Page Protest Leads to Bolstered Security

Well, at least you can't say Brigette DePape didn't accomplish anything with her protest.

Brigette DePape's throne speech protest on Friday has prompted a security review for the Senate, because 21-year-old university students holding paper signs are clearly a threat to the chamber of sober second thought. David Tkachuk, the Conservative senator who helms the committee charged with handling the Senate's inner workings, said future pages will face more stringent background checks before they are hired. Tkachuk, who apparently has no sense of irony (or, perhaps, a really great one), called DePape's actions “contempt” for Parliament. Pages, who are typically high-school or university students, earn about $12,000 for their one year of service, and swear an oath to carry out their duties impartially.