I'm in Europe for now, but Ottawa is my homebase when I'm in Canada. I've lived and worked downtown so I'm very familiar with the area. I'll be there in December. I'm saddened to see this.
One of my favourite simple pleasures in life is going for long walks throughout the downtown of whatever city I happen to be calling home. I've gone on many walks through downtown Ottawa, day and night, summer and winter, often stopping in front of the Parliament, the War Memorial and the Rideau Centre Mall.
The Parliament building is
very accessible to the public. The front lawns are open to the public at all times. They're very much like a public park, with even dogs being allowed. During the summer months, many people will congregate there, enjoying the sunshine, throwing a frisbee or football, etc. Every Wednesday at Noon there is a free Yoga class attended by hundreds of Ottawa's hottest girls.
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At anytime, you can walk right up to the front door without any kind of harassment from security. If you wore a winter jacket and acted normal, you could easily conceal a couple of pistols and get into the building to start shooting. When you walk around the side of the building, you can peer into the windows. There are a few police cruisers that rotate around the building, but the security presence is minimal or at the very least, unobtrusive.
Around the back of the building, which was built on a high bluff, overlooking the Ottawa River, you have some really great views, where you can see the National Art Gallery, the US Embassy, the old Catholic church, etc. It's a nice place to go for a walk, for locals and tourists alike. I've taken dates there.
This accessibility is something Canadians pride themselves on. If you've ever visited Washington, for example, you've seen how far removed the White House is from anything. There are football field lengths of lawn between the White House and its security fencing. In Canada, our Prime Minister's home is fenced off, yes, but not to that extent. On Halloween it is open to trick-or-treaters and the PM gives out candy. I know that his son went to the public high school in the city centre (close to where the shootings happened today). I doubt he has a security detail. Spend enough time downtown and you'll eventually cross paths with high-profile politicians (though not the PM), unescorted with no security. Overall, Canadian politicians and its democratic institutions (for all their faults) are much more accessible to the people than in other Western countries.
Sadly, with that kind of openness, it was just a matter of time before an incident like this took place. I guess we had all hoped that something like this would never happen in Canada, but it finally has. Hopefully, Parliament Hill remains accessible to Canadians going forward, but it would be understandable if security now gets tightened.
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