Submachine-guns to join RCMP Hill arsenal

Mounties guarding Parliament Hill will soon be armed with submachine-guns as part of the force's move tobeef up security at the centre of Canada's government.

RCMP officers on duty on the Hill currently carry handguns as primary weapons, whiletheirsecondary weapons, shotguns, arestored in vehicles.

The force confirmedWednesday the Heckler & Koch MP5 will be reintroduced in the next few months onceits officersare trained to use them.

RCMP Sgt. Greg Coxsaid the MP5s are more accurate andhave a better range capability as opposed to ashotgun, which fires a round that often spreads beyond its intended target.

The Mounties carried MP5s in the 1980s to guard Parliament Hill and embassies,but the firearms were phased out.

Thesubmachine-guns, like the Mounties' current secondary weapon,won't be visible and willonly bepulled out if needed, Cox added.

"The one instance that comes to mind is that there may be a shooter inside one of these buildingsrandomly shooting targets," he said."This is a better suited option to deal with that threat."

Embarrassing security breach

The move follows a two-month review of anembarrassing security breach for the Mounties in December, inwhich 19 Greenpeace activistsclimbed onto the roof of the West Block of Parliamentand unfurled banners calling for action on climate change.

Despite the fact that the protest was peaceful, the Dec. 7 incidentrevealeda serious weakness inParliament securityandshows a need for increased measures, said expertMichel Juneau-Katsuya, a former senior intelligence officer at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

"Where they were on the top of a roof was an excellent place for a sharpshooter to be capable to position himself in a place where he could have targeted any politician going in,including the prime minister," Juneau-Katsuya told CBC News.

In addition to the new weapons, more security cameras and alarms will be installedinside Parliament,while House of Commons constables will be getting bullet-proof vests. They are currently onlyequipped with a baton, handcuffs and since theH1N1 pandemic hand sanitizer.

TheCommons constableswill still be unarmed to preserve the image that Parliament is accessible and welcoming.

Juneau-Katsuya said the moves are about keeping a balance between an open democracy and preserving security in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

"Turning the place into a bunker would give a victory to the terrorists at the end of the day," he said.