Canada Day’s Parliament Hill security delays ‘not acceptable’: police chief

Screening times at the two entry points to Parliament Hill on Canada Day were “not acceptable,” says Ottawa police Chief Charles Bordeleau, and created a domino effect that marred the celebrations for thousands at the country’s 150th birthday bash.

Security inside the Parliamentary precinct, which on Saturday extended onto Wellington Street, is the responsibility of the RCMP and the Parliamentary Protective Service, which also managed the lines and screening stations.

“Three to four hours in a queue line waiting to get on the Hill — clearly that is not acceptable,” Chief Charles Bordeleau said Monday. “We were advised they would process 10,000 people an hour. Clearly that didn’t happen, which caused some fairly significant queue lines, extending into the downtown core, which we ended up having to manage in our streets.”

Melissa Rusk, spokeswoman for PPS, said the stormy weather made searches more difficult. PPS had actually aimed to screen 8,000 people per hour, she said, but that was based on the expectation people would arrive dressed for summer weather. In fact, they arrived in rain gear, many with backpacks with food and drinks since there would be no food available on the Hill.

Even so, individual search times averaged from eight to 25 seconds per person and the wait times once in the corral were never more than two to three hours, Rusk said. Some cleared the line in 10-15 minutes.

But for every one who breezed through security, others were left fuming and frustrated. Many took to social media or contacted this newspaper with their complaints.

“Ottawa should be embarrassed,” “Shame on Ottawa,” and “Ottawa failed its tourists;” were just some of the subject lines in those emails.

Bordeleau said planners brought in a security expert from Manchester, England, who warned that one small hiccup can have a cascading effect on security plans.

On Canada Day, though, there were three: the slowness of the screening process, the torrential rain that meant much of the crowd arrived downtown at the same time (and led to flooding on Parliament’s lawns), and the arrival of the Royals’ motorcade, which temporarily shut down all movement on and off the Hill.

“We were very clear upfront — come out early if you want a spot,” Bordeleau said. “Some people were out there at 7 or 8 a.m., and they got on the Hill. No big issue. Then the weather happened and lot of people were iffy about whether they were going to come out. Then they saw the weather clear up, so everybody decided to come down at the same time.”

Bordeleau, who pedalled about the core on a bike Saturday and even spent a stint directing traffic, said the queues snaked down Elgin and Bank streets as far Albert and Slater, which were very busy with buses. Police rearranged barricades and tried to direct people as best they could, he said. Police also used social media to warn of the long lineups. Officials could have done a better job warning people when Parliament Hill was nearing its capacity of 36,000 people that they should go to other venues, he said.

Bordeleau praised the Ottawa officers who were on duty. “They stood there through rain and storms and sunny weather. They were thrown some curveballs and they did extremely well,” he said.

Ottawa police will meet with the RCMP and PPS to debrief the plan to see what worked, what didn’t and what can be done better in the future, he said. Bordeleau suggested a third screening station could be set up. Rusk of the PPS said some sort of crowd-management technique further from the checkpoints could also ease the pressure on screeners.

“The reality is that today we know we have to increase security measures and with that comes an inconvenience to the public. It’s about trying to strike that right balance,” Bordeleau said.

“Our No. 1 priority was the safety of people so, from that perspective, we had no major events. We had a handful of arrests for intoxication and the like. We were very pleased to have the event go off without a major incident. That’s a success.”

Many of those caught in the crowd chaos were less charitable.

“Ottawa should be embarrassed,” wrote Ken McCarvill of Nepean, who called the lineups for Parliament Hill “a total fiasco.”

“All year all we have heard is, ‘Come to Parliament Hill for Canada Day.’ They forgot to say, ‘Come, but if you want to get on the Hill you are totally on your own as to how to make it there,’ ” McCarvill wrote. “This has to be one of the most poorly organized events in this city. Way to go Ottawa 150. I expected better, silly me.”

Darlene Macartney of Toronto complained of disorganization and poor services for those waiting in line.

“You wanted us to come to Ottawa. We came. We spent overthe-top exorbitant prices for hotel rooms,” she wrote. “We got up early in the rain to line up for what we thought might be two hours to get onto Parliament Hill. No. We waited 5 and a half hours with no exaggeration,” Macartney wrote.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson was not available for comment Monday, according to his spokeswoman. MP Melanie Joly, minister of Canadian Heritage, which was in charge of the Canada 150 event, did not respond to requests for comment.

Many frustrated revellers vented to Ottawa Tourism through social media about the three-hour-plus wait.

“On social media there definitely have been people reaching out to us via Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Overall the message is positive, but, yes, some people were very disappointed,” said Ottawa Tourism spokesperson Jantine Van Kregten, who said they suggested a variety of options — including Major’s Hill Park, Canadian

Museum of History, and Jacques Cartier Park — to those who did not want to stand in line for the Hill.

Saturday’s downpours made for, quite literally “a perfect storm,” she said.

“The crowds were bigger, the number of people coming for their first Canada Day was bigger, the Royal visit had special security concerns,” Kregten said. “And then there was the weather.”

Retiree Michael Hadskis, on the other hand, had nothing but praise for Saturday’s party. Hadskis and his wife, joined by friends from Michigan, took the bus downtown from Kanata at 8 a.m. and were on the Hill by 9.

“The lines moved continually. Everyone was very professional. ... Our experience was extremely positive,” Hadskis said.

“There was going to be half-amillion people downtown. I mean, connect the dots. If you wanted to be on the Hill, you had to get up early. You can’t expect to saunter downtown and expect the waters to part for you. Wasn’t going to happen.”