The federal government’s promise of $10 million each year for the next five has started to flow, taking pressure off the Ottawa police.
An influx of federal money to help Ottawa police patrol the area around Parliament Hill has already started to flow, Public Safety Minister David McGuinty said Friday.
The 2024 federal budget set aside $50 million over five years for the plan, whose details were made official today.
McGuinty, MP for Ottawa South, said the city is seeing an increase in hate-motivated crime, especially against women. The primary catalyst for the funding, however, was the public inquiry into the convoy protest, which recommended a dedicated police presence for Parliament Hill, McGuinty said.
“Canada’s parliament has always been open, accessible and welcoming to Canadians and visitors alike,” McGuinty said. “And we need to keep it that way.”
Yasir Naqvi, member of parliament for Ottawa Centre, gave enthusiastic support for the funding in light of the events of the 2022 convoy.
“I don’t want to sugarcoat it, but I think you all remember how challenging and difficult a period it was during the almost month-long occupation of downtown Ottawa,” Naqvi said.
Naqvi said residents of his constituency “were hostages in their own home, abused by incessant horns all night long.”
“My community has not forgotten that,” Naqvi said. “We’re investing in our downtown court in the parliamentary district so that we don’t live through that ever again.”
The funding, which will be spread over five years, is aimed at providing Ottawa police with “even more resources to keep our downtown safe, ensuring real-time responses to any emergencies,” McGuinty said.
Ottawa police Chief Eric Stubbs said 49 civilian and sworn employees will make up the Parliament district policing team, which has already gotten underway and will be built up over the next three years.
The dedicated policing detachment will relieve the Parliamentary Protective Service from policing beyond its jurisdiction on Parliament Hill, particularly on Wellington Street, where protests have seen an increase. The funding will be concentrated on policing the area from Lyon Street in the west to Elgin in the east, bound by Queen Street in the south.
Stubbs said the Ottawa police has been challenged to manage resources between the area around Parliament Hill and the rest of its jurisdiction. He said the announcement aligns with the mandates of the Ottawa police, Parliamentary Protection Service and the RCMP, clearly delineating their jurisdictions.
“One of the challenges that we’ve faced as a community is the divided responsibilities and the pressures of not only serving the entire community, but also serving the nation’s capital in the parliamentary precinct,” Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said.
Also included in the funding is a full-time police liaison team, which “will engage in proactive community outreach, fostering open and ongoing communication with those that wish to protest in the area,” Stubbs said.
McGuinty stressed that the funding is dedicated to peacekeeping, not defence.
“We want to make sure that the Parliament Buildings and Parliament Hill isn’t turned into some sort of fortress,” McGuinty said. “We need to jealously safeguard and secure the right to protest and the right to visit and the right to be there, that’s a fundamental element of our democracy.”
