Canada's foreign affairs minister said Friday he is reviewing the country's relationship with the Palestinian Authority and temporarily recalling senior diplomats from Israel, the West Bank and the United Nations missions in New York and Geneva to assess the implications of Thursday's U.N. General Assembly vote to recognize the Palestinians as a non-member observer state.

John Baird said in a statement he is deeply disappointed by the U.N. vote, in which Canada joined Israel, the United States and a few other countries in voting "no." He said the only way to peace in the Middle East is through negotiations, not what he called unilateral actions.

Recalling the diplomats will "inform Canada's response" to the vote, he said.

Baird, whose Conservative government is a staunch ally of Israel, travelled to New York to personally vote against it and gave a speech where he suggested Canada will take retaliatory measures against the Palestinians.

Baird didn't say what Canada would do, but a senior Canadian official said Canada has no intention at this point of cutting off relations or sending Palestinian diplomats home. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the government "will be thoughtful and deliberate in taking steps to express our displeasure at this unilateral action."

U.S. lawmakers have threatened to cut off aid if the Palestinians use their newfound status against Israel. That could be an option for Canada, which has provided about $300 million of aid to the Palestinians over the last five years.

The Globe and Mail reports that "Canadian diplomats who were on the ground in Tehran supported the move" to close the Canadian Embassy there last Friday, because of fear that in the event of an attack by Israel or the United States, it would be targeted by mobs in the same way that the U.S. Embassy was in 1979 and the British Embassy was last November. On both occasions, officials of the Islamic Republic helped orchestrate the storming of the compounds:

Canadian officials cited a range of reasons for the extraordinary decision to expel all Iranian diplomats from Ottawa and close the mission in Tehran, chief among them the threat to the security of Canadian personnel, particularly if Israel or the United States should launch an attack on Iran in an effort to eliminate Tehran's alleged nuclear-weapons program.

"With no American embassy in Tehran and the British embassy closed, the next most likely target for retaliation would have been the Canadians," said a former government official with experience in Iran.

That is why, these officials say, there was no objection from the Canadian diplomats when the order to evacuate came down, especially since the mission was serving no practical purpose anyway.

In addition, Canada is preparing to officially designate the Islamic Republic as a state sponsor of terrorism. Reuters quoted a Canadian government spokesman as saying that "Canada wants to be able to continue to speak up on the Iranian regime's behavior, and we didn't want our guys in there as hostage." Ironically, the embassy's closure seems to have emboldened supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and the Mojahedin-e Khalgh Organization (MKO) in Canada to press their campaign to have the MKO delisted as a foreign terrorist organization.

Weighing the question of how the Islamic Republic might respond to his government's decision to severe relations, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated, "Do I anticipate specific actions? No, not necessarily, but as I say, we should all know by now that this is a regime that does not stop at anything. So that's just the reality of the situation." (...)

Quebec’s newly-elected Premier Pauline Marois has been rushed off stage during her acceptance speech, after shots were heard inside Montreal's Metropolis concert hall. One man is reported dead.

The other person injured is in a critical condition, Montreal police have informed Canadian media.

After firing shots the gunman started a fire behind the downtown Montreal venue where Marois’ supporters had gathered, Reuters reports.

Video has emerged, reportedly showing a man with a gun on the ground surrounded by police.

The gunman is said to be 50 years old and was apparently shouting “the English are waking up” in French as he was subdued.

Marois returned to the stage a few minutes later urging her supporters who packed the hall to leave calmly, stating that "there was a little unfortunate incident."

Everyone has been evacuated and police are investigating.