A few years ago, I walked out of the legislature late at night during a round-the-clock sitting to deal with some emergency or other and noticed a guard at the outside door.
It wasn't that he was guarding the door that was significant. It was that the door was still open. The standard operating procedure is that if MLAs are talking, the doors are open. Period.
Anyone who feels moved to watch politicians debate something like a back-to-work law at 4 a.m. can wander in and watch it happen. It was a small moment, but it made a big impression. It was a routine illustration of the centuries-old parliamentary tradition of doing the public's business in public.
That tradition in B.C. didn't fully survive the test of the House of Parliament shootings in Ottawa.
The initial stance in the morning was that public access to the viewing galleries in the debating chamber would be closed. But as the house opened for business in the afternoon, a few dozen people with previous reservations sat and watched a half-hour of routine jousting between the government and the Opposition. Walk-in traffic, however, was barred for the day.
A minimal number of people would have been affected, and they could still watch on TV. But the symbolism of citizens losing the right to walk in and watch whenever you choose is unsettling.
Security calls always involve playing the odds, and even a thousand-to-one chance is considered risky. But it was an unfortunate move, particularly in light of the stirring speeches both party leaders and the Speaker made before question period started. After the horrifying shooting in Ottawa, Premier Christy Clark and Opposition Leader John Horgan both spoke about how vital it is to keep legislatures open.
Clark expressed gratitude to law-enforcement officers and for institutions like parliaments, urging people to be "unafraid -- unafraid -- to do what we need to do to stand up for this country, to ensure citizens continue to have access to their public institutions, unafraid to defend democracy and the institutions that have defined Canada for generations."
She said she was deeply saddened by what's happened. Ottawa is far removed from Victoria, but she said all Canadians hold the national capital in their hearts.
"None of us are unaffected."
Horgan called it a tragic day in Canadian history.
"As we reflect on the loss of life today and the loss of innocence for our country, I think we also have to recognize our democratic institutions must be open and accessible for people who sent us here. Every legislature in the country must keep openness at the forefront. This institution belongs to the people. They need to have access to those institutions if we are going to continue to be defiant in the face of the insanity that happened today in Ottawa."
Horgan once worked in Ottawa and remembered thinking previous security upgrades were "ridiculous" and that officials were over-reacting.
But he said he is "absolutely in sync" with the government in thinking that "if we need to increase our security, we will do that."
The upshot of the Ottawa drama as far as the legislature is concerned will likely be another incremental upgrade in security. There was talk Wednesday that a scanning device that has been in storage for several years will be installed at the front door. That would mean everyone entering the building would be electronically screened, not just people entering the galleries in the assembly hall. That's the inevitable reaction from people charged with playing it safe at all costs.
Being more stringent about letting people in is probably appropriate. But letting them in is still paramount.
A gunman murdering a member of an honour guard and then rampaging through the House of Commons before being shot dead by the sergeant-at-arms is certainly enough to make you think twice about openness. But the rethink should reinforce how important it is, not diminish it.
