blog » October 23, 2005/National (in)Security

My mom was in town last week for training, so we decided to take a trip down to Ottawa for the weekend (along with a quick stop in Kingston for supper, to meet up with a friend). Of course, while we were in Ottawa, we went to see the Parliament. A bit has changed since the last time I was there (almost 20 years ago). For one thing, they’ve added a security checkpoint for visitors when they come in.

For this trip, we went to the Parliament twice, because the Peace Tower was closed by the time our tour ended, so we went again the next day when it was opened. And of course, both times, we had to go through the security checkpoint. The first time, I had my mini Swiss Army knife, as well as my mini tool on my keychain. Apparently, those are too dangerous to have in the Parliament, and they were confiscated, and I had to retrieve them from the security desk when I left. Honestly, the blade on my knife is less then an inch and a half long. It doesn’t pose a security risk. What am I going to do? Hijack the Parliament and crash it into an office building? Glass bottles are a much greater security risk than my knife. And I can’t imagine what they were afraid I would do with my mini tool. Maybe dismantle Parliament, bit by bit? I also had my cell phone with me, which they made me turn on. At least airport security has clued into the fact that turning on electronic devices doesn’t do anything to prove that it isn’t a bomb.

The second time we went through, I decided to leave my knife and tool in the car. (Ordinarily, I would have taken them with my anyways, but I was feeling lazy.) My mom, though, had her purse with her this time, which had on it a whistle, which security decided to confiscate. My mom asked why they were taking it. The reply was that it could make loud noises. (I probably would have been arrested if I whacked the security guard on the side head and said, “You’re an idiot!” It’s a good thing I was too shocked to think about doing that.) What next? Are they going to start duct-taping visitors’ mouths so that they can’t yell? It was a Sunday morning, for goodness sake. Neither house was in session. The building was probably nearly empty, other than the security guards and tourists. I don’t think that noise is really something that they needed to worry about.

There were comment forms near the exit of the Parliament building. It didn’t occur to me to fill one out to say that the security procedures were ridiculous and ineffective. But I’ll have to do that the next time I’m down there.