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Shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday, thousands of public servants found themselves stranded in their offices under a lockdown that continued into the night as police continued to search a seven-block area south of Parliament Hill.
Some 65,000 public servants working in the National Capital Region, on both sides of the Ottawa River, felt the impact of the shootings, whether huddled in officers under lockdowns, missing meetings or dealing with overloaded and erratic cellphone and email services. Many were glued to television, Twitter and other social media accounts of the chaos unfolding outside.
“It really is an incident that will forever change Ottawa and Canada,” said one senior bureaucrat.
Treasury Board said it was monitoring the situation and would recommend what action departments should take should the lockdown in the core continue overnight. The department said it would take direction from the police on what should be done.
My view out office window. Laurier and Portage pic.twitter.com/8xuTqKcbNu
— Dee Jenkins (@DLJenkins58) October 22, 2014
Public servants caught in the lockdown described an atmosphere at work as one of shock, disbelief and fear for those with family and friends working on Parliament Hill. They were given little information other than what they learned through the news or online.
“For me, frustrated at lack of information,” said one Industry Canada bureaucrat. “Obviously horrified by what happened. First saw it as it was breaking on twitter and followed it through the day online.
“We had seven to nine updates over loudspeaker saying we are still on lockdown due to active shooter situation,” said one bureaucrat at Industry Canada, which was in the centre of the lockdown.
“Right now, I just want to get home to let my dogs out. I don’t see how police can say there no confirmation of second suspect and then let everyone but government workers out. Our department says they won’t let us out until police lift lockdown.”
The protocol for lockdown is standard for all departments which have security officers to enforce the procedures — ensuring employees stay out of public areas, remain on their floors, stay away from windows and check all identification badges to ensure they are public servants who should be in the buildings.
@LoopEmma stay safe along with your colleagues. following all tweets here @ DND office in Ottawa- security reasons. Cant say where
— gowd2 (@gowd2) October 22, 2014
Treasury Board sent out the first directive urging departments to follow the advice of their security officers, which led to lockdowns in all buildings with government offices in both downtown Ottawa and Gatineau. It also urged public servants to stop using their cellphones to avoid overloading the system so “first responders can do their job.
“Government buildings are in lockdown and access continues to be restricted, and employees have been told to remain inside,” said Treasury Board in an email. “The lockdown situation will continue until the all clear or other instructions are received from police.”
Around 3 p.m., departments outside the downtown core were notified they could release employees so they could go home and collect children from schools.
How am I? Shocked. Horrified. Sad. Worried. But appreciating the love everyone is sending our way! #OttawaShooting #OttawaStrong
— Chris Boodram (@CPBoodram) October 22, 2014
For those in the downtown core, Treasury Board urged public servants to stay put and remain in their buildings until police complete the search and allow people to be released. Over the next few hours, workers were released from their building as search area became smaller.
At that time, the lockdown remained in effect for offices north of Slater Street, east of Lyon Street, West of Elgin Street to the Ottawa River and the area around the Chateau Laurier, said one official. By 5 p.m, the search area had shrunk to the north-south blocks between Slater and the Ottawa River, and east-west from Elgin to Bank Streets. Many were still stuck in their offices in the evening.
Treasury Board as employer gave overall direction and updates to departments but the decisions on how to handle the situation in each department was left to deputy ministers. Until early evening, Treasury Board President Tony Clement was among the MPs in lockdown on Parliament Hill, from where he sent regular tweets.
The federal government has more than 40 Crown-owned buildings in the area officially designated as the broader parliamentary precinct, in addition to many other buildings leased to house public servants. About 45,000 public servants work in downtown Ottawa and another 17,000 in buildings in Gatineau.
Although the shooting is unprecedented, the public service has faced similar disruptions in operations, from the 1998 ice storm, to the widespread Northwest power outage in 2003 and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when departments were also in lockdown.
Security has been boosted at all federal buildings over the years, particularly for the Langevin and Blackburn buildings where the Privy Council Office and Prime Minister’s Office are housed but many expect the state of that security and risks will be reassessed.
Difficult day 4 #Ottawa bureaucrats on lockdown all day. We continued to serve Canadians, will do so again tomorrow, proudly #OttawaStrong
— Chris Boodram (@CPBoodram) October 22, 2014
The shooting will dominate the agenda of many public servants in the coming months, from assessing Canada’s intelligence gathering and network to re-examining safety protocols, the security of on Parliament Hill, federal departments and other public buildings.
Related
kmay@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/Kathryn_May
查看原文...
Some 65,000 public servants working in the National Capital Region, on both sides of the Ottawa River, felt the impact of the shootings, whether huddled in officers under lockdowns, missing meetings or dealing with overloaded and erratic cellphone and email services. Many were glued to television, Twitter and other social media accounts of the chaos unfolding outside.
“It really is an incident that will forever change Ottawa and Canada,” said one senior bureaucrat.
Treasury Board said it was monitoring the situation and would recommend what action departments should take should the lockdown in the core continue overnight. The department said it would take direction from the police on what should be done.
My view out office window. Laurier and Portage pic.twitter.com/8xuTqKcbNu
— Dee Jenkins (@DLJenkins58) October 22, 2014
Public servants caught in the lockdown described an atmosphere at work as one of shock, disbelief and fear for those with family and friends working on Parliament Hill. They were given little information other than what they learned through the news or online.
“For me, frustrated at lack of information,” said one Industry Canada bureaucrat. “Obviously horrified by what happened. First saw it as it was breaking on twitter and followed it through the day online.
“We had seven to nine updates over loudspeaker saying we are still on lockdown due to active shooter situation,” said one bureaucrat at Industry Canada, which was in the centre of the lockdown.
“Right now, I just want to get home to let my dogs out. I don’t see how police can say there no confirmation of second suspect and then let everyone but government workers out. Our department says they won’t let us out until police lift lockdown.”
The protocol for lockdown is standard for all departments which have security officers to enforce the procedures — ensuring employees stay out of public areas, remain on their floors, stay away from windows and check all identification badges to ensure they are public servants who should be in the buildings.
@LoopEmma stay safe along with your colleagues. following all tweets here @ DND office in Ottawa- security reasons. Cant say where
— gowd2 (@gowd2) October 22, 2014
Treasury Board sent out the first directive urging departments to follow the advice of their security officers, which led to lockdowns in all buildings with government offices in both downtown Ottawa and Gatineau. It also urged public servants to stop using their cellphones to avoid overloading the system so “first responders can do their job.
“Government buildings are in lockdown and access continues to be restricted, and employees have been told to remain inside,” said Treasury Board in an email. “The lockdown situation will continue until the all clear or other instructions are received from police.”
Around 3 p.m., departments outside the downtown core were notified they could release employees so they could go home and collect children from schools.
How am I? Shocked. Horrified. Sad. Worried. But appreciating the love everyone is sending our way! #OttawaShooting #OttawaStrong
— Chris Boodram (@CPBoodram) October 22, 2014
For those in the downtown core, Treasury Board urged public servants to stay put and remain in their buildings until police complete the search and allow people to be released. Over the next few hours, workers were released from their building as search area became smaller.
At that time, the lockdown remained in effect for offices north of Slater Street, east of Lyon Street, West of Elgin Street to the Ottawa River and the area around the Chateau Laurier, said one official. By 5 p.m, the search area had shrunk to the north-south blocks between Slater and the Ottawa River, and east-west from Elgin to Bank Streets. Many were still stuck in their offices in the evening.
Treasury Board as employer gave overall direction and updates to departments but the decisions on how to handle the situation in each department was left to deputy ministers. Until early evening, Treasury Board President Tony Clement was among the MPs in lockdown on Parliament Hill, from where he sent regular tweets.
The federal government has more than 40 Crown-owned buildings in the area officially designated as the broader parliamentary precinct, in addition to many other buildings leased to house public servants. About 45,000 public servants work in downtown Ottawa and another 17,000 in buildings in Gatineau.
Although the shooting is unprecedented, the public service has faced similar disruptions in operations, from the 1998 ice storm, to the widespread Northwest power outage in 2003 and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when departments were also in lockdown.
Security has been boosted at all federal buildings over the years, particularly for the Langevin and Blackburn buildings where the Privy Council Office and Prime Minister’s Office are housed but many expect the state of that security and risks will be reassessed.
Difficult day 4 #Ottawa bureaucrats on lockdown all day. We continued to serve Canadians, will do so again tomorrow, proudly #OttawaStrong
— Chris Boodram (@CPBoodram) October 22, 2014
The shooting will dominate the agenda of many public servants in the coming months, from assessing Canada’s intelligence gathering and network to re-examining safety protocols, the security of on Parliament Hill, federal departments and other public buildings.
Related
kmay@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/Kathryn_May
查看原文...
