Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Parliament Hill Security Moves Include Guns, Checkpoints

OTTAWA - Security is being tightened on Parliament Hill through additional screening, the arming of guards and the elimination of public tours during caucus meetings.

And House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer says more changes may be in the works as a result of an ongoing, comprehensive review of Hill security.

The review was initiated after a gunman fatally shot a soldier at the National War Memorial on Oct. 22 and burst into Parliament's Centre Block before being killed in a hail of bullets.

Earlier this week, Scheer and Sen. Vern White announced the separate House of Commons and Senate security forces would be merged.

Members of the unified parliamentary security team are being trained to carry firearms.

They will continue to patrol the interior of buildings on the Hill, while the RCMP secures the parliamentary grounds.

In addition, Scheer outlined several other interim security steps already in place:

— Installing security posts outside the Centre Block to conduct preliminary screening of visitors;

— Doing away with public tours during caucus meetings on Wednesdays — the day the shooter stormed the Hill — and general limits on the size of tour groups:

— The locking of buildings after business hours;

— Enhanced security at MPs' constituency offices if needed, including alarms and automatic locking doors.

"I think Oct. 22 was a very difficult day for everyone on the Hill," Scheer told the MPs.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.ca/
Author: Jim Bronskill

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