Members of Parliament told CBC News stories of harassment and threats against them just a day after the government announced that lawmakers would get personal panic buttons.
Buttons, also called “mobile coercive alarms,” can be used to alert the Parliamentary Protection Service (PPS) or local police.
Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino said this week that his office, the PPS and law enforcement are reviewing the security of MPs following a series of threatening incidents this year. Mendicino said he has received several death threats through social media.
He is not the only one.
Liberal MP Chris Bittle doesn’t mean he wears a panic button. He said he had received about 20 death threats, all of which he had sent to the police. He said there have been some convictions as a result.
Bittle said the threats surprised him when he entered politics.
“I knew people would be angry with us. I didn’t expect all the death threats,” he said.
“There are a lot of angry people out there. And there is a lot of political language, including words like ‘traitor’, that are used freely, even by politicians.
“If you think someone is a traitor or worse … that could lead to violence.”
TARGET | Trudeau, the Minister of Public Security and the deputies talk about the panic buttons
Trudeau, the Minister of Public Security and the deputies talk about the panic buttons
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino, NPD MP Heather McPherson and Conservative MP Ben Lobb discuss whether MPs need panic buttons.
Liberal MP Judy Sgro said she believes threats and harassment of MPs are “much worse” now than in previous years.
He suggested that the mandate against Freedom Convoy vaccines, which occupied Ottawa in February and March of this year, was a turning point.
“Things have changed a lot in recent years,” he told CBC News. “And especially after the convoy problem, most of us felt very insecure.”
Although parliamentary security has offered personal panic buttons to MPs ahead of Monday’s announcement, Sgro said he did not take any initially, not until someone followed her most of the way as she walked home. one day.
Sgro said the stranger regretted his vaccination status against COVID-19 and the restrictions that resulted from it. He said he was about to call 911 when the stranger finally left.
“Nasty, angry and frustrated people”
“I think women are more vulnerable and they also feel a lot more vulnerable,” Sgro said.
“Improving the security of all parliamentarians is therefore a pity, but it seems that we are in a difficult time in society at the moment. [There’s] a lot of nasty, angry and frustrated people. “
She said she feels safer now that she’s wearing the panic button.
Earlier this month, Supreme Court President Richard Wagner said the occupation of Freedom Convoy showed the court needed more security.
Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi said that although he personally did not feel the need for a panic button, he was concerned about the safety of his family.
“For me, my most important consideration is my family: making sure they are always safe, making sure I have the proper security measures in place at home, which are provided by the House of Commons,” he said.
Conservative MP Dan Albas said an increase in angry rhetoric is at odds with the friendly reputation of Canadians.
“Canadians are known to be a warm people. We want the best for everyone. So we need to start having more conversations about how we can lead our conversations, especially our political discourse, along these lines,” Albas said. .
Conservative MP Ben Lobb agrees that political rhetoric has intensified in recent years.
“The rhetoric is too much … it’s very different from what it was 10 or 15 years ago,” he said.
“I don’t know if it’s social media or just the state of people’s mental health in certain cases, but I think everyone should relax a little and try not to think that every problem is the end of the world to threaten people “.
But Lobb also questioned the usefulness of a panic button in case someone became violent with a politician.
“In many cases, I think when you’ve had an attack, it’s probably too late to push the button,” he said.
Parliament’s security chief questions police inaction
Sergeant-at-arms Patrick McDonnell, who is Parliament’s head of security, is now offering de-escalation training to MPs in the hope that such attacks can be prevented.
On Tuesday, McDonnell told a House of Representatives committee he was “surprised” by how Ottawa City police allowed harassment of lawmakers and parliamentary staff to continue during the Freedom Convoy protest.
He told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that MPs and their employees were facing harassment almost every day on Wellington Street in downtown Ottawa, which is under the jurisdiction of local police.
McDonnell said there was a “remote viewing” police car of the events he was describing and that incidents were reported to Ottawa police “every day.”
Sergeant-at-arms Patrick McDonnell wears the House of Commons mace in front of House Speaker Anthony Rota on November 23, 2021. McDonnell, Parliament’s head of security, said he was surprised that the local police have not taken any further action. when deputies were threatened during the occupation of the Freedom Convoy. (Justin Tang / The Canadian Press)
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government was focused on tackling the rise in violent threats.
“We know, unfortunately, that there is a significant amount of anger and frustration directed at the government, directed at officials,” Trudeau told reporters.
“We need to make sure that anyone who takes a step to serve their community, at any political level, is safe, and that’s what we take very seriously.”
The MP says that the commitment of politicians, diversity can be threatened
NDP MP Heather McPherson said in a media scrum on Tuesday that at one point in January she feared so much for the safety of her family that she called home to make sure the doors were closed.
He said people have threatened online to kill his dog.
McPherson alluded to the killings of two UK MPs – Jo Cox in 2016 and David Amess in 2021 – when he spoke of the need to protect politicians.
“We see what has happened in the UK, we see what has happened to parliamentarians in other countries, and I don’t think it’s smart to expect a situation like this to happen in Canada because we’re acting with the security that I think is needed.” he told reporters.
Flowers surround an image of Jo Cox during a vigil in Parliament Square on June 16, 2016 in London, UK. Cox was assassinated in 2016 and another British MP, David Amess, was assassinated in 2021. NPD MP Heather McPherson said tragedies in the UK and elsewhere show the need for security measures for Canadian MPs. (Dan Kitwood / Getty Images)
He said threats could jeopardize politicians’ engagement with the public.
“I want to make barbecues, I want to hand out ice cream, I want to be in the community,” he said. “I want to be available so that people can talk to me. And the threat to me is such that we have to seriously consider the pros and cons of holding public events that we announce widely.”
McPherson said he has never had to use a panic button, even though he has one in his office and one he carries with him.
He said he fears people are becoming insensitive to stories of violent threats against people in politics and government. He said the threatening environment can deter women and people of color from running for office.
“We have to be so careful not to be like that frog in the cold water with the heat up,” McPherson said.
“We can’t normalize this. We can’t normalize violence against people running for office, holding office. Because if we do, our democracy will be deeply damaged.”