RCMP now carry submachine-guns on Hill, and not everyone is happy

OTTAWA • RCMP officers have started openly carrying submachine-guns on Parliament Hill as part of a visible increase to security following last October’s terrorist attack.

The firearms’ appearance has prompted mixed reactions from parliamentarians.

“I’m afraid. I feel uncomfortable,” said Liberal Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette. “I hate to see someone with a machine-gun.”

The senator wrote to Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer and Senate counterpart Leo Housakos last Friday, saying “security that relies on firepower has proven to be ineffective, and millions of Americans have paid the price for this false assumption with their lives.”

While they weren’t asked specifically about the submachine-gun, several Conservative MPs said Wednesday that they were happy with the visibly beefed-up security on the Hill.

“I was uncomfortable before,” Conservative MP and government whip John Duncan said.

“We had so few people that were actually armed and very little visible presence of it. And now it’s so noticeable. Any member of the public, any individual visiting the Hill, I think, feels they’re in a place with a high standard of care for their safety.”

Conservative MP John Williamson said: “What I thought was important was this place remains open to the public,” he said. “And the trade-off is the visibility of security forces would be enhanced as both a visible and a real deterrent.”

The RCMP has had MP-5 submachine-guns available for security outside the Parliament Buildings for years. But the police force would not say when or why officers began carrying the weapons in public while standing guard near the Peace Tower. It also wouldn’t say who made the decision.