Heightened security anticipated at Remembrance Day ceremonies across Canada

Solemn Remembrance Day ceremonies across the country will be marked this year by higher levels of security, but none more notably than the massive annual gathering in Ottawa, where Prime Minister Stephen Harper and an estimated 80,000 others will gather near where a Canadian soldier was shot dead in recent weeks.

The Ottawa ceremony at the base of the National War Memorial is Canada’s largest Remembrance Day every November 11, and is expected to draw an even larger crowd on Tuesday.

But with Canada still reeling from two fatal attacks against military personnel in recent weeks, those heading out to ceremonies large and small should expect to see a few extra precautions in place. Military museums are being temporarily closed, local police forces are getting help from larger agencies and, in Ontario, off-duty officers are being asked to come armed and ready to assist in the event of an emergency.

Insp. Murray Knowles, Emergency Operations Directorate of the Ottawa Police Service, says that the downtown ceremony will have its largest-ever police presence, telling the Ottawa Citizen that the extensive network of oversight will be enhanced to dissuade and interrupt any potential incidents.

Ottawa can be forgiven for being extra-cautious, with the massive gathering coming just weeks after Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was shot dead while standing guard outside the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The public remains at high alert following that attack, and a separate attack that killed Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent days earlier.

The two attacks have been linked by officials to terrorist ideologies, and raised the spectre of further “lone wolf” attacks on Canadian soil.

Postmedia News reports that Ontario Provincial Police attending Remembrance Day ceremonies on Tuesday have been ordered to wear their work uniform, complete with bullet-proof vests and side arms.

The directive, which extends to officers who are off-duty, will mean fewer ceremonial dress uniforms at Remembrance Day gatherings across the province.

And that expectation is being matched across the country. Towns and cities from British Columbia to Ontario to Prince Edward Island have hinted at increased security measures on Remembrance Day.

"I think it won’t be visible to the eye. But for certain there is a heightened awareness around security and security is acting accordingly," Hamilton Coun. Sam Merulla told the Hamilton Spectator.

"I think that is a given, given the fact that Canada is actively engaged in war with ISIS. Clearly across the country, this is happening."

Remembrance Day ceremonies would make attractive targets for such antagonists. These are nationalistic tributes, featuring military overtones, frequented by a large number of people at their most sombre and relaxed.

The ceremony at the National War Memorial would be the most attractive a potential target. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, federal officials, foreign dignitaries, military leaders and tens of thousands of others attend every year. Television cameras stream footage of the ceremony across the nation. It’s at the heart of the country’s capital, and the site has already been targeted once.

So it is no surprise that those planning to attend the National War Memorial Remembrance Day ceremony are being warned to expect more security than ever.

The Citizen notes that during the ceremony, the memorial will be the “most guarded spot in the country.”

The newspaper reports that the security force will be a collection of Ottawa police, military police and RCMP bodyguards, tasked with protecting the prime minister and other top-ranking officials.

Uniformed and plainclothes officers will patrol the crowd, some of whom will wear bright vests to increase their visibility. The force might also employ “behavioural screeners” to watch the crowd for involuntary tics that could indicate a threat.

And, unlike previous years, the public will be required to wait until the motorcade leaves before approaching the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where poppies are traditionally placed.

“It is extremely symbolic and important,” Knowles told the newspaper, “but this year it’s a lot higher on everybody’s scale that it goes off without a hitch.”