Procedure and House Affairs committee  Through you, Madam Chair, one of the things I'm most proud of within the service is that, through our advanced planning and management unit and the outreach that we've built through appropriate training, we get out front on these specialized groups to make sure they have the ability to come to Parliament Hill.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Through you, Madam Chair, I was made aware of the plans that were put in place with respect to traffic and set-up.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, but the week before was when it was confirmed to me.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Through you, Madam Chair, I raised concerns about having vehicles able to come up in front of the triad, but again, Wellington is not part of my authority. All I could do was have the discussions and raise those concerns with the partners, and ultimately the decision was taken to continue down that path and permit the—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Through you, Madam Chair, no.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It was the sheer numbers that were on track to be en route and travelling, understanding that at any point in time in that travel to the city of Ottawa, it could disband, stop or return. As the numbers started to become a reality on the Friday, it was clear this was going to go beyond the weekend.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Through you, Madam Chair, I can tell you that work is already under way in collaboration with the parliamentary community, which has completely recognized the importance of looking beyond just the human assets to protect our parliamentarians. There need to be effective barriers and there also need to be sensing technologies, so that I get as much advance notice of when that threat is coming as possible.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Through you, Madam Chair, this really speaks to the difference of sensitivity to what my environment is. To me, it's not just about security risks, it's about a potential disruption to democracy in this country. Again, my threshold is much lower as to what I would react to than some of our....

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would have full control of the precinct, which I don't have right now. However, I'm equally concerned about the Senate of Canada building, so that needs to be looked as well. I know the precinct was expanded a couple of years ago to include the sidewalk. From a security perspective the sidewalk doesn't give me much.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Through you, Madam Chair, the security concern for me would be permitting any vehicle to come smack down the middle of our precinct. I would hope that the decision is not to somehow reopen Wellington Street in front of the triad and between blocks 2 and 1. With respect to what would change, the POJ is still the POJ.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Through you, Madam Chair, the quick response is yes. It's hard to imagine somebody being responsible for a protective mandate when the largest artery that runs through their precinct is outside their control. They're left with the powers of attempting to influence others to make decisions that they're responsible for.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Through you, Madam Chair, I think there have been lessons learned by everybody on what we had to go through last winter. I can tell you that I feel much more comfortable as to where the Ottawa Police Service is currently in its preparations for Canada Day. I'm very comfortable as to where the RCMP is.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Through you, Madam Chair, just quickly, I absolutely appreciate the comments. I'll just say that the relationship between the service and the Ottawa Police Service is extremely strong. The challenge I have is that once a member of Parliament steps off the sidewalk onto Wellington, I have no authority.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Through you, Madam Chair, it's my role to have those concerns for members of Parliament. I can tell you how concerned I was throughout that period. I was extremely concerned. It's the responsibility of my role and of the service to take on those concerns and make sure the necessary pieces are in place to ensure as much protection as we can.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'll respond through you, Madam Chair. It was during the week prior to the convoy's arrival in Ottawa that we began to have discussions with our policing partners, including the Ottawa Police Service and the RCMP. We started a few weeks prior in our preparation, but in the collaboration, we had a sense, even within the service, that this was going to be much bigger than us.