Former Ottawa mayor Jim Durrell has blasted the “faceless bureaucrats” responsible for the “unmitigated disaster” of Canada Day, saying the long lineups under the guise of security meant the terrorists won.

In a lengthy and impassioned speech to Monday’s assembled Police Services Board, Durrell, who serves as the board’s vice-chair, made clear his comments were not meant as a criticism of the various forces providing security that day. (Durrell’s son is an RCMP officer who was working downtown on July 1.)

“Somewhere along the line, some faceless bureaucrats decided this is how we treat our country when we celebrate. That’s nonsense, it really was,” said Durrell, saying the issue has “bothered me for 24 straight days.”

Durrell appeared to take exception to comments delivered by Chief Charles Bordeleau during his regular update to the board, when Bordeleau thanked officers by saying, “It wasn’t easy and it took a year of planning, but I think the level of security we saw that day was exceptional.”

Monday’s session was the first such meeting since Canada Day.

“When we take the greatest celebration that our country enjoys — Canada Day — and we turn it into an armed camp, and we funnel people like cattle for hours on end, and we pat ourselves on the back?” said Durrell.

“If this goes on, who the hell would ever want to go to another Canada Day again? If this is what our country is going to evolve to, then it’s a sad day for our country.”

Durrell pointed to recent terrorist attacks around the world, saying, “The first thing you see is the leader of the country stand up and say, ‘We will continue to lead normal lives. Nothing will change. They will not win. We will win.’

“Well, Canada Day was Terrorists: 1, and rank-and-file Canadians: zero,” said Durrell. “We could call it a victory for security, but that’s all a crock.”

Durrell said “real security” comes from the behind-the-scenes work done by various policing agencies, including Ottawa police, CSIS, RCMP, OPP and Hill security staff.

“It’s very seldom, and when you do get a rogue individual doing something, there’s no amount of police and security in the world that’s going to stop that,” Durrell said, addressing Bordeleau directly.

“You and I have enjoyed Canada Day for 30, 40 years on the Hill. And it was always crowded, always packed, and there have always been bad people in the world. And there has always been a proper amount of security there.

“But what we did on Canada Day there, anybody who sits and pats themselves on the back and says that’s a victory because our citizens went home safe, I would challenge that every day.”

Bordeleau acknowledged the long lineups were “unacceptable,” but placed the blame on event organizers, suggesting advice offered by police appeared to have been ignored.

“From an event-management perspective, there were huge gaps we identified up front and said, ‘You better take care of these things.’ That was not done … so we were left holding the bag as frontline (officers) managing the queues (and) making sure people didn’t get run over by buses (since lines extended all the way to the Transitway on Albert and Slater Streets),” Bordeleau said.

“Event organizers could have been better-prepared to manage the queues and process people as they said they would,” he added, saying organizers initially believed they could process 10,000 visitors per hour at Parliament Hill.

That ratio then dropped to 8,000, then 4,500, said Bordelau, placing increased strain on security.

Organizers then stopped processing visitors for approximately 40 minutes while VIPs, including Prince Charles and Camilla, the prime minster and Governor General were brought onto the Hill, causing further delays.

“We did identify weaknesses in those plans (in advance) and reiterated to event organizers when they manifested that day. They did not respond accordingly,” Bordeleau said, adding there are still debriefing sessions where he can share his input with federal counterparts.

“We’ll ensure we provide that input and advice to make sure that won’t happen.

“Canada Day will happen next year, it will attract crowds, and we will ensure the event organizers are very attuned to the comments we’ve received.”

ahelmer@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/helmera