OTTAWA -- Members of the Canadian military in the Ottawa area have been told stop wearing their uniforms in public, with the exception of going back and forth to work.
While it has not been made a general order, a guidance directive was issued today after a reservist guarding the National War Memorial was shot and killed by a rifle-toting gunman who later stormed Parliament Hill and died in a gunfight inside the Centre Block.
The directive also follows Monday's tragedy in Quebec, where one soldier was killed and another was injured when they were struck by a car being driven by an extremist who had been looking to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
The directive, a copy of which was obtained by The Canadian Press, prohibits military members from stopping at grocery stores, taking public transit and even having lunch or coffee in public places while in uniform.
Such activities are still permitted when soldiers are wearing civilian attire.
The directive was issued today around the time Defence Minister Rob Nicholson and the country's top military commander, Gen. Tom Lawson, laid a wreath near the spot where Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was gunned down.
