# Suspicious package at NDHQ detonated by police



## ARMY_101 (8 May 2013)

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Police+detonate+suspicious+package+Defence+reopen+Mackenzie+King+Bridge/8350620/story.html#ixzz2SetsNSUu



> OTTAWA — The Ottawa police Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives team detonated a suspicious package Tuesday evening near the Department of Defence Headquarters on Colonel By Drive.
> 
> Police had closed the Mackenzie King Bridge for hours after receiving the call at 3:30 p.m. about a suspicious package at 101 Colonel By Dr.
> 
> ...


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## Nemo888 (8 May 2013)

Friend was complaining the traffic snarl kept her from making it to the gym. I was hoping the suspicious package was a gym bag.


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## GR66 (8 May 2013)

Nemo888 said:
			
		

> Friend was complaining the traffic snarl kept her from making it to the gym. I was hoping the suspicious package was a gym bag.



Is it "suspicious" to see a gym bag in the vicinity of NDHQ???   ;D


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## dapaterson (8 May 2013)

Personally, I think it was common sense.  No one at NDHQ could recognize it, but they knew it was a threat to their way of doing things.


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## Inspir (8 May 2013)

Forgive my ignorance as I am not sure about capabilities or policies, but doesn't the CF has resources that they themselves have to deal with this kind of stuff. Such as EOD, JNBCN (?), and MP's.


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## 392 (8 May 2013)

Inspir said:
			
		

> Forgive my ignorance as I am not sure about capabilities or policies, but doesn't the CF has resources that they themselves have to deal with this kind of stuff. Such as EOD, JNBCN (?), and MP's.



The CF does not do IEDD outside of defence establishments in Canada anymore. I could be wrong, but outside 101 is not considered a DND establishment. DAOD 8000-1 sums it up pretty nicely.


On another note, and I know I am being nitpicky, but disrupting something does not constitute a "detonation".  :facepalm: What's next, gunfire in the woods during hunting season being labeled as "detonations" by the media?  ;D For those who are interested, the tool most likely used in this to disrupt the suspicious item would be no louder than a 12 gauge shotgun being fired...


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## ARMY_101 (8 May 2013)

Inspir said:
			
		

> Forgive my ignorance as I am not sure about capabilities or policies, but doesn't the CF has resources that they themselves have to deal with this kind of stuff. Such as EOD, JNBCN (?), and MP's.



Commissionaires? Do they count?  >


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## vonGarvin (8 May 2013)

Inspir said:
			
		

> Forgive my ignorance as I am not sure about capabilities or policies, but doesn't the CF has resources that they themselves have to deal with this kind of stuff. Such as EOD, JNBCN (?), and MP's.


We do; however, its not our role to conduct these duties within Canada, by and large.


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## jpjohnsn (8 May 2013)

Technoviking said:
			
		

> We do; however, its not our role to conduct these duties within Canada, by and large.


I had a ringside seat (better, actually) watching the Borden EOD guys at work the Barrie Armoury back in '05.


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## Canadian.Trucker (8 May 2013)

jpjohnsn said:
			
		

> I had a ringside seat (better, actually) watching the Borden EOD guys at work the Barrie Armoury back in '05.


Ugh... bringing back some horrible memories.  
-"It's just a box of trg claymores, here I'll show you."
-"STOP!  You have no idea what could be in that box!"
-"No, seriously, it's blue training claymores, I swear."

Doors blown off hinges and thousands of dollars later the hallway got a renovation.  Good times... not!


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## dapaterson (8 May 2013)

CBC reports:  Package at Defence HQ had elements consistent with IEDs
Police confirm package had what appeared to be an electronic trigger, timing device

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2013/05/08/ottawa-suspicious-package-national-defence-improvised-explosive.html


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## Scoobie Newbie (8 May 2013)

Must have been someone intimate with the workings of NDHQ because we all know no one is there after 15:00. I also wonder if they will request danger pay now.  ;D


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## jpjohnsn (8 May 2013)

How is it that the CBC is the only one on TV covering this?  Nothing on CTV, Global or SunTV yet.


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## 63 Delta (8 May 2013)

Maybe they have some inside information...   ;D


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## Jed (8 May 2013)

About 3 - 4 years ago I was heading into the office and I saw this unattended backpack perched on one of the concrete pedestals by the front entrance. Being the paranoid guy I am, I went up to the commissionaires and informed them of said backpack.

Anyway, I guess somebody checked it out and dealt with it and it never made anyone's radar.


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## dapaterson (8 May 2013)

More from the Ottawa Citizen:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Package+found+contained+materials+consistent+with/8355159/story.html


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## Nfld Sapper (8 May 2013)

Wonder if it was a training aid that someone forgot about?


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## 392 (8 May 2013)

NFLD Sapper said:
			
		

> Wonder if it was a training aid that someone forgot about?



Not impossible, but highly unlikely anyone would be conducting any training in NDHQ requiring training IEDs. Without seeing any official reporting out yet, and taking into account some of the tidbits in the articles, my spidey sense is telling me it might have been deliberately placed to check reaction times and TTPs - AKA a hoax. 

I imagine further details will be released in the near future.


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## Remius (8 May 2013)

To be honest I'm shocked this hasn't happened before.  NDHQ is possible the worst located high profile building in the city.

Without getting ahead, the recent Boston bombing shows just how easy this sort of thing can be pulled off.


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## George Wallace (8 May 2013)

Crantor said:
			
		

> To be honest I'm shocked this hasn't happened before.  NDHQ is possible the worst located high profile building in the city.
> 
> Without getting ahead, the recent Boston bombing shows just how easy this sort of thing can be pulled off.



The thing is, within a few months, it will all be forgotten and we will once again adopt a more  relaxed security environment.  This is not new.  Terrorists have been bombing public and government locations for over sixty years now.  How paranoid must a society and its security forces get to prevent something like this when there is absolutely no security measures in place?


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## Scoobie Newbie (8 May 2013)

How paranoid?  Ask Israel.


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## Scoobie Newbie (8 May 2013)

You would think there would be more camera's. Then again maybe there is.


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## Fishbone Jones (8 May 2013)

> "The scans revealed dense material that could have been explosives, according to Ottawa police Insp. Michael Maloney, as well as something that looked like it could have been a power source.
> 
> The scans also showed wires that could have connected the other materials."



Bagels with cream cheese, an Ipod and earbuds  ;D


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## George Wallace (8 May 2013)

Sheep Dog AT said:
			
		

> How paranoid?  Ask Israel.



And even they can not prevent terrorist attacks/bombings/hijackings/kidnappings.


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## Nemo888 (8 May 2013)

recceguy said:
			
		

> Bagels with cream cheese, an Ipod and earbuds  ;D


But it was wrapped in tinfoil and blocked the x-ray  It could have been something much more sinister, like a falafel.


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## MedCorps (8 May 2013)

Let us not also forget this Ottawa Cold Case: 

Victim: 	Ms. Jeanne St. Germain
Date Reported: 	June 1970
Location: 	National Defence Headquarters, Laurier Street West, Ottawa

Ms. St. Germain, a Civilian employee of the Department of National Defence was working in a Communications office in the National Defence Headquarters located in the basement level of a building on Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, Ontario. Persons unknown placed an explosive device on the ground outside the window of the office of her office. On detonation the bomb destroyed the communications centre killing Ms. St. Germain.

The original investigation was conducted by the Ottawa Police in conjunction with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

MC


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## Towards_the_gap (8 May 2013)

Some poor staff officer Major hears about this on the radio on the drive home, eyes widen considerably when he looks to the passenger seat of his car, seeing the empty space where his MEC daypack usually sits after a hard day at work, then detours to Futureshop to buy his wife a new iPhone to replace the one he borrowed that morning....and forever will he live with this secret......


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## Edward Campbell (8 May 2013)

dapaterson said:
			
		

> More from the Ottawa Citizen:
> 
> http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Package+found+contained+materials+consistent+with/8355159/story.html




But now _CBC News_ is reporting that there were "No explosives found in package at Defence HQ ... Officials say parcel detonated late Tuesday was never a threat to public safety."


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## cupper (8 May 2013)

To do list:

Pick up block of modeling clay for Wife's Sculpture class

Pick up replacement 9V battery for smoke detector

Get travel alarm back from Jack

Look for set of ear buds for kid's ipod.


Just a normal day in the neighborhood. :nod:


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## daftandbarmy (9 May 2013)

I once ran an op where we cordoned and cleared a suspect IED in a suitcase and blew up some guy's luggage. Inside was a full on, massive, alarm clock complete with two big shiny bells on top. He said he needed it to wake up when he was on the road. Seriously.


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## TankerWanker (12 May 2013)

George Wallace said:
			
		

> The thing is, within a few months, it will all be forgotten and we will once again adopt a more  relaxed security environment.  This is not new.  Terrorists have been bombing public and government locations for over sixty years now.  How paranoid must a society and its security forces get to prevent something like this when there is absolutely no security measures in place?



I have been on vacation for about a week and didn't even know this happened and wouldn't have if I didn't check out the forum. I think in the public eye, it has already been forgotten. 

In regards to no security measures in place... it's impossible to be 100% bombproof. I think our counter-terrorism policies have been fairly successful in Canada in light of the thwarting of an alleged terror plot to derail the VIA rail train just last month not to mention the Toronto 18 in 2006. 

The introduction of tighter security measures are good if there are no underlying infringements to civil liberties (maybe with some careful provisions). The problem is how far do you go to make things "secure" before it undermines our fundamental rights and freedom?


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## George Wallace (12 May 2013)

Very seldom do you hear about the successes in the "anti-terrorist" job of LEO and other organizations.


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## Teager (12 May 2013)

George Wallace said:
			
		

> Very seldom do you hear about the successes in the "anti-terrorist" job of LEO and other organizations.



This is very true you never hear of or very rarely here about the successes. Even in Afghanistan you never here about the amount of IED's found and safely taken care of and the lives that were saved because of that.


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## PAdm (12 May 2013)

I was sitting in a cab approaching Elgin just arriving on TD.  Stuck in traffic, then heard a boom.  I just assumed it was the sound of morale in Ottawa hitting bottom......


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## BernDawg (12 May 2013)

Me and the Mrs. were on a ferry last week when the Pursers office announced "Whoever left the flowers in the front observation area needs to pick them up" As we were sitting in said observation area we exchanged a look and as we were getting ready to get up and move farther back on the boat a very harried woman ran up and claimed the flowers (fully wrapped and taped) from one of the staff.
We figured better safe than sorry.....
Paranoid? No. Been outside of Canada and seen the real world? Yes.


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