Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill drew enormous crowds to Ottawa on Saturday, but issues linked to the weather and crowd control kept many from reaching the Hill’s main lawns in time to catch the show.
As of 2 p.m., thousands were still waiting in two official lineups to pass through security checkpoints and reach the secured area.
Still others formed “phantom” lines and ended up being turned away once they reached the entrances to the security checkpoints, not realizing their mistake.
Bags were being searched and forbidden items like selfie sticks and coolers confiscated.
Those who were already next to the stage as the main show began around 11:45 a.m. had arrived hours before, heeding advice to get there early.
“I think we got here around 8:20 a.m., and by the time we made it through security, it was like 9 o’clock,” said early bird Amir El Desokoi, a student from New Brunswick who attended the celebrations with friends.
Two hours later, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, HRH Prince Charles and other dignitaries departed, the Hill still wasn’t at capacity, with large stretches of open grass visible.
A few things converged in the nation’s capital on Saturday to make the wait longer.
First, there was the ongoing rain, which fell in torrents throughout the early morning. The Parliamentary Protective Service explained that the wet weather caused flooding on the lawns and pumps had to be brought in by the local fire department to dry them out.
The second problem was seemingly linked to the control of the official and non-official lineups that formed on the streets surrounding Parliament Hill. Sonia von Heyking, who came all the way from Alberta for the party, said it took her family three and a half hours to access the site.
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“We got dropped off in the Byward Market and walked. You could see that the line was forming,” von Heyking said.
“So we followed it all the way to the end — everybody was sort of forming two lines at that time, one in each direction, in order to get to the two entrances.”
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It was then, she said, that police were forced to shut her line down and moved it one block north to Queen Street to allow buses through.
Still, von Heyking said, for her the wait was worth it.
“The security guys were great. Once the police got control of the lines, it became very efficient.”
That sentiment was echoed by a number of other revellers who spoke with Global News both on the Hill and in the lineups outside. Some had waited an hour, others for more than three.
But overall, many acknowledged that they had been expecting a slow process.
Still, some also expressed disappointment that they weren’t able to at least watch the performances and speeches on big screens while waiting in line.
One woman, Toronto’s Christine Lasky, said she was very nervous waiting in such large crowds.
“We’ve been moved around like cattle, there is no level of security, they haven’t done any pre-screening coming into these long lineups,” she said.
“I am so terrified that something is going to happen.”
The police presence on and around the Hill was heavy on Saturday. Officers were seen patrolling all major intersections and stationed along side streets. On the Hill itself, they mingled with the crowd and snipers could be spotted on rooftops nearby. A police helicopter flew overhead.
Minor security scare
There was at least one minor security scare at the Westin Hotel around 3 p.m. when a man reportedly made reference to guns in his briefcase and asked about the prime minister. Officers were called in and a canine unit cleared both the man and his belongings.
The man, who identified himself to officers at the Shore Club restaurant as Mohammed, told them he had been joking.
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Saturday’s rain and low cloud cover resulted in the cancellation of parts of the noon show, including aerial demonstrations by the famed Snowbirds.
The fireworks scheduled for 11 p.m. ET were still set to go ahead as of 3 p.m.
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