Mr. Speaker, ten years ago today, on Wednesday, October 22, 2014, Parliament experienced one of the darkest days in its long history, a day that would forever change life in the House of Commons.

Ten years ago, a terrorist killed a man just steps from Parliament before bursting into Centre Block targeting elected representatives with deadly intentions. Ten years ago, Corporal Nathan Cirillo lost his life in a completely senseless attack, when he was shot by a deranged jihadist sympathizer. The Bloc's thoughts go out to Corporal Cirillo's loved ones. His life should never have ended that day, at the age of 24, because of a senseless act.

As Quebeckers, we cannot help but remember that the Ottawa attack came barely two days after another traumatic incident in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. Just two days earlier, another individual inspired by radical Islamism mowed down two soldiers in a parking lot. One survived but the other, Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, lost his life. We remember him today, too. Our thoughts are still with his loved ones, ten years later.

All parliamentarians, all staff and even people who were working in the area around the Hill will remember October 22, 2014, for the rest of their lives. That was the day all of downtown Ottawa wondered whether we were safe, as we were all locked down in our offices until the end of the day. It was the day a madman killed a soldier and then stole a minister's limo to get to Centre Block.

It was a Wednesday, a caucus day, when Parliament is more crowded than any other day of the week. That was the day this man started a shootout with parliamentary security in the Hall of Honour, right by the library. It was the day Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers and the police heroically opened fire and brought down the shooter.

History will always remember the heroism demonstrated that day by Mr. Vickers and by members of Parliament's law enforcement service, particularly Corporal Curtis Barrett and Constable Son. It was a very heroic moment, but it did not mark the end of the crisis because nobody knew at that time that the shooter was acting alone. It was the end of the threat to Parliament, but the beginning of a long day for all MPs, staffers and House personnel, who feared for their safety.

No one knew what was really going on. We were told to keep our offices locked, to stay away from the windows and to close the curtains. We called our loved ones, our spouses, our children. We wanted to reassure them. It is very difficult to reassure loved ones when we have no idea what is actually going on. Finally, though, we were told that it was safe to leave and go home.

Life in the House of Commons changed that day. It changed for the many people who suffered post-traumatic stress following that horrible event, which continues to leave a mark 10 years on. It also changed with the creation, the following year, of the Parliamentary Protective Service in its current form and with the heavily tightened security measures around the Hill, which are still in place this fall. Most of all, Parliament lost a lot of its innocence that day.

Gone are the days when we believed such things would not happen here on Parliament Hill, which used to be more like a tourist attraction with a laid-back atmosphere. The change is probably for the best, considering the current climate of hostility and threats against elected members. It will forever be deplorable and tragic that, in order to get to this point, Nathan Cirillo, a young man in the prime of his life, had to lose his life to a terrorist. We will never forget him or what happened on Wednesday, October 22, 2014.

In closing, on behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I want to thank all the Parliamentary Protective Service officers who are here with us every day and who put themselves at risk to keep us, our employees and all the dedicated House of Commons staff safe, as this commemoration clearly reminds us.

We thank them.

Louis Plamondon

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