Liberals MPs want to expand security on and near Parliament Hill following the peaceful Freedom Convoy demonstration earlier this year.
The protest, a response to two years of Covid-19 restrictions and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s punitive vaccine mandates, plugged up the capital’s downtown core. For three weeks, semi-trailer trucks lined Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill.
Since Trudeau invoked the federal Emergencies Act to forcefully remove protesters in February, Wellington Street has been blocked from vehicle access.
But that additional protection isn’t enough for Liberal MPs on a Parliamentary committee who studied security. According to the Canadian Press, Liberals now want a land transfer between the City of Ottawa and the federal public services department to fold Wellington and Sparks Street — a pedestrian street one block away from Parliament — to become part of the Parliamentary precinct.
The committee recommended that the streets fall under Parliamentary Protective Service’s jurisdiction, even if they don’t become a part of the precinct. Some MPs also want Wellington Street to remain closed to vehicle access between Kent Street and the National War Memorial.
Conservative MPs oppose the recommendations, saying politicians should not be responsible for security.
A dissenting report from the Conservative Party said experts should have been allowed to craft a joint proposal on the details of a security plan.
“We were pleased to hear that there are positive working relationships among the various partners and that the events of recent months have led to even greater awareness of Parliament’s unique situation as well as stronger inter-agency collaboration,” the Conservative report reads.
“In our view, the ever-evolving future of parliamentary security should leverage and enhance these dynamics, rather than be needlessly disrupted through the imposition of politicians’ instructions. To be certain, we did not hear a compelling argument from witnesses that politicians ought to wade in and give directions to policing and security professionals.”
