This is what I love about Canada.
During the 1970’s and 80’s, hijacking was a scary phenomenon. Airplanes were forced here and there by people who swore allegiance to groups with initials: PLA, RAF. It was the era of the Baader-Meinhof gang in Germany and the SLA (of Patty Hearst fame) in the States, of bank robberies and bombings. Planes were forced to land in Greece, in Uganda, in Lebanon. Hostages were held. People died. Airplane travel felt risky.
Parliament from Ottawa River
But in Canada, our lonely gun-wielding hijacker, Charles Yacoub, who was upset about the Syrian invasion of Lebanon, diverted a Greyhound bus. On his way from Montreal to New York, the driver was ordered to go instead to Ottawa. There the bus got stuck in the muddy lawn of Parliament Hill. A flurry of excitement ensued. Parliament was evacuated. But it all got settled in a few hours with no injuries.This happened in April 1989. Seven months later the Berlin wall fell.
It’s nice to live in a country where, sometimes at least, mud is all it takes.
