BC Treaty Commissioner Celeste Haldane, along with five others from the BC Treaty Commission, was among those locked down in Ottawa today after a gunman opened fire, killing a reserve soldier at the National War Memorial, and then making his way to Centre Block on Parliament Hill where he was fatally shot in a dramatic takedown. Haldane was treaty manager for the Nuu-chah-nulth treaty table for many years. With her were Chief Commissioner Sophie Pierre, commisioners Jerry Lampert and Dan Smith, and Mark Smith and Sashia Leung.
Haldane described the situation as “stressful” and “chaotic”. She had left her hotel at 9:30 a.m. Shortly before 10 a.m.,Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was gunned down. Haldane and her group arrived for their first meeting where they were informed about the shooting and locked down. Without access to Internet it was hard to figure out what was happening, she told Ha-Shilth-Sa, but the ministry that was hosting the group found a television so they could watch the breaking news that was happening just outside their doors.
She is on her way home now, having a scheduled flight this evening, but said it was a frightening experience walking back to her hotel with no one on the streets except police and reporters. She tells Ha-Shilth-Sa that the city was completely shut down, with police barricading roads.
“Such a tragedy that the soldier lost his life, and for what,” wrote Haldane in a message to Ha-Shilth-Sa. “We still have no idea but the fact that we have incidents such as this in our country frightens me and we should all wake up and realize there are some serious threats out there.”
When we talked with Haldane, people were still being requested to stay out of the downtown core with the RCMP describing the situation as dynamic, fluid and unfolding. There was some concern that the gunman was not acting alone, and police were doing door-to-door checks.
Haldane saw military planes overhead two hours after the incident, and she said it was difficult getting transportation to the airport as no cars were being allowed in or out of the vicinity.
Haldane said she’s glad to be on her way home. It been an “extremely emotional day.”
