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He said he knew what he wanted to do with his life when, walking past the courthouse as a young boy, he watched three members of the RCMP walking out in their red serge uniforms. He spent 29 years in the force.

“One of the things that struck me during my career is I obtained 17 confessions from men who’ve killed people,” Vickers told graduates and faculty.

“The reason that I was able to get those confessions and facilitate those men telling me their stories was what my father, Bill Vickers, instilled in me way back when: regardless how repulsive the crime, you always respect the dignity of their person.”

That philosophy has always guided him, he said, and his faith in it was again tested after the shooting.

He took the job as director of security at the House of Commons in 2005 after retiring from the RCMP. On his way to the job interview he saw a father playing Frisbee with a boy on the lawn outside Parliament.

“I was instantly enamoured with the place and I wanted to protect it. I wanted to keep it safe from harm,” he said.

He became sergeant-at-arms the following year, promising in his job interview, “If you people make me the sergeant-at-arms, there will be no walls built around Canada’s Parliament buildings.”

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He was largely seen by the public only as a ceremonial fixture in the arcane traditions of Parliament, wearing an archaic hat and carrying the ceremonial mace into the House of Commons before each sitting.

“My career as sergeant-at-arms went by very quickly and then on Oct. 22 came that day, that tragic day,” he said, his voice betraying emotion.