Date: Friday, September 16, 2022

File: 22-34383

Victoria, BC – VicPD officers will be establishing road closures and greeting the public to ensure that Monday’s Queen Elizabeth II’s ceremonial procession and commemorative service is a safe and peaceful event.

Road closures will start at 8 a.m. on Monday, September 19th in the area of the B.C. Parliament Buildings as members of the military and dignitaries from across the province, including Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Janet Austin and Premier John Horgan, gather for a ceremony honouring the life and service of Queen Elizabeth II.

Additional road closures will come into effect at 9 a.m. along the procession route. The procession will walk down the east driveway past the Cenotaph, head north along Government Street, turn east on Fort Street and then make its way south on Quadra Street to Christ Church Cathedral.

Map of the ceremonial procession route, courtesy of B.C. Office of Protocol

In order to minimize traffic impacts, officers will open roads once the procession has passed and it is safe to do so. Members of the public are invited to gather along the procession route to pay their respects.

Hansard services will broadcast the ceremonial procession from approximately 9:45 a.m. until 10:20 a.m. at: https://www.leg.bc.ca/.

The provincial multi-faith commemorative service at Christ Church Cathedral will begin at 11 a.m. The service is open to the public, however, seating is limited. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. The service will be livestreamed at: https://www.christchurchcathedral.bc.ca/live.

Quadra Street and other roads in the area of the Christ Church Cathedral will remain closed as needed during the ceremony itself. All roads are anticipated to be reopened by 1:30 p.m.

Officers and staff across VicPD, as well as those in regional units, including those with our Operational Planning Section, the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team, the Greater Victoria Public Safety Unit, Patrol, Community Services Division, Community Engagement Division, Investigative Services Division and the Integrated Canine Service are all responding and will be working to help ensure the event is safe and peaceful.

As with previous events, we will be deploying our temporary, monitored CCTV cameras in support of our operations to ensure public safety during the event. The deployment of these cameras is part of our operations to help keep this event safe and peaceful and is in keeping with both provincial and federal privacy laws. Temporary signs are up in the area to ensure that the public is aware. If you’ve concerns about our temporary camera deployment, please email [email protected].

Remember that drones are not permitted in the downtown core. The Inner Harbour is an active flight zone for float planes and helicopters. Drones are strictly prohibited under Transport Canada rules.

For live updates on events, including road closures, and any public safety messaging, please follow us on Twitter on our @VicPDCanada account. We will be using the #VicPDLive hashtag.

For more information on the Period of Mourning visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/organizational-structure/office-of-the-premier/remembering-queen-elizabeth-ii/information-on-the-period-of-mourning

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