Canadians are looking for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to deliver a firm response to Monday's attack on Canadian Forces members. This much is clear from watching reactions pour in across social media. Whatever he says, whatever angle he gives to it — he needs to say something.

More than 24 hours after police allege Montreal-born Ayanle Hassan Ali, 27, walked into a Toronto recruiting centre and wounded two Forces members with a knife and declared, "Allah told me to come and kill people," the prime minister has only issued a tweet.

"Canadians — and the Canadian Forces — will not be intimidated by terror & hate. May the CAF members injured (Monday) make a full recovery." That's it so far.

This soft response is a sign of ... well, we don't know what it's a sign of, which means Canadians are left alone to figure out for themselves what this event of national significance means for their country.

While there are things we don't know — like whether the attacker was a lone wolf or part of a network — this is no excuse for the prime minister not to address Canadians' legitimate concerns about what the attack represents. After all, Canadians' emotions are still raw after the October 2014 terror attack on Parliament Hill.

What could explain this leadership vacuum? A good guess would be that the self-described progressive prime minister is unsure of how to discuss the Islamist angle of this attack.

During the last election, Trudeau made a big deal of accusing former prime minister Stephen Harper of exaggerating the terror threat. He claimed Harper "wants us to be afraid that there is a terrorist hiding behind every leaf and rock around us and we all need to be afraid."

This was nonsense then and is even more so now. Just the other week, CSIS director Michel Coulombe explained to senators and MPs that there are 180 Canadians abroad waging jihad and 60 more who have returned. Then, last week, Ismael Habib, 28, was arrested in Gatineau, Que., suspected of planning a terror attack.

It's far from fear-mongering to talk openly and honestly about such basic, proven facts.

Trudeau needs to evolve his approach to this issue. Harper is gone; it's no longer about defining yourself in opposition to him.

The prime minister needs to chart a new path for leading on this very real issue. Silence is not an option.