Expert talks “balance” after PM security breach in Vancouver
Posted January 7, 2014 7:02 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The prime minister laughed it off, but the RCMP says it’s taking a security breach in Vancouver very seriously.
Two climate change protesters managed to get within arm’s reach of Stephen Harper during a Q&A session with the Vancouver Board of Trade yesterday.
While Mounties may be scrambling to adjust protocol around the PM, international security expert Andre Gerolymatos with SFU believes this isn’t an entirely negative incident. “[It’s not necessarily bad] that people have access to the prime minister and the security is not so harsh as to cut him off from the rest of Canadians.”
However, he says a review of security measures is always a smart thing to do after incidents like this.
“Whether it’s benign or something more serious… it’s something where you have to balance between the needs of the public to have access to the prime minister of Canada and of course, the needs of the prime minister to have very good security.”
“Those protesters could have been assassins, but fortunately, we don’t live in a country where we have to — at least not yet — fear this kind of thing.”
He believes overall, Stephen Harper is well-protected.
One of the protestors says no one stopped him, or even asked for a ticket before he and his partner walked on stage.
