Ottawa – Canada’s Harper Pledges Tougher Security Laws After Attack

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    Prime Minister Stephen Harper addresses the House of Commons in Ottawa October 23, 2014, as the government went back to work following a shooting incident October 22, in which a gunman killed a soldier and ran through Parliament shooting before being shot dead himself.        REUTERS/Chris Wattie Ottawa – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged more surveillance and detention powers for security forces in Canada on Thursday after a gunman killed a soldier and rampaged through parliament before being shot dead.

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    Addressing the House of Commons just meters away from where the gunman, a reported convert to Islam, was shot dead on Wednesday, Harper said lawmakers would expedite new powers to counter the threat of radicals.

    “The objective of these attacks was to instill fear and panic in our country,” Harper said. “Canadians will not be intimidated. We will be vigilant, but we will not run scared. We will be prudent but we will not panic.”

    Harper pledged to speed up a plan already under way to bolster Canadian laws and police powers in the areas of “surveillance, detention and arrest.”

    The killing of the Canadian soldier was the second this week with a possible link to Islamist militants. A convert to Islam on Monday ran over two Canadian soldiers with his car, killing one, near Montreal, before being shot dead by police.

    The attacks in Ottawa and Quebec took place as the Canadian government prepared to boost the powers of its spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

    Public Safety Minister Stephen Blaney said last week the new legislation would let the agency track and investigate potential terrorists when they travel abroad and ultimately prosecute them.

    At the start of parliament’s session on Thursday, the guard credited with killing a gunman in Canada’s parliament received a prolonged standing ovation, reopening debate in the House of Commons dressed in his usual ceremonial garb and struggling to maintain composure.

    Harper and members of parliament stood in the legislature as Kevin Vickers, Canada’s Sergeant-at-Arms, led the traditional parade that opens every session of the House of Commons.

    The attacks on soldiers in Ottawa and near Montreal took place after Canada announced this month it would send six jets to take part in air strikes against Islamic State fighters who have taken over parts of Iraq and Syria.

    Defense Minister Rob Nicholson said Canada’s deployment to Iraq would go on unimpeded.

    Tighter security was evident all over the sprawling parliamentary zone in downtown Ottawa. Armed Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers stood outside the door where the gunman rushed in on Wednesday.

    The flag flying over Parliament’s Center Block, where the gunman had burst in on Wednesday morning, was at half mast.


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    2 Comments
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    Rafuel
    Rafuel
    9 years ago

    “Harper pledged to speed up a plan already under way to bolster Canadian laws and police powers in the areas of “surveillance, detention and arrest.”

    Stephen Harper is an honorable and very intelligent man, making our Barak look so pathetic by comparison. Harper wants to do the right thing but it will be tough. I am sure Canada has as many (as a fraction of the population) liberal idiots as we regretfully have here. He must accomplish this legislation very rapidly, while Canadians are as unified as we were in the first two-three months following 9/11. After that the idiotic accusation such as “he shredded our constitution” will start attracting their idiots.

    Yechi
    Yechi
    9 years ago

    Mr Harper is an unusual Prime Minister. He is honest and truthful with a stony backbone. He stands up to the truth.

    May the creator watch over him give him strength to carry on for may long years

    As a Canadian I am proud of my Prime Minister