'Extreme' security measures to come, warns ex Parliament security

A former RCMP deputy commissioner tells As it Happens that Canadians will come to understand that they are living in a "transformed world" after the shootings in downtown Ottawa that left a Canadian soldier and one gunman dead. 

The soldier, who has been identified as Cpl. Nathan Cirillo from Hamilton, was standing guard at the National War Memorial when he was fatally shot by a gunman armed with a rifle this morning.

A gunman identified as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was killed after a hail of gunfire erupted inside of Parliament. Witnesses say that  the House of Commons sergeant-at-arms, Kevin Vickers, killed the suspect.

Pierre-Yves Bourduas, the former RCMP deputy commissioner, says he worked with Vickers on Parliament Hill. "Kevin is the kind of individual who is a natural planner," Bourdaus says. "I am sure he is very troubled by this chain of events."

Bourduas calls today's breach of security troubling, and points out that the gunman walked directly past the caucus meeting rooms. "I'm sure they'll redefine security around our institution, Parliament."

"Today's event will crystallize in the mind of Canadian citizens that we live in a transformed world," says Bourduas.

But he adds that Parliament is still a public institution.  "Within a democracy people will have to decide what kind of parliament do they want."