Shock and Tragedy in Ottawa

Parliament Hill, Ottawa. September 2014.

About a month ago, I spent a day revisiting some of my favorite places on and near Parliament Hill in Ottawa, where I worked for the better part of a year in the late 1970s. I was a staffer to Liberal Member of Parliament Marcel Prud'homme (Montréal-Saint Denis), later a distinguished Canadian Senator. Always I political junkie, I learned to appreciate the dedication of elected officials as I worked long hours myself in the West Block. They're always "on"; can't even go to church on Sunday without interruption.

It was a happy time. I liked my office in the West Block and the people who worked there. I loved the daily Question Period, especially on Friday morning. I learned to follow bills and identify stakeholders for pending legislation. The best time was Wednesday morning: always a few hours to get caught up with work when MPs from all parties met for Caucus sessions, segregated by party.

My heart sank when I learned of this morning's shootings at the Canadian War Memorial and in the Centre Block. I knew right away that the building would be full of MPs and Senators gathered for Caucus, and was horrified to turn on CNN and see so many uniformed police officers exposed to gunfire on the lower level, just inside the front door. The shots must have been terrifying, magnified by the echoes in that space, but officers pressed forward, without apparent regard for personal safety.


Canadian War Memorial, Ottawa. September 2014.

The Canadian soldier who was guarding the tomb of the Unknown Soldier is dead, the second member of the Canadian military murdered this week: Patrice Vincent was killed in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu on Monday after a "radicalized" man rammed him and another soldier with a car.

The gunman, whose identity hasn't yet been released, is dead, shot by a true hero, Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers. The scope of the attacks isn't yet known, but it seems now that the gunman may not have been acting alone.

It's a sad day for Ottawa, for all Canadians and for people of good will around the world. This beautiful and peaceful capital city is unsettled and weary as evening falls on this late October day. Ottawa and Parliament Hill lost their last vestige of innocence this morning, forever changed but not vanquished by powers of darkness.