WASHINGTON, October 23 (RIA Novosti) – The surveillance powers of Canadian police will be reinforced after the recent attacks in the country that claimed the lives of two Canadian soldiers, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday.
"In the recent weeks I've been saying that our laws in police powers need to be strengthened in the area of surveillance, detention and arrest…And I assure you that work that is already underway will be expedited," Harper said in an address to Canada's Parliament.
The Canadian Prime Minister expressed his deep commitment to fighting terrorism at a time when "the planet is descending into savagery" and stressed that Canada will not yield to terrorism.
Meanwhile Canada's opposition leader Thomas Mulcair told the parliament that "yesterday's cowardly act was meant to shake this great city of Ottawa and indeed the entire country, but it has only hardened our resolve, and only strengthened our commitment to each other and to a peaceful world".
On Wednesday morning, a gunman shot dead a soldier guarding the National War Memorial in Ottawa and then proceeded to Parliament Hill's Center Block where he was killed in a shootout with a policeman.
Local media reported that gunshots were also fired Wednesday in the Canadian Parliament building and a mall in downtown Ottawa.
On Monday, two members of the Canadian Armed Forces were attacked in the city of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in Quebec. One of the soldiers died after the hit-and-run, while the other sustained less severe injuries.
Canada's Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Steven Blaney said Tuesday that the attack was linked to terrorism.
