Two protesters get uncomfortably close to Prime Minister Harper at Vancouver event
On the surface, this looks like a pretty significant security fail.
On Monday morning, Stephen Harper was at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel in Vancouver for a Q & A with the Vancouver Board of Trade.
At one point while Harper was on stage, two climate change protesters — brandishing placards — got within a couple of feet of him before security nabbed them and escorted them away.
Reporters in attendance and those watching on television quickly took to Twitter wondering how the duo could have gotten so close to the prime minister.
Wow, protester gets on to the stage with Harper before being tackled by security. Jeezuz. That easy to get thru to PM? Scary. #vbot
— Gary Mason (@garymasonglobe) January 6, 2014
RCMP had bomb-sniffing dogs checking media bags but allow two protesters to get within a few feet of PMSH unbelievable #VBOT
— Gary Mason (@garymasonglobe) January 6, 2014
It really blows my mind, seeing how many RCMP officers follow Harper around, that there could be that big of a security breach.
— Jason Fekete (@jasonfekete) January 6, 2014
Climate change activists disrupt Stephen Harper event http://t.co/MvyrSA3Xim This is a stunning breach of security #cdnpoli
— David Hyde (@davidhyde2) January 6, 2014
Protesters right behind #pmsh. Um, security? #cdnpoli
— Tim Harper (@nutgraf1) January 6, 2014
How did those protestors get onstage with PMSH without being challenged?
— John Ivison (@IvisonJ) January 6, 2014
Harper took the incident in stride joking that "it wouldn't be B.C. without [protesters]."
Yahoo! Canada News contacted the Prime Minister's Office about the apparent security breach.
In an email response, spokesperson Carl Vallée simply said "we don't comment on security-related matters."
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The Vancouver Observer identified the two protesters as Shit Harper Did activist Sean Devlin and Shirine Soofi from No One is Illegal.
"I just had on black clothes and a white apron that I picked up from Value Village," Devlin said told the Observer.
"[Security] threw me down pretty hard. I was arrested with mischief, but then they let me go. No charges...but it felt like we were supposed to be there. We were supposed to be there."
Brigette DePape, one of the organizers of the protest, sent out a post-incident press release saying that the action was a "condemnation of the Harper Government’s failing climate policies."
"This morning two people directly intervened in a high security question and answer session with Prime Minister Stephen Harper," the release said, according to CBC News.
"The group managed to make their way past police undetected and into the secured Vancouver Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel."
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The protest upstaged Harper's first event of his three-day visit to British Columbia.
In front of the well-heeled Vancouver crowd, the prime minister spoke about the economy, trade and the Sochi Olympics. He also spent a fair amount of time talking about oil extraction and getting First Nations on-side with things like the Northern Gateway pipeline project.
"If handled correctly, this is an unprecedented opportunity for aboriginal people and their communities to join the mainstream of the Canadian economy," Harper said, according to the Canadian Press.
"I encourage aboriginals leaders to look at these things, not just as opportunities to gain a revenue stream, but opportunities to have people working on these projects, to have aboriginal businesses providing services."
Harper had another public event scheduled for Monday afternoon and an appearance on Vancouver Island on Tuesday.
Hopefully the prime minister's security detail are better prepared for those events.
(Photo from Twitter)
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