Chatham-Kent is mourning the loss of a former high school teacher today.
Bernard Cameron was shot and killed in his kitchen in the Ottawa-area earlier this week. He taught at a few Chatham-Kent high schools from the early 1970s to the early 1990s, and recently became a municipal councillor in Mississippi Mills (west of Ottawa) during his teaching retirement.
Chatham-Kent Councillor Derek Robertson was one of his students while at Chatham-Kent Secondary School (CKSS) and says Cameron left a lasting impact on the lives of students.
"I think he encouraged people to step outside of their comfort zone and for young people to speak up and be heard," says Robertson. "He was an interesting and very creative man, and certainly wasn't a wallflower by any stretch. I noticed in my final year he made a comment in my yearbook: 'Derek, best of luck, don't lose site of what counts.' I certainly hope I haven't and it's interesting that we share a little parallel having been elected (to municipal politics) in the same terms."
Police say the shooter is the former common-law spouse of Cameron's daughter. She was also seriously injured in the shooting, but is expected to recover. Authorities say the shooter eventually turned the gun on himself.