Sergeant-at-arms 'flabbergasted' at Ottawa police inaction on harassment amid convoy
Sergeant-at-arms 'flabbergasted' at Ottawa police inaction on harassment amid convoy
Sergeant-at-arms 'flabbergasted' at Ottawa police inaction on harassment amid convoy
OTTAWA -
The sergeant-at-arms for the House of Commons says he was "flabbergasted" at how the Ottawa police allowed the harassment of members of Parliament and staffers to go on during the protests against COVID-19 restrictions in the capital earlier this year.
Patrick McDonell, who works closely with the head of the Parliamentary Protective Service, told a Commons committee Tuesday that MPs and their employees faced harassment nearly every day on Wellington Street in downtown Ottawa, which is under the jurisdiction of local police.
McDonell's remarks come as MPs are being given panic buttons to increase their personal security in response to threats and rising concerns about harassment of politicians.
The procedure and House affairs committee is studying whether to expand federal jurisdiction for the security of the precinct around Parliament Hill to include parts of Wellington Street, where vehicles parked for three weeks during the "Freedom Convoy," and Sparks Street, which includes a pedestrian strip.
McDonell said there was a police car "well within viewing distance" of the events he was describing and that the incidents were reported to Ottawa police "every day."
One person would block the cars of some employees as they arrived at a nearby parking lot and if the employee was a woman, the individual would "bang their car" before moving aside, he said.
A woman employee was accosted by a man who tried to throw what appeared to be a bag of human feces at her before another employee arrived and pushed the man to the ground, McDonell added.
When Ottawa interim police chief Steve Bell appeared before the committee in May, he was asked about how many incidents of harassment of MPs and staff he was aware of during the blockades.
Bell said he did not have that information immediately available, and suggested the question may be better suited for RCMP Deputy Commissioner Michael Duheme, "who would be responsible for the initial response to those incidents."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday there is a "significant amount of anger and frustration" directed at government and officials.
"We need to make sure that anyone who steps up to serve their community at any level of politics is safe and that's what we're taking very seriously," said Trudeau.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said after a cabinet meeting Tuesday he thinks many factors are at play that have made a panic button beneficial for MPs, such as rising online extremist expression that "clearly crosses the Rubicon into criminal content where people receive death threats."
In an earlier interview, Mendicino revealed he has been the subject of death threats on social media in recent weeks after presenting a bill curbing gun ownership.
Carolyn Bennett, minister of mental health and addictions, said after the cabinet meeting that since last summer there have been increasing concerns about the security at the residences of MPs and more protests at the offices of MPs.
Bennett also referenced last year's federal election, where at a campaign event, a handful of gravel was thrown at Trudeau outside a political rally.
"People are executing their anger in ways that I don't think we've seen before," she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 21, 2022.
---
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
Now that the House and Senate have adjourned for the summer, CTVNews.ca breaks down what key pieces of legislation passed in the final days of the spring session, and what key government bills will be left to deal with in the fall.
What does Bill C-21 propose to do? From a handgun 'freeze' to 'red' and 'yellow' flag laws, CTVNews.ca explores the federal government's proposed firearm legislation.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh's recent encounter with protesters at an Ontario election campaign stop, where he was verbally harassed, is casting a renewed spotlight on politicians' security, with Singh telling CTV News that he's witnessing a level of anger he hasn't seen before.
Six candidates are on the ballot to become the Conservative Party's next leader. In holding rallies, doing media interviews, and participating in debates, each contender has been releasing details of their policy platforms. Here's a snapshot of where the candidates stand on the economy, housing, climate, defence and social issues.
The federal Liberals and New Democrats have finalized an agreement that, if maintained, would keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government in power until June 2025, in exchange for progress on longstanding NDP priorities. Trudeau announced Tuesday morning that the confidence-and-supply agreement has been brokered, and is effective immediately.
'After a weeks-long survey of just about everyone I've met ... the overall judgment on Justin Trudeau is one of being a political write-off,' writes Don Martin in an opinion column for CTVNews.ca. 'He’s too woke, too precious, preachy in tone, exceedingly smug, lacking in leadership, fading in celebrity, slow to act, short-sighted in vision and generally getting more irritating with every breathlessly whispered public pronouncement,' Martin writes.
It's time for the whiners to win and the government to reopen the skies, a return to those glory times of flying when the biggest complaints were expensive parking, a middle seat and stale pretzels, commentator Don Martin writes in an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca.
In an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin says Doug Ford coasted to majority re-election victory in Ontario by sticking to the middle of the road: 'Not too progressive. Not too conservative.'
There's a lesson for Canada's political leaders in the short life and quick death of Jason Kenney as premier of Alberta, writes Don Martin in an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca.
It's becoming a make-or-break week for two Conservative premiers as their futures pivot on a pair of defining moments, writes Don Martin in an exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca.
Patrick Brown has been disqualified from the race to replace Erin O'Toole as leader of the federal Conservatives, the leadership election organizing committee announced late Tuesday. Committee chair Ian Brodie announced the stunning move in a written statement that said the party had in recent weeks become aware of 'serious allegations of wrongdoing' by the Brown campaign.
An emergency resolution before the Assembly of First Nations annual meeting to reaffirm the suspension of National Chief RoseAnne Archibald has failed in Vancouver.
The father of the Edmonton girl who was missing for nine days said he was getting ready to post another update on Facebook last Saturday when police knocked on his door.
Two young emergency room doctors, raised and trained in Montreal, are leaving their jobs after only two years to move back to Toronto – and they say the Quebec health-care model and Bill 96 are to blame.
The Crown is seeking to revoke bail for Tamara Lich, a leader of the 'Freedom Convoy,' after she appeared alongside a fellow organizer in an alleged breach of her conditions.
A man charged Tuesday with seven counts of murder after firing off more than 70 rounds at an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago legally bought five weapons, including the high-powered rifle used in the shooting, despite authorities being called to his home twice in 2019 for threats of violence and suicide, police said.
The Bank of Canada's strategy of rapidly increasing its key interest rate in an effort to tackle skyrocketing inflation will likely trigger a recession, says a new study released Tuesday from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Canada became the first country to ratify Finland and Sweden's accession protocols to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday.
The Canadian soldier who recently led a protest march to Ottawa is now facing a court martial for having spoken out against the federal government's COVID-19 vaccine requirements while wearing his uniform.
The Crown is seeking to revoke bail for Tamara Lich, a leader of the 'Freedom Convoy,' after she appeared alongside a fellow organizer in an alleged breach of her conditions.
Two Saanich, B.C., police officers remain in hospital Tuesday, including one in intensive care, a week after six officers were injured and two suspects were killed in a brazen bank robbery and gunfight near Victoria.
The father of the Edmonton girl who was missing for nine days said he was getting ready to post another update on Facebook last Saturday when police knocked on his door.
A man charged Tuesday with seven counts of murder after firing off more than 70 rounds at an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago legally bought five weapons, including the high-powered rifle used in the shooting, despite authorities being called to his home twice in 2019 for threats of violence and suicide, police said.
After more than four months of ferocious fighting, Russia claimed a key victory: full control over one of the two provinces in Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland.
Hackers claim to have obtained a trove of data on 1 billion Chinese from a Shanghai police database in a leak that, if confirmed, could be one of the largest data breaches in history.
Simple advice from a friend to stay near the door may have saved Yenifer Yulisa Cardona Tomás from the deadly fate that befell 53 other migrants when they were abandoned trapped in a sweltering semi-trailer last week on the edge of San Antonio. The 20-year-old from Guatemala's capital said it was already hot on June 27 when she stepped out of the warehouse on the Texas side of the Mexico border where she had been waiting and climbed into the back of the trailer.
Canada became the first country to ratify Finland and Sweden's accession protocols to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday.
An emergency resolution before the Assembly of First Nations annual meeting to reaffirm the suspension of National Chief RoseAnne Archibald has failed in Vancouver.
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has released further details about what will and won’t be allowed under its revised dress code expected to be enforced starting this fall.
A Riverview, N.B., woman has written her MLA and Health Minister Dorothy Shephard in hopes of having her voice heard over wait times to see specialists.
A satellite the size of a microwave oven successfully broke free from its orbit around Earth on Monday and is headed toward the moon, the latest step in NASA's plan to land astronauts on the lunar surface again.
An enormous waterlily in London's Royal Botanic Gardens has been discovered to belong to an entirely new species, after 177 years in the gardens' herbarium.
Twitter on Tuesday challenged the Indian government in court over its recent orders to take down some content on the social media platform, media outlets reported.
Amber Heard's lawyers have asked a judge to throw out the US$10.35 million verdict against her in the defamation case filed by ex-husband Johnny Depp, arguing that the verdict was not supported by the evidence and that one of the jurors may not have been properly vetted by the court.
Movie theatres across the world were flocked with young fans dressed in suits and carrying bananas partaking in the latest TikTok trend to watch the film 'Minions: The Rise of Gru.'
The Bank of Canada's strategy of rapidly increasing its key interest rate in an effort to tackle skyrocketing inflation will likely trigger a recession, says a new study released Tuesday from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Canada's main stock index closed down almost 200 points Tuesday as the price of crude oil plunged and losses mounted in the energy and base metal sectors.
Even though it may seem years away, saving for retirement is a top priority among 26 per cent of Canadians aged 18 to 34, a recent survey from the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan found. However, 79 per cent of respondents in that age group say saving for retirement is prohibitively expensive.
Travellers might not have any control over long lines and cancelled flights, but there are ways to minimize luggage disasters. From tracking devices for your luggage to packing light, here are some tips and tricks for your next trip through the airport.
A vampire-slaying kit once owned by a British aristocrat sparked an international bidding war before selling for six times its estimated price, according to Hansons Auctioneers.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have promoted Hayley Wickenheiser, Ryan Hardy and Darryl Metcalf to assistant general manager and hired Curtis Sanford as a goaltending coach.
Jessica Campbell broke a professional hockey barrier for women as the first female assistant coach in the American Hockey League. The 30-year-old from Rocanville, Sask., was named to the Coachella Valley Firebirds coaching staff Tuesday.
Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has said he supports the cause of environmentalist group Just Stop Oil, but not some of its methods after group members invaded the track during the British Grand Prix.
A Vancouver Island real estate agent has lost his bid to recover a deposit he made on a new Ford Mustang that he intended to offer as a prize in a year-long contest in 2020.
Tesla's sales from April through June fell to their lowest quarterly level since last fall as supply chain issues and pandemic restrictions in China hobbled production of its electric vehicles.
