RCMP security overhaul planned
Document’s release coincides with arrival of OPP investigation report
The much- anticipated report on the OPP investigation into the attack on Parliament Hill Oct. 22 arrived at the House of Commons Wednesday, but it’s not known whether the assessment will be made public.
Its arrival coincides with the release of an RCMP document describing a plan to overhaul various policies, procedures, equipment and manpower for not only Parliament Hill security, but also the protection of international diplomats and VIPs, federal ministers, major public events and Canadian airliners overseas.
A former RCMP deputy commissioner suspects some of the measures are a pre- emptive response to probable criticism in the report. The Ontario Provincial Police examined the Mounties’ and House and Senate security forces’ handling of events the day ISIL sympathizer Michael Zehaf- Bibeau evaded Hill security and stormed Centre Block with a rifle and knife.
Other reforms, outlined in a new RCMP planning document for 2015- 16, may result from the rapid profusion of security- related domestic and international events over the past year, said Pierre- Yves Bourduas, former head of the RCMP’s federal and international operations and protective policing.
That includes the rise of ISIL, the fatal Oct. 20 terror attack in Quebec against Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, and the government’s sweeping C- 51 security bill and the enhanced mandate it proposes for Canada’s spy agency.
“The way I read this, the canvass is more or less everything that preceded Oct. 20- 22, and then the organization reacting to ( those attacks), and solely domestically but also abroad,” said Bourduas, now a public safety management consultant.
The RCMP document outlines several planned changes this year to its protective policing duties, “to identify and respond to the increasing and changing nature of criminal threats, whether against dignitaries, the public at major events, or on select registered aircraft.”
The Mounties had no immediate comment Wednesday. The planned reforms include: “The threat assessment process for international protected persons and major events will be modernized, with improvements to be made to threat assessment products. Such enhancements will involve extensive consultations with domestic and international partners to revamp current policies and procedures.”
Said Bourduas: “One has to wonder what’s the link, with the emphasis put on working with international partners and C- 51. I’m wondering if you could not read in there, the RCMP reaching out to international partners, considering as background C- 51 and the enhanced role proposed for CSIS.
“What’s going to be interesting,” added Bourduas, “is how this will link with the upcoming budget.”
Meanwhile, the OPP report was delivered to House Speaker Andrew Scheer, fulfilling a request he made Oct. 29 for an independent police investigation.
The report is expected to shed light on what went right and wrong with RCMP security patrolling the grounds of Parliament Hill and, precisely what happened inside Centre Block. Zehaf- Bibeau was felled just metres away from a room hosting the Conservative caucus of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his MPs.