More than 50 demonstrators gathered around the Human Rights Monument on Elgin Street recently to protest rising concern about possible new security protocols and barriers on Parliament Hill.
Demonstrators say they are worried that in the wake of the Oct. 22 downtown Ottawa shooting of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and the storming of Parliament by gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, security protocols affecting the general population will drastically increase.
In a recent speech, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the House of Commons that he wants to increase the powers of CSIS and police forces.
“Our laws and police powers need to be strengthened in the area of surveillance, detention and arrest,” he said.
Local residents argued in their protest that sufficient security laws already exist at Parliament Hill.
They say further security barriers and protocol would make it harder for people to access Parliament, and would only affect innocent people.
Abdourahman Kahin, a member of the Muslim Presence, an organization that advocates for religious harmony in Canadian society, says he’s worried people will associate his religious beliefs with violence, which might deter him from visiting Parliament Hill with his family.
“This association will make it more complicated for people with Muslim backgrounds to enter Parliament and only increase racial profiling,” he said.
Colin Stuart, one of the demonstration organizers, says heightened security is inevitable and will lead to a change in the way people will gain access to Parliament, by creating stronger barriers.
“It’s an understandable change, but it’s discouraging,” he says. “It will affect families and older people who question whether they are willing to go through this.”
Stuart says the Parliament Buildings need more protection, but he says there should be a check on whether any new security laws will be properly enforced and how the police will go about ensuring that.
“These laws aren’t used for what they are intended to be used for and they are interpreted broadly, so we are back to the situation of reduced rights and freedoms,” he says in terms of possible strengthening of new public safety laws.
Chantal Sundaram, one of the organizers of the event, says heightened security will not prevent threats.
“There are always going to be breaches, it’s impossible to prevent that,” she says.
Sundaram emphasizes the reasons why people such as Zehaf-Bibeau commit these acts needs to be evaluated to ensure proper form of security in Ottawa.
“The RCMP doesn’t need any more special powers,” she says. “I think those who want to live in a safer world need to look at the root causes of why things like these violent acts happens, like looking at the supports people are not getting.”
Anne-Marie Roy, a member of the Canadian Federation of Students who also spoke at the event, says the Parliament Buildings have adequate security, and that any further reduction in public access will move Ottawa towards a state police.
“It will allow our government to arrest people with little reason,” she says. “It will be unwelcoming and it will marginalize communities.”
However, Roy says the aftermath of the shootings will not be major deterrent for people to visit Parliament Hill and its surrounding areas.
“It’s very scary what happened, but it’s not something that happens on a regular basis, so it’s not going to stop me from continuing my life the way I was before,” she says.
With recent reports about rising anti-Muslim harassment in Canada, demonstrators say they hope bigotry won’t be an issue at Parliament Hill.
“We will just have to wait and see,” Roy says.