Under lockdown in Centre Block

Michelle Gordon

Having been a CIJA parliamentary intern in Ottawa only since September, everything that happens on Parliament Hill still strikes me as a novel and interesting experience. But what happened here on Oct. 22, when terrorism came to the Centre Block, will always stay with me.

I arrived at my office in the Confederation Building that morning,  expecting a typically busy day as the Commons was scheduled to be sitting. I was going to have to brief my MP, Liberal Scott Brison, for an evening session of the finance committee, where the governor of the Bank of Canada was scheduled to speak.

The committee meets regularly in one of the caucus rooms off the Hall of Honour. It has been routine for me to show my badge and enter the Centre Block for the committee’s meetings. I would have done so that evening.

Shortly before 10:00 a.m., however, a colleague told me, “There’s been a shooting on Parliament Hill, and we have to go into lockdown.” We were the only people in our office at the time. I was taken aback, and asked her if a lockdown was a common occurrence. She said no, it was the first time in her more than 10 years on the Hill.

Lockdown meant locking the doors, shutting off the lights, closing the windows and not leaving the office. At the time, I had no idea that this would be our situation for the next eight hours. I called my parents in Toronto to reassure them I was alright. I received a barrage of text messages from my friends asking how I was.

It didn’t occur to me at first that this was a terrorist attack on Parliament Hill. I thought it might be an isolated shooting on Wellington Street opposite the Hill. I immediately went online and read about what had happened. I was scared. I was also frustrated to be so close to a major event but have so little direct awareness of what was unfolding.

There was a sense of relief when Brison, who was about to attend a Liberal caucus meeting in the Centre Block, phoned our office to inquire about our well-being and to inform us that he was safe but also under lockdown.

But I felt deeply saddened when we received an email that Cpl. Nathan Cirillo had died of his injuries.

I had driven past the monument on Sunday and seen guards on duty,  possibly him among them, so it added extra poignancy to the news of his death.

At this point, the police were leaving open the possibility that more than one gunman was involved in the attack, and so even though I was in the Confederation Building, rather than in the Parliament Buildings per se, there was a continuous feeling of vulnerability.

I followed the coverage on CBC and the minute-by-minute updates on Twitter, although the tweets were almost all inaccurate. They reported a shooting in front of the Chateau Laurier Hotel and at the Rideau Centre. It conveyed the impression of a co-ordinated attack with more than one assailant.

I had brought my lunch with me, so as the lockdown continued beyond the noon hour, I did not go hungry. By 1:30 p.m., I felt safe enough to leave the office for a trip to the washroom. But the lockdown persisted into the evening hours.

Finally, at 8:05 p.m., a security guard knocked on the office door and told us we could leave the building. 

Terrorism had come to Parliament Hill, and I was uncertain whether the Commons would sit the next day or whether we would be expected to show up for work. When I awoke the next morning, I checked my email and learned that MPs and their staffs would carry on with their duties. The heart of Canada’s democracy would continue beating strongly. 

Michelle Gordon is a CIJA intern in the office of MP Scott Brison in Ottawa.