Image

Davidson says new may be laws needed to fight homegrown terrorism

November 10, 2014

Courtesy of House of Commons photographer

 

Pat Davidson thanks Sergeant at Arms Kevin Vickers in the House of Commons after he stopped a gunman in his tracks in the halls of Parliament.

 

 

Sarnia-Lambton MP Pat Davidson says the government needs to have the laws in place that allows the police to keep Canadians safe.

Two weeks ago, a man stormed Parliament Hill with a gun. He shot and killed Reservist Corp. Nathan Cirillo at the National War Memorial and then ran through the halls of Parliament shooting while MPs were beginning their weekly caucus meeting.

The gunman, who the RCMP said had been radicalized and made a video before his attack praising Allah, was killed by Sergeant At Arms Kevin Vickers before he harmed anyone inside Parliament.

A week later, MPs returned to the caucus rooms they were hold up in for eight hours and Davidson says though it went “very well” and “everything seemed to be back to normal” some MPs were apprehensive.

“Once everyone was in the caucus room and got down to business, everyone seemed to be doing well.”

Davidson says counseling is being offered for those who have been traumatized by the events. “There has been a conscious effort right from the very start encouraging people to go (to counseling).”

But Davidson says she finds comfort in talking to the other MPs who were in the room with her at the time. “It does make a difference when you have gone through the same thing,” she says. The concern of the community has been great, Davidson says, but there is “nothing like speaking with someone who was with you.”

In the wake of the shooting, the Conservative government has talked about giving the RCMP and Canada’s spy agency CSIS more power to try to deal with “home-grown terrorism.” NDP Leader Tom Mulcair has said the police have the powers they need; they simply need to enforce the current laws.

Davidson agrees police have some tools and it is “up to the police force to enforce them.”

But she believes more powers may be necessary. “We need to give police forces all the tools they need,” she says. “We have to remember government puts rules in place that are there to protect the public; we need to have laws in place that allow police to do their work.”

 

Share This

Image
Front Page

Killer Bees’ Feasey to coach Maroons

July 12, 2025

Barry Wright/The Independent Alvinston Killer Bees star Brennan Feasey is the new head coach of the Sutherland Cup champion Chatham Maroons of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. The new job came about after Richard Santos left the Maroons this week to become the new head coach of the U16 boys prep team with Biosteel Sports Academy in Windsor and

Read More

Image
Front Page

Still standing (with some help) after 200 years

July 12, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent When Abraham Smith and his wife, Anna Hoy, arrived on the shores of the St. Clair River, there was nothing but trees which blocked out the sun. The couple landed around what we now know as the St. Clair Parkway and Smith Line in 1820, along with two children and another family, and settled in the area.

Read More

Image
Front Page

Remembering Croton

July 12, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Harold Snary stands under a tree in the postal village of Croton. Those standing with him see a new, siding-clad school and church, a few homes and the traffic whizzing down Oakdale Road. At the corner of Oakdale and Croton Road, they might notice the building which used to be the general store. For most, this 39-person

Read More

Image
Front Page

Lambton lands part of 30×30 project

July 11, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Almost 700 acres of land along the Sydenham River, including some in Petrolia and Wawrick, will be recognized as conservation lands in Ontario. It’s part of an international plan to protect 30 per cent of the earth’s land and sea by 2030. Tim Payne, manager of forests for the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority, was contacted by

Read More