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October 26, 2014 7:00am by David Farrar

A moving standing ovation

The Canadian Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers receiving a standing ovation in the Canadian House of Commons.

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Comment13

International Politics
Canada
Kevin Vickers
terrorism

Comments (13)

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tvb

Clearly a very emotional moment for him and the House and will go down as a special moment n Canadian Parliamentary history.
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October 26, 2014 7:58am
tvb

I have since read an account of this in the Independent and it appears the Sergeant at Arms risked his life to disable the gunman by shooting at him at point blank range as he dived towards him around a pillar. His actions were very dramatic and quite possibly saved many lives while risking his own.
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October 26, 2014 8:11am
Lindsay Addie

Richly deserved. According to media reports he had been in the Mounties for 29 years and been responsible for the security of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Andrew on royal tours of Canada.
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October 26, 2014 8:36am
tom hunter

I hope this is a lesson to both ourselves and the enemies of our societies, that our ancient symbols and ceremonies are not mere jokes and objects for mockery and scorn, but echoes from a past of great sacrifices and great arguments over great ideas and are deep with meaning if only we choose to look and think. All that is required to make them meaningful today is to have men and women who can tap those deep wells of memory and live them in everyday purpose.
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October 26, 2014 9:25am
tvb

If this happened in NZ I doubt that the gunman could be disabled as quickly as occurred in Canada. In the past our Sergeant at Arms was a female who could no more than pull the wings off a butterfly than provide any measure of security. Perhaps we should have someone who is ex SAS with a team of 4-5 officers who are also ex SAS who could provide security in a discrete manner under the guise of all this ceremonial guff.
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October 26, 2014 9:46am
David Garrett

tvb: Certainly an idea worth discussing. The PM is always accompanied by what I used to call the “wiggly wire men”; armed police in plain clothes wearing earpieces…but they don’t go into the chamber. I myself can’t see much objection to what you suggest.

While visitors to the gallery of our Parliament have to go through a metal dectector, it would be relatively easy for someone to get onto the floor of the House itself. Obviously I am not going to elaborate any further.
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October 26, 2014 10:48am
MH

where in liberal NZ could we post a virtual unarmed guard outside a war memorial without being abused or protested about ?
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October 26, 2014 10:51am
yankdownunder

I’d recon that the weapon that he pull from his office was a handgun.
Gun rights and ownership for law abiding citizens are not a bad thing.
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October 26, 2014 2:16pm
SGA

yankdownunder at 2:16 pm

I’d recon that the weapon that he pull from his office was a handgun.
Gun rights and ownership for law abiding citizens are not a bad thing.

I’d assumed it was a “work” weapon, not his personal gun. Not so?
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October 26, 2014 2:27pm
jawnbc

Have been back visiting Canada this past week (the bc in jawnbc stands for British Columbia, where I’m from originally). I awoke on Wednesday morning to reports of the assault upon the soldier. These have been troubling, heartbreaking and inspiring days.

You might think this is a shocker of an event for Canada. In reality, political violence has been common since the 1960s—not to an extent that destabilises society, however. Homegrown men with grudges or mental health issues have previously attacked public indviduals or symbols.
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October 26, 2014 5:59pm
Maggy Wassilieff

@ Tom Hunter 9:25am …. Well looks like this NZ Herald journalist thinks that the pomp and ceremony connected with NZs parliament is all a bit of a joke
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11347315
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October 26, 2014 6:22pm
tom hunter

Yes, Maggy

And look at the similarities of that NZ Herald journalists’ writing on this matter:

Next comes the Serjeant-at-Arms wielding a mace and the Usher of the Black Rod wielding, well, a black rod, with which to bash on the parliamentary door. All that’s missing is Creepy Santa.

and the writing of Green Party nutter Delahunty, writing in her post at The Daily Blog

… but the rituals are archaic and the rules around issues like the swearing in oath are oppressive and undermine MPs’ commitment to upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The Parliamentary opening also celebrates violence, as it involves soldiers and medals, guns, and war planes in the sky. It includes Supreme Court Judges in horsehair wigs. A black rod and a golden mace preside.
It is hard to find the sense of being a Pacific country

You could swap the two of them and see no difference. Is it any wonder the Greens get good coverage for their ideas.
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October 27, 2014 9:22am
SGA

A couple of days ago I looked up Serjeant-at-Arms (curious about their role). I found the following entertaining (as much as anything for the glimpse of parliment as it used to be).

The Serjeant-at-Arms (or Sergeant-at-Arms, until the 1950s) carries the mace, or the symbol of the Speaker’s authority, at the official opening of Parliament and at the opening of every sitting, where she or he leads the Speaker into the House and announces the Speaker’s presence.
The Serjeant initially carried a white wand instead of a mace and wore a black suit with white gloves and a white waistcoat. The first Sergeant was Philip Deck, a former sea captain, who was appointed in 1854, following the inaugural sitting of Parliament in May that year.
The tradition of the Serjeant dates back many centuries when Sergeants-at-Arms were bodyguards to the King or Queen. The mace is a stylised version of a large weapon shaped like a club. Traces of the bodyguard function can still be seen today. The Serjeant may be required to escort unruly MPs – and in the early days, some drunk ones – out of the House. On these rare occasions the role becomes more than symbolic and moves to one of enforcing the Speaker’s authority.
There have been other tasks, too. In the 19th century, the Sergeant made sure that the House’s snuff box was filled, for MPs were not allowed to smoke in the chamber. In 1877, the Sergeant placed George Jones, a newspaper reporter and future MP, under a mild form of House arrest after he was called to the Bar of the House following accusations in his paper about an MP. The arrest consisted of being held in a room where he was liberally supplied with refreshments and cheroots (a type of cigar) and allowed to play his violin while the House debated what action to take against him.
—–
Lock the doors!
Just a week or so after he took up his duties in August 1854, Sergeant-at Arms Deck had to assert his position during an unruly debate. Opposition members who did not want to vote on an issue tried to flee the House in order to remove the quorum of members necessary for a vote to be taken. Someone shouted ‘Lock the doors!’, which Deck did, thinking that the Speaker had given him an order. As MPs chased each other around the House, clambered into the public gallery and shouted about a quorum, the Sergeant threatened to take them into custody.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/politics/parliaments-people/staff
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October 27, 2014 10:20am

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