Ottawa police said Wednesday that someone drove an unauthorized vehicle into the front gates on Wellington Street around 3:30 a.m., but was unable to go any further due to security infrastructure. Damage to the gate was minimal and a nearby police officer arrested the driver without incident. The Ottawa Police Service is the jurisdictional police agency on Wellington Street in front of the Parliament Buildings. Officers are working with the Parliamentary Protection Service. The accused has been identified in court documents obtained by CTV News as Maxwell Pate, 29, of Ottawa. Pate is charged with dangerous driving and malicious damage to property. Earlier this year, Ottawa police issued a missing person’s report for Pate, which was later canceled when he was found. Police had warned residents at the time that he may be at risk of harming himself or others and that he may have a knife. CTV News spoke with his family, who say Pate has been struggling with mental illness and hasn’t been able to get the care he needs in recent months. Wellington Street in front of Parliament has been closed to vehicles since February, after police forces cleared anti-government “Freedom Convoy” protesters who had besieged the city center for three weeks. In July, a driver received more than $1,000 in fines for driving without a license on Wellington Street. Discussions have been ongoing since February as to whether the section of Wellington Street in front of Parliament will remain permanently closed to vehicles. MPs are on summer break so the House of Commons is not in session at this time. This comes on the same day that a tour bus slammed into a gate outside 24 Sussex Dr., the prime minister’s official, but currently unoccupied, residence. There were no passengers on the bus at the time and the driver was not injured. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau currently does not live at 24 Sussex. Police said these two incidents are being treated as separate. –With files from CTV’s Mackenzie Gray and Rachel Aiello.
