A man has been arrested after allegedly making a bomb threat that led police to evacuate part of downtown Halifax on Monday morning.
Halifax Regional Police said a suspicious vehicle was contained in the parkade at 1969 Upper Water Street, near the Purdy's Wharf towers, after the threat was reported. The parkade was the first area evacuated, shortly before 9 a.m.
Police later expanded the evacuation zone to include several downtown streets and intersections: the intersection of Barrington Street and Amalamek Way, Upper Water Street, the stretch of Brunswick Street between Dr. Alfred Waddell Street and Cogswell Street, and Duke Street from Barrington Street down to Upper Water Street.
The evacuation order applied to businesses as well as pedestrians in the affected area, which includes several hotels, restaurants, Scotia Square, and government offices. Halifax Transit rerouted some bus routes as a result, though the ferry terminal remained open, with staff on hand to help direct passengers.
Police confirmed around 10:30 a.m. that the suspicious vehicle and the surrounding area were contained, with an investigation ongoing.
The man was arrested on Thomas Raddall Drive near the Canada Games Centre in the Clayton Park area of Halifax, according to a police news release. Police said a separate investigation is also underway in that area.
Officers said the public should continue to avoid both the downtown site and the Clayton Park area for the time being, and that an increased police presence should be expected in both locations while the investigation continues.
Incidents involving bomb threats or suspicious devices tend to renew broader questions about how well Canadian commercial insurance actually addresses this kind of risk. Unlike the United States, which has a federal terrorism backstop, Canada has no equivalent government-backed program for terrorism losses.
Terrorism coverage in Canada is typically sold as a standalone product, layered onto a standard commercial property policy rather than included automatically, and several major insurers currently offer it as part of their commercial lines. Coverage generally addresses physical property damage and business interruption resulting from an act of terrorism, though definitions and triggers can vary significantly from one policy to another.
A recurring concern within the industry is that some existing terrorism wordings were originally modelled on U.S. definitions and may not always reflect the kinds of incidents more likely to occur in a Canadian context, which has led to calls for more Canada-specific policy language as exposure to these events evolves.
