as though Roof’s actions would be considered an act of terrorism.

I have no choice. I am not in the position to, alone, go into the ghetto and fight. I chose Charleston because it is most historic city in my state, and at one time had the highest ratio of blacks to Whites in the country. We have no skinheads, no real KKK, no one doing anything but talking on the internet. Well someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world, and I guess that has to be me. – Excerpt from Roof’s alleged manifesto

On the question of government silence on what happened in Charleston, Zekulin said, “Quite frankly, I wish they would err on the side of caution and not throw around the “t” word in any incident until we know for sure.”