Hill nerve centre flat-footed on day of shooting

OTTAWA — On the day of the Parliament Hill shooting, the federal Government Operations Centre did not have computer technicians on site, food was limited and senior emergency officials weren’t in the building.

Those are some of the details revealed in newly released documents on the government’s emergency response. Officials at Public Safety Canada convened meetings soon after the Oct. 22 attack by gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, to see what they could learn.

The operations centre helps co-ordinate the emergency response for the entire federal government.

Senior executives who were part of the emergency response plan weren’t in the centre the day of the shooting, which “created inefficient and ineffective communication with the decision-makers,” a preliminary observation report said.

No names were listed, but the deputy minister of Public Safety is the co-ordinating officer for the emergency response plan.

Meanwhile, some of those responsible for business continuity and emergency plans in the larger Public Safety Canada building wound up in the operations centre, leaving a leadership vacuum.

The heavily redacted documents were obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

Another key finding was that technical help wasn’t available in the centre.

“The support was not available to the GOC. … it was apparent that on-site support would have been useful to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the response.”

Public Safety Canada did not immediately respond Monday to questions about the findings.