Senate page: Is a security review the right move?

The throne speech protest by Senate page Brigette DePape is prompting a security review.

Senate page Brigette DePape was fired and has been barred from Parliament Hill. (Chris Wattie/Reuters) David Tkachuk, a Saskatchewan senator who chairs the internal economy, budgets and administration committee, said the committee is looking at implications for Senate security and page hiring practices after DePape brandished a "Stop Harper" sign in the middle of Gov. Gen. David Johnston's speech Friday.

"We are taking this incident very seriously," said Tkachuk. "We will be looking into the hiring practices for pages, including the background checks that are done related to those. I pray that no one else here assisted her in this stunt.

"I don't have to tell you what would have happened if she had something else inside her jacket instead of a poster," he added.

DePape was immediately fired and has been barred from Parliament Hill.

Some CBC Community members thought a security review is an overreaction.

"Aren't we getting just a wee bit paranoid?" asked my-two-sense.

"After 144 years of peaceful paging in the Upper and Lower Houses, one kid holds up a cardboard sign for five seconds and it requires a 'review of Senate security and page hiring'?" said MrMagooo. 

"She broke the rules. She got turfed from the room and fired on the spot. Sounds to me like Senate security functioned quite nicely and the page hiring record is pretty damn solid. What possible further review is required?" he added.

"What she did was unbecoming of a Senate Page, but she was exercising her democratic right to express herself freely. This is not a 'security breach', this is called 'civil disobedience'. I can understand if the Page program wants to review hiring practices, but any major changes to security might be overreacting," said biodude.

Other commenters agreed with Sen. Tkachuk. "Bravo! I'm surprised that she wasn't charged with something. Our system of government that we inherited from the British is one of the better ones in the world and something that is very dear to me. Something worth fighting for," said antitoite.

Is the Senate security review an overreaction or a reasonable response to DePape's protest? Let us know what you think.



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