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New Parliament security plan takes into account Charlie Hebdo-type attack

One of the co-chairs of the advisory group looking at security in the wake of the Oct. 22 shootings says last week’s attack in Paris won’t change the plans for Parliament Hill.

OTTAWA — One of the co-chairs of the advisory group looking at security in the wake of the Oct. 22 shootings says last week’s attack in Paris won’t change the plans for Parliament Hill.

Conservative Sen. Vern White, a former police chief, says the new security plan will consider a range of scenarios — from a “lone wolf” incident to a co-ordinated, well-planned assault like the one on Charlie Hebdo last week.

White says everyone understands that Michael Zehaf Bibeau’s bloody rampage in Ottawa could have been much worse.

That’s why White says the outer perimeter and gates of Parliament Hill should be strengthened.

Speaking to Ottawa radio station CFRA, White says attackers should be stopped far from the Centre Block, and that “you need to kill them at the gates, you need to kill them on the lawn, you need to kill them outside the building.”

Improved security at the edge of the property could involve RCMP officers restricting the number of access points and conducting searches at those entrances.