Canadian True Crime - 87 The 1966 Bombing on Parliament Hill

Episode Date: April 15, 2021

ONTARIO | In 1966, a disgruntled man purchased ten sticks of dynamite, assembled a bomb, and travelled with it to Ottawa—headed for the Parliament of Canada.Podcast recommendation:Corpus Delecti - Robin "Rocky" Myers investigation special seriesCanadian True Crime donates monthly. This month we have donated to:True North Aid - serves and supports northern Indigenous communities in Canada through practical humanitarian support like clean drinking water, food, health, housing, and more.Thanks for supporting our sponsors!See the special offer codes here Don't like the ads?Access early episodes without the ads plus bonus content and more on Patreon and Supercast. Learn more Website and social medias:Website: www.canadiantruecrime.caFacebook:facebook.com/CanadianTrueCrimeTwitter: @CanadianTCpodInstagram: @CanadianTrueCrimePodInstagram: @kristileehello Credits: Research and writing: Kristi LeeAudio editing and production: We Talk of Dreams Disclaimer voiced by the host of TrueTheme Song: We Talk of DreamsAll credits and information sources can be found on the page for this episode at canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi friends, just a quick note to say thank you to everyone who signed the petition from the last episode, the Johnson and Bentley Family Murders. It resulted in an immediate surge in signatures which gave their loved ones a much needed boost as they prepare for the parole hearing. I will be sure to keep you up to date, thank you again. And while I'm here, I also wanted to thank everyone who sent feedback, comments and case suggestions lately whether via social media or email. I have always tried my best to reply to as many as I could but life is kicking my butt

right now and I just can't keep up with replying anymore. So if you do contact me or the show, please know that all messages are read. Your feedback is always taken into consideration and stay tuned for my annual case updates special episode in July or August because I'll be responding to your feedback properly then. Thank you so much for understanding. And on to today's episode. The cases this year so far have been very heavy and very emotional so today's case is a little lighter by comparison to give us all a break.

Canadian True Crime is a completely independent production funded through advertising and direct donations. The podcast contains course language, adult themes and content of a violent and disturbing nature. Listener discretion is advised. In May 18th 1966 the Parliament of Canada was bustling. It was a day where a large group of elected members of parliament or MPs were together in Ottawa, Canada's capital city.

That's capital with an A. The MPs were congregating at what's called Parliament Hill for a sitting of the House of Commons where opposing members including the Prime Minister debate various ideas and policies in a grand old room. Members of the general public were there too to attend and observe the proceedings from the public gallery, a special seating area that overlooks the floor where the members of parliament are debating. On that day in May of 1966 not only were there a large number of MPs in attendance but the

building was packed with around 900 visitors who had come to see their country's parliament in action. Included in this number was around 20 school groups, hundreds of children who were packed in to the public gallery. At 2.30 in the afternoon the members of parliament were back in session starting with some fairly routine business. The public gallery of spectators was now completely full and overflowing. 13 minutes later as the Minister of Labour was speaking there was a loud explosion.

The minister stopped talking mid-sentence, everyone went quiet. The noise didn't come from inside the chamber and visually nothing was different that they could see. Something like this had ever happened before, maybe it was some kind of prank. The minister must have thought so too because after a short pause he continued with his remarks like nothing had happened. It seemed like the noise was an isolated incident outside the chamber and they had security officers there to take care of it.

Back to business. Officers around the building heard the blast too. One secretary said it sounded like a cannon. Others reported the whole building shook and the blast lifted them off their chairs. But no one seemed to know where it came from. At the time one of the entrances to the public gallery was close to the third floor men's washroom and next to that was a small group of officers, one of which was occupied by a secretary named Anne-Marie.

She had heard the blast the loudest of all and was terrified. She knew that she was very close to whatever happened and she had no idea what to do. The fight or flight response is well known but the third option is often left out, freeze. Often people are so shocked by an event like this that they literally have no idea what to do so they just stand there absolutely frozen on the spot until the shock settles. Once Anne-Marie had composed herself she gingerly went to the door, turned the handle and peered around to get a look at the situation. She saw very thick smoke coming out of the men's washroom next door and smelled something

that could only be described as a strong smell of fireworks. Before long there was so much smoke in the hall that everything had darkened. As Anne-Marie debated whether to stay or run she was interrupted by a member of the security personnel who yelled at her to call 911. Back in the House of Commons Chamber they had continued with their agenda after deciding that whatever it was that happened shouldn't interrupt their proceedings. But as John Diefenbaker, leader of the opposition, rose to inquire about something the area was suddenly overcome with the smell of fumes and thick smoke started rolling under the

doors into the chamber. This was clearly something far more serious than a prank. Some immediately started to panic wondering if maybe they were trapped. The doors burst open and someone ran into the chamber yelling for any doctors to please come down. The opposition leader urged then Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson to adjourn the House to better assess the situation. Pearson had just received some preliminary information and agreed.

He announced to the gallery that it appeared there had been a bomb explosion and they had received reports that at least one person was dead. That was all they knew so far but it was definitely time to get out of the building. I'm Christy, an Australian who's called Canada home for more than a decade and this is my passion project. Join me to hear about some of the most thought provoking and often heartbreaking true crime cases in Canada. In court documents and news archives I take you through each story from beginning to end

with a look at the way the media covered the crime and the impact it had on the community. This is Canadian True Crime. Forty-five years earlier in 1921 a baby called Paul Chartier was born in the town of Bonneville in East Central Alberta. His father, Romulus Chartier, owned several hotels and his mother, Bertha, was busy taking care of her growing family. By all accounts Paul was a normal child and his mother would describe him as a happy-go-lucky fellow who liked to sing.

Although as one of a total of nine children in a bustling family it would have been easy for him to blend in. According to his mother Paul left home at age 18 although other sources reported that it was when he was 15 and in grade 9. But after that he worked a lot of different jobs including farm work, trucking and odd jobs. He also worked in a mine in the Northwest Territories where his role as a driller required the use of dynamite.

A person who worked with him there would tell the Ottawa citizen that he seemed like a nice fellow. But for reasons his family did not understand Paul Chartier couldn't hold down a job for long and was always moving around. At age 21 he quit the mine and returned home to work for his father in hotels. Then he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force only lasting two years at that. Then he and one of his brothers ventured into the hotel business together in Manitoba. After a year or two he grew tired of that and moved back to Alberta where his father

helped him to purchase his own hotel in a village called Veteran. At his teens and young adulthood Paul was never known to have been in a romantic relationship but at age 31 all that changed when he married a local girl 14 years his junior. Ruth Dinsmore was only 17 years old and found herself involuntarily roped into her new husband's nomadic lifestyle. He didn't last two years at the hotel his father helped him to buy before announcing to Ruth that they were moving to Edmonton three hours away. After just a few months in Edmonton doing trucking work Paul decided they were moving

again nearly 900km north to St Paul where he reportedly got into the dry cleaning business. He lasted a year there, changed jobs and then they moved back to Edmonton where he worked hauling gravel. There was a lot of jobs and a lot of erratic moves and his wife Ruth was not happy. She would tell the press that not only was she being dragged around from location to location living an isolated life but he was also frequently physically abusive towards her. At this point she had no choice but to leave him.

She would tell the Ottawa citizen quote he didn't like children and never wanted a home. But Ruth did. She asked him for a divorce but he refused to grant it so she just gave up and ended up moving to British Columbia. By the late 1950s Paul was again back in Edmonton having tried his luck at a series of jobs and business ventures which all failed. He was also getting into trouble with the police resulting in two separate unspecified assault charges that would later be dropped and after that a conviction for obstructing

a peace officer. By all accounts the next few years Paul Chartier's situation was becoming more and more erratic. His father died around this time and he moved from job to job every few months getting fired from each for incompetence. This thought he was unreliable, a bit odd and a loner. During this time he continued to move addresses as often as he moved jobs. After a stint working in Toronto he decided to move to the United States and decided now was the time to give Ruth that divorce she'd wanted several years back.

He sent her a letter out of the blue to finalise it and then moved to New York City. Then he floated from job to job, first working as a private detective then he tried another business venture which was a costly failure. He tried his luck in California next and reportedly used the services of a matchmaking service which resulted in a relationship with a local woman. After a year he ended the relationship. Then he moved on to Miami, Florida where he racked up another failed business, another financial loss and another unspecified charge for assault which would later be dismissed.

He was now in his early 40s. Paul Chartier decided it was time to try and get into the music business. He had to make some money fast and thought a move to LA was the way to do it. He fancied himself as a singer and found a studio in LA where he recorded three songs as custom made 45rpm small vinyl records. The songs were all about his quest to find romantic love. He had some copies made and mailed some to local TV stations seemingly under the impression that his music would be an instant hit.

The note he sent with the records stated he would need to be paid at least 75% of royalties from any sales. The TV executives read the note with a chuckle and then listened to the recordings. They were unimpressed with one of them later describing his voice as a sort of passable bathroom baritone. After the expected record sales didn't come through Paul decided an audio recording was not enough. He needed to invest more in self promotion so he hired a camera crew to film him singing

quite a big deal for the 50s and 60s. He then tried to set up a matchmaking business in Los Angeles but failed again. Paul didn't set it up with the proper business permits so he had to shut it down. He then turned his hand to trying to become a published author starting with his own autobiography. From this it was becoming clear that Paul Chartier had some kind of need for fame and attention. He displayed characteristics of narcissistic personality disorder in particular grandiosity which is an unrealistic sense of superiority that leads a person to believe they are unique

or special. Paul Chartier never considered what his potential target audience might be and never stopped to think about what kind of value he would be delivering to them in his autobiography. He simply believed he had what it took to walk in off the street and produce a hit record, be in demand talent and now write a best selling book. By all accounts the autobiography was poorly written and consisted of only 36 pages and the title of the book was comically long. He called it What You Should Know, Sex, a biography of Paul Roberts, life on the Alaskan

Highway while it was being built. This story will help dizziness, sore back and mental health. He was obviously writing under a pseudonym as he was known to do and it's not known how much of the book is actually true and how much is exaggeration. He could have been a trucker along the Alaskan Highway while it was being built but there has been no confirmation of this. The Ottawa citizen would report on the book, particularly a large portion that involved Paul complaining about how his whole life was filled with bad luck and foul blows.

Even though his description of many of the incidents demonstrated poor judgement and recklessness on his part. For example, in one part of the book when he was talking about life on the road as a truck driver he said he deliberately ran a fellow trucker off the road. And in another, he reportedly wrote about needing to change his truck's tyre at night in the dark and his attempts to create a torch using the gas tank of his truck. It failed but he still complained about his bad luck and not finding light that night. The book also revealed that he was frustrated about his sex life.

He issued a warning to potential readers that sex ruined his life and it could do the same to them. He described being sexually active in childhood and wrote about physical problems he had with having sex, recommending the use of sleeping tablets to alleviate the problem. The autobiography of Paul Chartier, aka Paul Roberts, was a rambling mess but he decided it would be a hit. He paid a considerable amount out of pocket to have 1,000 copies printed by a professional publishing house, figuring he could charge $1.50 per copy and make his money back.

By all reports he didn't sell a single copy and was known to give several of them away. There were more abrupt changes to jobs and addresses as his personal chaos escalated. He was now going back and forth living between the US and Canada, spending only months in each before moving across to the other. During this time he lived in Miami where he was charged with assaulting his elderly landlady. By March of 1966 Paul Chartier was an Ottawa on a scoping mission. He couldn't get his life together and he had decided exactly who was to blame and he had a plan to teach them a lesson.

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code CTC to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.com.ctc with offer code CTC and get your passion project off the ground today. Paul Chartier considered his scoping trip to Ottawa to be a success. He worked out what he was going to do and what he was going to need to put his plan into action. But first there were a few loose ends to tie up. Early the next month he showed up out of the blue to his brother Renee's house in Virginia

saying he was en route to New York City to begin working in the hotel business again. Now Renee had no knowledge of any previous mental health issues but noticed that Paul had severe mood swings during this visit and wondered if he was using drugs. The two brothers said their goodbyes and Paul drove away. This would be the last time that Renee saw his brother. According to the Edmonton Journal Paul wrote letters to several of his other family members during this time including his mother and siblings. He told his mother that he had been with Renee in Virginia but was returning to Toronto.

This at least was true. On Easter weekend of 1966 he showed up to rent a room at a boarding house there. As Paul was settled in his rented room he started to flesh out his plan. He was going to build an explosive and detonate it at Parliament Hill. First he wrote a letter to the House of Commons. It read, Dear sir, has an individual the permission to speak in the House of Commons if he has an important subject to talk about?

My talk will last only about five minutes. If I get the right to do this can I get an appropriate time when the House has most of its members there? I am respectfully yours, Paul Chartier. P.S. please answer as soon as possible as I will be going to the West Coast in the near future. Days later he checked the mail and was happy to see a reply there from the clerk of the House of Commons.

But the news was that his request was not possible because only members of Parliament are allowed to speak in the House. Paul was disappointed. His plan hinged on him speaking in Parliament but if they weren't going to give him a chance to deliver his message he was just going to take it from them. He put pen to paper and started writing a manifesto which he titled If I were President of Canada. In reality it was a rambling essay that was disjointed and incoherent in places.

But his goal was clear. Paul Chartier declared that he was speaking for the people and expressed a desire to be the President of Canada, even though this is impossible as Canada is not a republic with a President. He added, quote, we have no one governing this country and I would work very hard rectifying Canada as we have so much to work with but what we have is either stolen or given away. Paul believed politicians were to blame. He referred to then Prime Minister Pearson, a Liberal and Opposition leader, Diefenbaker,

a Conservative, as two bulldogs, quote, they handle our money like it was tissue paper. The only bills the government passes are the ones they can line their own pockets with. In another paragraph he described both leaders as, quote, a couple of kids jealous of one another as to who was going to get the biggest share of the money and scandal. He added, the rich feed their dogs better than we look after our people. And when it came to other parliamentarians he said, quote, as soon as they are nominated with a lovely salary they forget what they were elected for. He called them turncoats and suggested giving them all a jolt of 10,000 volts to remind

them of their promises. Chartier maintained that economic inequality was the main problem in Canada, quote, greed for money is destroying Canada and so are the capitalists who want to make slaves of everyone. He added that big business was taking over the world, giving common workers nothing to say and no chance to get ahead, quote, if at least the lords of big business would stop and think it's us that put them there. On nearly every page of the manifesto he stated that he will remedy the current situation

and remove all scandal when he becomes President of Canada, quote, my first thought was to exterminate as many members of the House of Commons as possible. I also know this might cost me my life but then I figured someone might benefit by it and again I thought not all members are at fault. He said he was ready to die. When he was finished he made carbon copies of his manifesto, keeping one in his room. Canada was mailed to the Edmonton Journal postmarked May 11th 1966 with a note that said hold this and print it when the time requires it.

He would be taking the third copy to Parliament Hill in person. At the same time he thought his music career might need a little boost so he sent one of the custom-made 45 RPM recordings of him singing to what is now the CTV station in Toronto. Evidently, he hadn't given up on believing TV stations could turn into music labels because this package also included a note from Paul demanding 75% of profits from all records sold. Then he went to a store and purchased 10 sticks of dynamite, 6 blasting caps and 10 feet of views. Back in his room he went to work.

He had all the ingredients and now he needed to finish the final preparations. A week later on May 17th 1966 Paul Chartier caught a red-eye bass from Toronto to Ottawa. He arrived at five in the morning, he reviewed his plan and decided to edit his manifesto a little on Hotel Stationery. The next day he left a note in the hotel room, please take care of my belongings. He then hid the components of his bomb under a jacket, packed together in a metal container and caught a bus to Parliament Hill. He arrived early enough to get a front seat in the public gallery as close as you could

get to the members of Parliament. Inside the House of Commons they heard an explosion, the smoke and fumes started rolling in, someone came in yelling for a doctor and they had decided to adjourn. Luckily there was a doctor in the gallery, Dr Hugh Horner was MP for Jasper Edson, an electoral district in Alberta at the time and was sitting at the back of the gallery close to the washroom. He and another local MP Patrick Nolland were able to get out quickly, Patrick was not a doctor but wanted to see what was happening.

When they got to the bottom of the stairs they opened the washroom door and were immediately hit with a strong smell of dynamite fumes but the lights were out and it was filled with such thick, rolling smoke that visibility was completely non-existent. It was not safe to go in so they had no choice but to wait. According to the Ottawa citizen it took 10 minutes for the smoke to clear up, revealing debris and bits of fabric everywhere. And then a bloody and battered body, lying face up, feet towards the door, it looked to be a man.

Patrick Nolland was not expecting this and quickly decided that this was no place for him. He stepped aside for Dr Horner who moved in towards the body. The chest and abdomen had been torn open and the entire right side of the body had been shattered with all clothing blown off. The right hand and part of the right arm had also been blown off, severed above the wrist and a finger on the left hand had been obliterated. Dr Horner saw that most of the lower part of the face was missing and then the man suddenly

gasped. He was still alive but only just. After a few more laboured breaths he took his last. Dr Horner had no idea who this man was but pronounced him dead on the floor of the washroom. Thanks to the fact that the blast was contained in the washroom, this man was the only person killed or even injured, apart from some people suffering mild smoke inhalation symptoms. The coroner removed his remains from the obliterated third floor washroom and the police bordered it up so they could investigate.

After speaking with those sitting in the public gallery, they discovered a man had been sitting there in the front row who fit the description of the body in the washroom, tall, heavy set, middle aged and balding. He was first spotted at 2.40pm, just 13 minutes before the blast. A short time later he rose from his seat and asked an attendant whether it could be saved until he returned. He was told that this was not possible. The attendant told police he smelled strongly of liquor.

The man then asked for directions to the nearest washroom. Next he was seen walking up the aisle, past hundreds of school children lining the rows of chairs through the door before disappearing into the men's washroom, where minutes later he would die. Police found several pieces of identification in the rubble which told them that this man's name was likely Paul Chartier and he was apparently 45 years old. A visual identification may have been traumatising for his next of kin so they took the additional time to identify him through fingerprints.

The police discovered his address and went straight over to the room he'd been renting in Toronto to search for any evidence about what this was all about and also make sure there hadn't been anything else planned. Investigators suspected the blast may have been a suicide by a man who felt he'd been wronged in some way and wanted to use his own death as a way to gain attention for his public protest. Was what happened his intended result or were his intentions far more sinister? Police conducted a search of the room Paul Chartier had been renting in Toronto and stumbled

upon the answers they'd been looking for just as he intended. One copy of his manifesto was in his jacket pocket when he died and remnants of it were found at autopsy. Another copy would soon be received by the Edmonton Journal and a third was in his room. It is read all about his grievances with Parliament and the state of affairs in Canada and what he would do if he was President. Elsewhere in the essay they read something interesting. Paul wrote, Mr Speaker, Gentlemen, I might as well give you a blast to wake you up.

This was not just a manifesto, it was a speech that Paul Chartier apparently hoped to deliver in person. He wrote that it took him a whole year to plan the bombing. Quote, What I came to Ottawa for was to drop a bomb and kill as many people as possible for the rotten way you are running this country. So it wasn't just a suicide. The immediate assumption was that Paul had some kind of mental illness. A search of his medical records revealed that about 11 months before the bombing he showed

up to a hospital in Toronto complaining of headaches and was examined by two doctors. One doctor found no physical problem but noted that Paul had a long history of stress and anxiety. The doctor suspected his physical symptoms may have been psychosomatic, meaning mental health issues that manifest in real physical symptoms like headaches and chest pains. The other doctor's determination was that Paul Chartier had a serious psychological illness describing it as, quote, depression and a mild hysterical illness and a rather psychopathic individual.

Paul's medical files mentioned prescriptions for an antidepressant as well as Valium, a prescription medication that reduces the symptoms of anxiety. The police found more clues in his room around his plans and intentions. For example, there were receipts from the recent purchases he'd made, all the components needed to make a crude, homemade explosive device. He purchased them in Newmarket, a town north of Toronto, using a fake name. The Salato police she asked Paul what he was going to use them for and he replied he was going prospecting in Northern Ontario.

There were prototypes of other explosive devices found in his room that a Toronto bomb expert compared to poorly made firecrackers, but this one that he used at Parliament Hill was a particularly deadly explosive called a shrapnel bomb. Paul Chartier had packed his bomb with hundreds of nuts and screws. When a shrapnel bomb explodes, these tiny metal fragments are ejected with such force in all directions that they inflict more damage than the explosion itself, especially to humans. In this case, the blast had fortunately been contained to the washroom with the walls, ceiling, floor and Paul's body completely pockmarked by metal fragments.

There were more than four pounds of tiny metal pieces retrieved from the floor. According to the Ottawa citizen, the coroner found one piece of metal about the size of a quarter locked in Paul's throat where a part of his jaw had been blown off. The evidence was clear. Paul Chartier intended to kill as many members of Parliament as he could and he didn't care about collateral damage, including himself and hundreds of innocent schoolchildren. In fact, everyone who was in the Parliament that day was at risk of being harmed, from the administration and support staff to the security personnel to the rest of the 900

visitors. But it didn't seem like his goal was for this to happen in the men's washroom, so what went wrong? The police were investigating why the bomb went off in the washroom. They discovered the explosive device was old school, the components stored in metal casing with a length of fuse sticking out. Once lit, the fuse burns down the line giving the person lighting it time to make a getaway before it detonates.

There were scraps of paper in Paul's room with all kinds of calculations on it. His scribbles indicated he'd spent quite some time calculating how much fuse he would need to make it out of the washroom and back into the public gallery in time to throw the device over the barrier before it detonated. Likely because of his calculation mistakes, or because he'd been drinking, or because of last-minute jitters or a combination of these, he didn't even make it out of the washroom. The way he was positioned with his feet close to the door supported this. It appeared he'd been thrown back as he approached the doorway to get out of the washroom.

Like most things he'd tried his hand at in life, whether it be business, employment, or relationships, Paul Chartier had failed at this, too. This attempted bombing of Canada's parliament sparked considerable attention in the media and around water coolers. The event, described as an unprecedented event in the 99-year history of Canada's parliament, made headlines across Canada and triggered huge public interest. As with the police, the public also assumed Paul Chartier had some kind of mental illness. He was frequently referred to as a mad bomber and compared to Lee Harvey Oswald, who shot

and killed American President John F. Kennedy just three years beforehand, and also had known mental health problems, although that alone isn't an indicator of violence. The Edmonton Journal tracked down several members of Paul's family to get their reactions and discovered that none of the people who knew him had noticed any evidence of mental illness. Paul had drifted away from his family and hadn't been close to them for years, but his mother and several of his siblings told the Journal they received out-of-the-blue letters from him in the weeks before the bombing.

But in the letters he was optimistic and didn't mention any problems that he was dealing with. And before that, they knew of him as a happy-go-lucky guy with no interest in politics. In fact, the family avoided any talk or involvement in politics whatsoever, so the news that he was responsible for this bombing and that it was politically motivated was very surprising to them. The police would also speak with his ex-girlfriend in California, the one he met through the matchmaking service, and she indicated the same. He was a loner and didn't have much in the way of friends or acquaintances, but she saw

no evidence of mental unbalance. Paul did have some insecurities. For example, he sometimes wore a toupee to cover almost complete baldness. In fact, all photos of him are when he's wearing the hairpiece. And obviously, there was some issue there when it came to sex. But by all accounts, Paul Chartier was known as a quiet, ordinary person who gave no indication of his internal chaos. A big issue arose after the bombing about the safety and security protocols in place

at Parliament Hill, and the steps needed to prevent it happening again. One MP, Dr. Horner, the first doctor on scene, told the press that MPs are public figures and need to be prepared for these kind of risks, but the public gallery was packed, including schoolchildren, and that's a problem. Dr. Horner then suggested several solutions, including increased security personnel at the entrance. Quote, We are living in the electronic age. There is no reason why there shouldn't be x-ray machines to scan everyone who comes

into the building. He said that without x-ray machines, there is no security at all. A few days after the bombing, the Ottawa citizen reported on what may have happened if the bomber succeeded and what that meant for safety protocols. The paper described the bomb as a vicious shrapnel spewing weapon that would have meant widespread death or injury if it hadn't exploded within the confines of a washroom. It was estimated that if Paul Chartier had made it back to his seat in the public gallery and then thrown the device down, it would have killed 10 to 15 people on the floor,

most certainly including Prime Minister Lester B Pearson. Located in the public gallery where Paul had been sitting, another four to six adults or children would have been killed. Three weeks after the bombing, tighter security measures were announced by Parliament. X-ray machines were not part of the plan, but protective staff numbers were beefed up further, patrols were increased, there was more training, and closer control of the visiting and gallery areas. Additionally, visitors would need to start checking in all parcels, bags and bundles

at the door. When one set of parents arrived for their visit to Parliament Hill, they were told strollers were not allowed, so opted to leave their stroller with an RCMP constable, with the toddler still strapped in. The Ottawa citizen snapped a photo of a confused looking toddler being pushed around the building by the babysitting Mountie. In the months after the bombing, an inquest was held to get a better understanding of what happened and how it could be avoided in the future, beyond just safety and security

measures. Various people contributed testimonies at the two-day inquest, including a doctor who had treated Paul Chartier in the past and testified he had a mild mental disorder but was not, quote, certifiably insane. The coroner spoke about the ready availability of dynamite, quote, it would seem that it is relatively easy to obtain dynamite for any purpose one might wish to put it to. A man wanting to bomb someone and who was determined enough to sacrifice his own life cannot be easily stopped.

It was noted that dynamite cost only 25 cents a stick at the time, cheaper than a pack of cigarettes, despite being a lot more dangerous. A chemist with the Ontario Attorney General's Laboratory examined the remaining bomb components and calculations found in Paul Chartier's room at the boarding house and testified that it was the work of an amateur, quote, the type of thing that could go off if you didn't know how much time you had. Now when it came to Paul's calculations, it was established that the person who sold him the fuse gave him incorrect information about how long it would burn for, although

the inquest stated the seller could not be faulted for what happened. The seller told Paul that one foot of fuse would burn for 60 seconds, when in reality it would only take 40. And Paul's calculations were even more off base than this. The piece of fuse he cut would have only burnt for 10 or 11 seconds, but he estimated that it would burn for 25 seconds, a 57% increase. No wonder he never made it out of the washroom. A psychologist was asked to sit in on all the testimony and review the manifesto, his

autobiography and other evidence, and then testify at the end of the inquest on Paul's probable mental state at the time. Quote, he was quite probably mentally ill with a paranoid type of illness, but hid it well, kept it from others, and would have been accepted by others as normal. The psychologist went on to describe the grandiose tendencies displayed in the manifesto, starting from the title itself, When I Am President. In it, Paul likened himself to Jesus Christ, mentioning that he might have to sacrifice his own life to accomplish a better Canada.

The psychologist described the autobiography as disjointed, and at times vague, the ramblings of a man who couldn't control his thinking process. The inquest jury took less than three hours to make a decision, returning with a short finding that had been quickly typed up. It read, quote, the cause of death was severe hemorrhage and shock, directly related to blast injuries caused by a homemade bomb carried on Chartier's body. The jury found that Paul Chartier had been living in a state of chronic anxiety for quite some time, and was mentally unbalanced prior to his death.

It was also determined that he had intended to ignite the bomb and throw it on the floor of the House of Commons chamber to kill as many members of Parliament as possible. But instead, he died while holding the bomb against his body in a third-floor washroom. Over the years, Paul Chartier and his failed attempt at storming the capital of Canada has been analysed by academics, journalists and other commentators, often in comparison to other cases like it. In a 2019 journal article for Canadian Historical Review, author Steve Hewitt suggests that it fits a wider pattern of lone-actor terrorism, with a person prepares and commits violent

acts alone, outside of any command structure and without material assistance from any group. Hewitt also refers to another similar attack that happened in 2014 in Ottawa at the National War Memorial. 24-year-old Nathan Cirillo, an unarmed soldier, was shot dead while standing guard on ceremonial sentry duty. The gunmen then tried to enter the nearby Parliament building where members of Parliament were in session, first wrestling with security personnel who tried to stop him, and then initiating a shootout once he got inside the building.

The immediate threat was taken out after he was shot at more than 30 times and died at the scene, but the police placed the entire downtown core of Ottawa on lockdown, including schools, until they were sure there were no more additional threats. The gunmen turned out to be a 32-year-old Canadian who had a history of mental instability and a long criminal record involving violence and drugs. In the lead-up to the attack, he had decided to travel to his father's home country of Libya, reportedly to get his life back on track, but the processing of his passport was stalled because of his criminal history.

This angered him and is considered the main motivation for his attack. Some of the media coverage at the time reported on this 2014 attack resulting in the death of Nathan Cirillo as being unprecedented, seemingly forgetting that Paul Chartier had brought a bomb into the building more than 60 years earlier. In his paper called Happy Go Lucky Fellow, Loan Actor Terrorism, Masculinity and the 1966 bombing on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, author Steve Hewitt discusses some of the common threats found in these lone actor or lone wolf terrorist attacks. Firstly, they're most likely to be committed by men, and these men typically have a history

of mental illness, petty criminality, violence and anger, transient lifestyles and unemployment. They also have a history of relationship issues, including being the perpetrators of intimate partner violence. Another commonality is that the attacks are typically centred around societal pressure they feel to behave as the ideal, dominant, masculine man who upholds traditional values like getting married, having a family, buying a house and supporting it all with a stable income. And when they feel they haven't lived up to the ideal, it triggers their own feelings

of insecurity, which leads to anger and alienation as well as a sense of victimhood. They end up believing their failure is all someone else's fault, and this in turn can trigger acts of extreme violence. In Paul Chartier's case, he blamed politicians for his failures in life, and fortunately for those same politicians, he also failed in death. Thanks so much for listening. Even True Crime donates regularly to Canadian charitable organisations that help victims and survivors of injustice.

This month, we have donated to True North Aid, who serve and support Northern Indigenous communities in Canada through practical humanitarian support like clean drinking water, food, health, housing and more. You can learn more at truenorthaid.ca Today's podcast recommendation is from my friends at Corpus Delicti, who are doing a special series right now on a possible wrongful conviction. Take a listen. Here in Alabama, a man named Robin Rocky Myers sits on death row, where he's been since 1993 after being convicted of capital murder.

His appeals have run out, and he's awaiting an execution date. There's just one major problem. Rocky might be innocent. We will take you through his story. The lack of evidence, witness tampering, likely jury bias, overridden sentence, being abandoned by his attorney in a highly debated intellectual disability. You will hear from his lawyer, investigator and others involved in Rocky's fight. And that's where you come in.

We need your help. Please last hope, the governor of Alabama. Join us, Jen and Lindsay, the host of Corpus Delicti, as we aim to bring this case to her attention. Find Corpus Delicti on your favorite podcast app by searching C-O-R-P-U-S-D-E-L-I-C-T-I. See you soon. Canadian True Crime is a completely independent production funded through advertising and the generosity of supporters.

Thank you to everyone who listens, who rates and reviews the podcast, and who supports us on Patreon and Supercast. To learn more about these episodes and for full credits and resources, see the page for this episode at CanadianTrueCrime.ca. While you're there, you can submit case suggestions, follow the show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and learn more about how to get early ad-free episodes and bonus content via the exclusive feed for supporters. Thanks to the host of True for voicing the disclaimer, and also to We Talk of Dreams,

who compose the theme song. I'll be back soon with another Canadian True Crime story. See you then.