WATCH ABOVE: Saskatchewan Sergeant-at-Arms Patrick Shaw shares his thoughts about building security and his relationship with Kevin Vickers.
REGINA – More stringent security could become the ‘new normal’ at the Saskatchewan legislative building.
Patrick Shaw, the Sergeant-at-Arms, said he would like to see mandatory screening with metal detectors. That recommendation has fallen on deaf ears for a few years, according to Shaw.
Other recommendations include more surveillance cameras and an increase in doors accessible only by key card.
“Anybody that does security, you know where your soft spots are. There’s no such thing as 100% security,” Shaw said. “When I was in the RCMP doing security work, the old adage was you cant prevent somebody from trying (to attack you), you can only hope to be able to prevent them from being successful.”
Shaw said there is no information to suggest there is a threat to the Saskatchewan legislative building.
More permanent decisions are expected following a meeting planned for Tuesday.
Regina Police officers are already patrolling the building until the end of next week. The general public won’t be allowed back in the building until Monday.
“We don’t want to make this a fortress. It’s still a public building, it should still be open to the public,” said Shaw. “But the elected officials and their staff should be able to work in peace and quiet without the threat of someone coming in and doing harm to them.”
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