Canada Day an exercise in chaos
Our family with young children was excited to make the special trip from Toronto to Ottawa to experience Canada’s 150th birthday. As we got on the bus going downtown for Canada Day, you could feel the excitement.
However, once we got off the bus and made our way toward Parliament Hill, we were told the security line would take between three and five hours to get through. How could any family with children be expected to stand in a line without access to washrooms for up to five hours? So we decided to watch the ceremonies instead on the big screens downtown. There were likely thousands of us downtown who could not get into Parliament Hill, and yet there appeared to be only two big screens, one of which broke down in the opening minutes of the ceremony. The other big screen was hard to hear with an RCMP helicopter hovering overhead.
So we gave up on the big screens and walked to the ByWard Market. There was still great energy but no extra washrooms for the thousands of people, so we stood in incredibly long lines waiting for access to a bathroom.
By this point, we decided to head home, disappointed with the poor planning and poor experience. As our kids said as we squeezed into a packed bus to get home, “That wasn’t much of a celebration but it was a big disappointment.” Michael Davidson, Toronto
No way to treat out-of-town guests
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 on to Parliament Hill. We waited five-and-ahalf hours. When we reached Kent Street, it was barricaded. We finally pushed our way through. It was terrible.
Where were the volunteers that would direct lineups? Where were the barricades to stop people from jumping the lines? It was total disorganization and a huge disappointment for the thousands of tourists who spent a lot of money in your city. Even the setup for video monitors was disappointing.
We were lucky and persevered through the lineup, the torrential rain, the mud and slop on the Hill and enjoyed a spectacular performance. Maybe the City of Ottawa or Canadian Heritage should have looked to experiences such as those organizing your Blues Festival. I heard from locals how secure but accommodating it is to high volumes of people.
I am from Toronto. We manage large events and crowds all the time. Did the Ottawa organizers consider consulting? After all, you invited us to come. Darlene Macartney, Toronto
Issue tickets for events on the Hill
A half-million people were forecast to visit Ottawa this Canada Day. We are informed that the “capacity” of Parliament Square is 31,000. If free access to the Hill has to be limited for security reasons, a simple math calculation says that only about six per cent of those visitors can be accommodated. There was therefore no reason for the long lines of sad families to stand for hours waiting to be admitted, when there was zero chance that they would ever make it.
If this year’s security concerns are to be the new norm, I suggest that, in future, gratis tickets be made available on a first-come-first-served basis. Only ticket holders will be admitted to the Hill on Canada Day, and there will be no lines of frustrated hopefuls.
In future, if we want to welcome visitors to our city on Canada Day, we need to make sure that there are other suitable venues for them to go to if they cannot reach the Hill. Adequate provision needs to be made for them to see and hear the main events as they happen. Provision needs to be made to feed them, and to provide adequate sanitation facilities. The absent or not-working video screens, overflowing restaurants, uncollected garbage, total lack of street entertainers and transport chaos reflected very badly on our city this year.
I hope we learn a lesson from this fiasco and do much better in future. Robert Farrell, Ottawa
Next time, add a gondola ride
That had to be the most miserable Canada Day in my 35-year experience. I’ve been to rainy days which were still OK, and I’ve been to sunny days, but Justin Trudeau couldn’t make this one good.
There shouldn’t have been security to the extent it created four-hour-plus waits. If security officers can’t differentiate a terrorist from happy families and groups, then they need to resign. And the cost of this event was certainly not worth it. Think of the heritage buildings that could have been built for this cost.
And there was nothing of outstanding excitement (discounting a scruffy teepee and Charles and Camilla!). This city needs some pizzazz, and a gondola ride from the Hill to the Museum of History would be a good start. I will never visit the Hill again while this kind of security is in place. Andrew Hartshorn, Kanata
Security the main party pooper
I fully understand the nature and challenge of public safety operations in an era of terrorist threats. However, I suggest local government, law enforcement and Parliament Hill security planners capitulated to the idea of a terrorist attack on Canada Day, spoiling the atmosphere and frustrating many Canadians who had travelled long and far. Security officials and planners fundamentally erred by not putting the desire of Canadians to party first, then designing security measures to suit that desire. Instead, they tried to control Canadians according to an intricate crowd-control operation that, in many ways, was somewhat undemocratic, if not just plain dumb. Public security measures around the parliamentary precinct did more to dampen the fun of celebration than the persistent rain.
Such tight control of access to Parliament Hill produced uncomfortable hints of a security-state mentality. Moreover, it is not apparent that any serious thought was given to the possibility of the need for a sudden or mass exit from Parliament Hill in the event of a severe thunderstorm or, in the worst case, a suicide bomber or sniper (not necessarily a terrorist act).
In future, on Canada Day, the entire parliamentary precinct should be closed off to all vehicles and turned into a giant pedestrian mall. Canadians should be allowed to wander at will, enjoy lunch or dinner al fresco on Sparks Street and watch the Parliament Hill show on large video screens placed elsewhere on Wellington and Sparks Street. Security forces can continue to occupy rooftop positions, but at street level, security forces, both overt and covert, should be among Canadians, not attempting to control them.
Canadians and government officials are fond of claiming we will not let the threat of a terrorist attack change the way we live our lives. We should not let security forces force change the way we wish to live our lives either. Security forces exist to protect citizens, no matter how difficult it might be. Above all, don’t capitulate to threats. James S. Cox, PhD, Brig.-Gen. (Ret’d), Ottawa
‘Real’ people should help security plans
This was an absolute security fiasco. The trouble is, security, police and state dignitaries never have trouble with access.
I’m suggesting maybe a “real” citizen on future security planning for any major public event where crowd control is better handled than on this Canada Day. Jim Kowbel, Ottawa