Prince Albert MP recounts attack on Ottawa

Only a day after a terror attack in Ottawa that left one soldier and his suspected shooter dead, much of Canada is still talking about the horrors that happened and feelings of sorrow for the family and friends of that soldier.

Included in that is Prince Albert MP Randy Hoback, who sends his condolences to the family of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo. Cirillo was shot while guarding the National War Memorial on Wednesday.  Hoback not only shares in the sadness shared by a nation, but had experienced the dramatic events that followed the shooting on Parliament Hill firsthand.

Hoback was in the caucus when they heard shots fired through the halls of Centre Block.

“It’s just disgusting what has happened here,” he said.

According to Hoback, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was just starting to address the caucus when they heard, what he described as, a “boom.”

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Hoback said they originally thought it was construction occurring at West Block, “but then all of the sudden there was the distinct firing of guns.  At that point in time security … had encompassed the Prime Minister.  People were looking for ways to get out the room, a little bit of panic.”

At first there was chaos he said as people tried to figure out the best course of action, which in the end, was to stay in caucus.

“I basically sat down on the corner of wall next to two colleagues that were very, very distressed, put my arm them, we just said a little prayer and we just sat there and hung out just waiting to see how things would unfold,” he said, adding at that point in time they didn’t know how many people were involved and he thought shooters would come bursting through the door at any time.

After 15 minutes or so RCMP came into the caucus and took the Prime Minister out to a secured location, he said.

“The sergeant-of-arms [Kevin Vickers] himself came in and briefed us and informed us at that point in time as far as they knew at that point in time there was one gunman and how the situation had unfolded,” he said.

With everything in lockdown, police conducted a search of each room in each building to ensure there were no more suspects in the region.  This left Hoback and caucus members to wait until 7:30 p.m. EST.

Once the MPs were let out of the room, they were bussed to another safe location, according to Hoback, where they received food for the first time, were debriefed and spoke with the Harper.

“We have tremendous officers that went above the call of duty yesterday and you know what impressed me is they just performed as they were trained to perform.  [I’m] so grateful for they did, so grateful for Mr. Vickers, the sergeant-of-arms,” he said, describing Vickers as a good man who would just say he was just doing his job. 

“I think he saved lives yesterday and he is a hero, no question in my mind.”

That was recognized on Thursday when the House of Commons gave the sergeant-of-arms, who is attributed with killing the suspected shooting, a standing ovation. ()

It wasn’t just the officers that responded in a “good” and “strong” way, according to Hoback.  He said he was also proud of the way Canadians responded.  This is especially true of those who were administering aid to Cirillo right after he was shot even though there may have been a gunman still in the area.

“But that’s very Canadian isn’t it?  That’s what Canadians have done in the past and that’s what Canadians will do in the future,” he said.

“Canadians do the honourable thing and they’re not scared to stand up and say ‘this is the honourable thing.’  And they get upset when people attack our values, they get upset attack our way of life because our way is a very, very respectful and dignified way.”

 Without question, Hoback said, they had to sit in the House of Commons Thursday.

 “We can’t let a terrorist or a terrorist organization or an individual basically defeat the spirit of the House of Commons.  It is the people’s place, it is a democracy, it needs to carry on basically and that’s what it did today,” he said. 

In light of these attacks, Hoback said discussions around security legislation will definitely be on the agenda, and actually was already on there before the attacks.

“There’s a couple of pieces to adjust in legislation to ensure that our police forces have the appropriate tools to do the job.  Whether it’s tools in search and surveillance or the appropriate laws to make sure the guys that commit these types of acts aren’t allowed to do that,” he said.  “I suspect we’ll have a larger number of support from all parties in light of the fact of these individuals do exist in Canada and we need to deal with them.”

The exact changes in security will no doubt be a hot topic around Canada and is already being seen at locations around the country. 

“It’s a new world, it’s [a] mean world unfortunately.  People have to be vigilant no question about it, but in the same breath no one should alter their daily life or anything else because of it.  We live in a safe, free country and that’s the way it is today.”

Prince Albert woman described feeling around Ottawa

Prince Albert’s Sharlee Levac is in Ottawa and was told not to leave her home on Wednesday.

Levac is visiting family and staying 10 blocks from Parliament Hill.

She said she was about to leave for a bus stop just 200 metres from Parliament Hill when she was instructed to stay inside.

“You could hear a bit of the sirens coming off the highway,” she said, Wednesday afternoon.

For Levac, it was scary thinking this all happened so close.

“There really wasn’t any clarification as to what anybody was doing,” she said.  “We’re being told there’s still a gunman on the loose in Ottawa.  The ban has been somewhat lifted for some of the buildings, but a lot of the people [were] stuck downtown and they can’t go anywhere.”

“The feeling of being stuck and thinking about your loved ones.  We have some many people working in the downtown core and everybody’s calling everybody,” she added, saying there was no cellphone reception at the time because everybody was on the phone.

When Levac did venture outside on Wednesday afternoon she described the atmosphere as cold with people walking quickly with their heads down; very unlike the usual feeling of the city.

On Thursday, the RCMP said they would not be looking for any more shooting suspects.

sstone@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahstone84