THE REVIEWS ARE IN ...
And complaints rained down on Ottawa after Canada Day
SHAME ON YOU OTTAWA You failed us!
PERHAPS THE TERRORISTS ARE WINNING
I would like to hear a formal apology from your organization
Maybe you’ll handle the 200th better
SHAMEFUL FIASCO
I have never seen such a poor, chaotic display Why were there lines going nowhere?
ABSOLUTELY EMBARRASSING SCREWUP
Soaked to the bone, barricaded in endless lines that turned out to go nowhere, Joe and Jill Canada spent a miserable Canada Day on the Hill.
Some visitors suffered in silence. But many wrote to Canadian Heritage, the department they blame for the security snafus.
“Shame.” “Outrageous.” “Fiasco.”
Letter writers used these words and stronger ones, pouring out their frustration, going so far as to express shame at being Canadian.
The Citizen has obtained copies of their complaints (with names removed) through an access-to-information request.
Ottawans were angry. Visitors, even more so. Let’s take a look at what happens when the empire writes back.
“You wanted us to come to Ottawa. We came. We spent over the top exorbitant prices for hotel rooms. 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 five and a half hours in the rain . ... When we reached Kent St. it was barricaded ... You even acknowledged 450,000 were coming to Ottawa for Canada 150. Did you think we would be satisfied to sit in our hotel rooms watching the event on TV? Hell for $600 a night I don’t think so. Shame on you Ottawa. Shame on you Heritage Canada and the organizers. You failed us!”
The answer came a few days later: “Canadian Heritage and all of its security partners have worked diligently so that all Canadians could celebrate Canada Day in a very safe atmosphere and environment.” The email gives a list of security partners and says they got faster on July 2. It promises to share the writer’s concerns.
(Shortly after Canada Day, the Parliamentary Protective Service said wait times were never more than 2.5 hours — a view widely disputed by those who did the waiting.)
From an Albertan: “Thousands lined up for hours and never got to set foot on Parliament Hill. Why were there lines going nowhere? Why were there no volunteers herding people? Why were there no washroom facilities for the thousands waiting to get in? Definitely not worth the outrageous hotel prices we paid ...”
And the reply: “Canadian Heritage and all of its security partners have worked diligently ...”
One out-of-towner visited the Hill on June 30 without problem. (Security staff even missed the Swiss Army knife she accidentally brought.)
Then came Canada Day. “Got into a lineup about 8:30 in the morning that snaked through many streets. We were in line until after 2 p.m. We never did get into the Hill. Had to watch the opening ceremonies on cellphones.”
It turned out to be a “false line” and her group was told to start over, but gave up.
“I have never seen such a poor, chaotic display. Shame on you Ottawa. You actually ruined Canada Day for many thousands of people visiting Ottawa. If this is the way Canadian citizens now have to be treated at an event in our country then perhaps the terrorists are winning.”
Reply: “Canadian Heritage and all of its security partners have worked diligently ...”
A local woman titles her email “Shameful fiasco on many levels” and describes being stuck in a dense mass of people on Elgin Street near Albert Street, unable to see which way they should go.
“We were all extremely lucky that nothing sparked any panic, because we were corralled, with no place to go, no capacity to move (I kid you not), no view of anything and a (I presume) dysfunctional sound system. There was a huge television screen but no sound.” She said some “hot heads” tried to push through the crowd. “It was an explosive situation ... Wasn’t there any brain at the top that could see how DANGEROUS this situation was? ...
“I would like to hear a formal apology from your organization.”
She adds that the Hill is too small to hold all the people who tried to go there, which “should have rung warning bells.”
Once again, in reply, “Canadian Heritage and all of its security partners have worked diligently ...”
A comment left at the Capital Info Kiosk: “The organizers of Canada Day 2017 should be ashamed of themselves for the shoddy work that went into this year’s event. Thousands of people spent at least four hours in line this morning only to be told they were not in the ‘official’ line ... The two policewomen at the corner of Bank and Sparks were desperately trying to calm frustrated people down and explained they wished they had a way to communicate to the crowd that continued to line up in the wrong line.”
A local visitor who invited a friend from London wrote to Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly: “After that absolutely embarrassing screwup on security on Canada Day, I am stunned that you have not stepped forward to at least acknowledge that the Parliamentary Security detail completely blew it … Please, I beg you to step out of your protective shell and acknowledge what a mess Canada Day was and take some responsibility for it.”
This went to Joly and to Mayor Jim Watson: “A half million people were forecasted to visit Ottawa this Canada Day. We are informed that the capacity of Parliament Square is 31 thousand … A simple math calculation says that only about six per cent of those visitors can actually be accommodated. There was therefore no reason for long lines of sad families to stand for hours waiting to be admitted when there was zero chance that they would ever make it.” The writer suggests giving out tickets.
Another email to Joly: “I would respectfully suggest to Justin that he should consider sending you for some intensive ‘major event planning’ training because you certainly flopped badly for the July 1 event on Parliament Hill this year … Might I suggest that you start with some small weekend bake sale events for charity …”
To cap it all off, Joly offended a birder: “This past Canada Day had to be the worst I have seen since moving to Ottawa 40 years ago. What a mess your department made of getting to and from the Hill. Today I also read that you are against approving the Grey Jay as Canada’s national bird. Why? Probably time for you to resign!”
A visitor who recommends learning from Toronto police wrote to the Parliamentary Protective Service: “Canadians and tourists travelled from around the country and the world, many at great expense, to visit Parliament Hill, and many were denied the chance due to poor planning and inadequate resources being assigned for security screening ... As head of the Parliamentary Protective Service, what are you going to do today to fix the problem and going forward what are you going to avoid another fiasco?”
There’s even evidence that the say-nothing replies — typical of what government issues to news media inquiries — got on people’s nerves.
“Maybe you’ll handle the 200th better. You have 50 years to plan it,” an “angry and embarrassed” local resident wrote.
Canadian Heritage wrote back with assurance that it and all of its security partners have worked diligently so that all Canadians could celebrate safely.
It didn’t fly well. The frustrated writer took to his or her iPad again:
“It would be nice if you actually acknowledged and responded to the problems encountered instead of providing a completely irrelevant response. Why bother!”
There’s no record of a further reply. Other voices from the crowd: “Many lives were endangered when we were all gated in on Elgin Street with no means of escape.”
“I am very saddened and had a good cry!”
“I took time off work which I do not get paid for. We spent money on hotel rooms for two nights …”
“This msg isn’t about the rain. It is about the deception of the government allowing tens of thousands of Canadians to mob together in a futile attempt to gain access to a venue that could not accommodate a fraction of us.”
“Your treatment of us as Canadians was dismal, and disappointing. You invited us to a party and you didn’t even open the door.”