Canada’s leaders deserve greater protection

It will take a court to decide the fate of Corey Hurren. He faces 22 charges after a truck loaded with guns crashed through the gates of the Ottawa residence of both Canada’s governor general and prime minister.

But it will require neither judge nor jury to find the federal government guilty of failing to properly protect two of this country’s most important leaders.

While it’s chilling to consider what might have happened, it beggars belief to realize what actually occurred and how massive a threat it posed to human life and national stability. Exactly one week ago — July 2 — an intruder driving a Dodge Ram pickup truck tore through the fence at Rideau Hall at 6:30 a.m., then walked to a nearby greenhouse, allegedly carrying at least one weapon.

For more than 10 minutes, the intruder roamed the grounds, apparently unchallenged. At 6:45 a.m., RCMP officers located him and began talking to him. An hour and 45 minutes later, he was taken into custody. Later Hurren, a 46-year-old Manitoban, was charged with a variety of serious offences that involve weapons and uttering threats.

It was fortunate, to say the least, that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his family and Gov.-gen. Julie Payette were not at their Rideau Hall residences when this egregious security breach happened. The RCMP allege the intruder carried a high capacity magazine and four loaded firearms. In addition, police allege the suspect threatened “to cause death or bodily harm to” Trudeau.

Canadians need to know how all this could have happened. Then they need to see evidence that new and robust security measures will be put in place to ensure nothing like it occurs again.

Why was it so easy for a simple pickup truck to make it through the physical barrier surrounding the homes of the governor-general and the prime minister? There’s no reason to suspect this was part of an elaborate conspiracy involving several people. It didn’t take explosives to get through that fence — just one person and a vehicle like the one millions of Canadians drive every day.

And why, once the intruder got past that barrier, did it take police so long to find him? It’s virtually certain there’s some kind of closed circuit television and other electronic monitoring at Rideau Hall. Yet whatever protective system the RCMP employs, security expert Wesley Wark, a University of Toronto professor emeritus, observes, “It seems like a slow timeline of response in … this incident.”

That’s putting it mildly.

This isn’t the first time in recent years a prime minister of Canada has faced a serious threat, either. In October 2014, a gunman was shot dead after murdering a Canadian soldier at the National War Memorial and attacking Parliament Hill’s Centre Block, where then-prime minister Stephen Harper was working.

You’d think that after that frighteningly close call, the federal government and the federal police force would have effectively reviewed all the security measures afforded to Canada’s prime minister and governor general.

You’d expect any security holes would have been filled. The events of last Thursday strongly suggest you’d be wrong.

The country owes far more to its head of government — the prime minister — and its governor general, who serves vital state and ceremonial functions. They should not have to fear for their lives or the lives of loved ones as they fulfil their duties to Canada.

But the country owes more to itself, too. In shielding our leaders and their homes, we guard the democratic institutions that are part of the lifeblood of this nation.