OTTAWA –<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says the federal government is looking at its options when it comes to increasing security for politicians, adding the harassment many face represents a threat to democracy. He says that as the security situation becomes \u201cmore and more complex,\u201d there\u2019s a need to \u201cbring the temperature down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This comes following a video posted online this weekend of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland being harassed in Alberta. The video shows a man yelling profanities at the minister in the lobby of Grande Prairie, Alta.\u2019s city hall, before she and her staff enter the elevator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mendicino said the harassment and threats faced by politicians are \u201cnot a partisan issue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are seeing more incidents, particularly involving women, involving racialized Canadians, and involving Indigenous peoples,\u201d he said. \u201cI don’t believe that is a coincidence, and we need to be sure that people can contribute, that they can lend their voices to our politics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Politicians from both sides of the aisle were quick to come to Freeland\u2019s defence and denounce the harassment, with many also sharing their own experiences of threatening behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minister of Women and Gender Equality Marci Ien said while she agrees with Mendicino\u2019s comments that the temperature needs to be turned down, it\u2019s been “decidedly high” for women, Indigenous people, and people of colour for a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is real,\u201d Ien said. \u201cThis is real. What happened to the deputy prime minister was reprehensible but not surprising.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was a journalist. I’m a Black woman. And now I’m a politician,\u201d she also said. \u201cAnd I have to tell you, it was the number one thing that my family was worried about when I ran because as a journalist, the level of threats that I got, as a Black journalist, the level of threats that I got on my life and on the lives of my children, to run for office was not a small decision to make.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould, who was at the news conference with Mendicino and Ien, echoed their statements, and said while she\u2019s grateful to have had the opportunity for added protection when she needed it, she\u2019s \u201csad that it\u2019s something we need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe’ve been very lucky in Canada, and I think we’ve prided ourselves for many years on the fact that our politicians are generally very accessible,\u201d Gould said. \u201cThat\u2019s something that I think we want to maintain. That being said, I think those of us that have been in politics for a number of years now have also seen an increase in disturbing and threatening rhetoric \u2014 whether it be online or whether it be in person \u2014 we’ve seen public figures, particularly that are female, that have experienced significant harassment, both as politicians but also as journalists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The video of Freeland has many questioning whether Canadian politicians need an increased security detail. And this is not a new issue \u2014 someone threw gravel at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a campaign event during the most recent federal election, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was verbally harassed by protestors at an Ontario election campaign stop this spring, and MPs who live in the Ottawa-Gatineau region were warned by a top security official for the House of Commons about potential risks during the trucker convoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Bernadette Jordan told CTV News Channel Monday she needed around-the-clock security at her home during some of her time as a cabinet minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said while many are wondering why Canadian politicians don\u2019t have security details, they should really be asking why they would need them in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really very, very scary to see this kind of attitude, that it’s OK to harass someone like that, that it’s OK to threaten someone without repercussions,\u201d Jordan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt makes you wonder: why run for politics? And this is something that really bothers me, because we want really good people to run,\u201d she also said. \u201cIt’s extremely important that we have people who are dedicated, who want to help their country, who want to help their communities, but then you treat them like this and you wonder why people would do it.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
OTTAWA – Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says the federal government is looking at its options when it comes to increasing security for politicians, adding the harassment many face represents a threat to democracy. He says that as the security situation becomes \u201cmore and more complex,\u201d there\u2019s a need to \u201cbring the temperature down.\u201d This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":9551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"topbottom","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_post_split":{"enable_post_split":"0","post_split":[{"template":"1","tag":"h2","numbering":"asc","mode":"normal","first":"0","enable_toc":"0","toc_type":"normal"}]},"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n