Increasing threats rattle politicians

'Someone is going to get seriously hurt,' as elected officials confront rising intimidation

- TONDA MACCHARLES

Four years ago, nobody threatened NDP MP Charlie Angus. Now he receives threats weekly, and has been told some posts are "Al-generated" or campaigns mounted by bots - which complicates the task for an MP who wants to track patterns of escalation.

It seems only a matter of time before an elected official in Canada gets seriously hurt.

In March, somebody set fire to the garage at Liberal MP Brendan Hanley’s Yukon home.

No one was injured in the blaze that destroyed the garage, two cars and a motorbike, but it left him “shocked,” profoundly shaken, and fearful about the safety of his family, neighbours and those close to him.

Like nearly all MPs approached by the Star for this story, Hanley is reluctant to talk about the threat or details of that terrifying incident because he does not want to impede an ongoing RCMP probe.

But Hanley, a former Yukon chief medical officer of health who was elected in 2021, will say this:

“We all recognize the importance of protest and the many forms that can take. But it should never take the form of violence, and it should never encroach on someone’s personal property. I think that’s a line that has been crossed.”

It’s not about mean tweets, and it is not just online harassment anymore.

Canadian elected officials are confronting a sharp rise in physical threats and in-person intimidation, according to parliamentarians, House of Commons security officials, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

And there’s a veil of silence that surrounds it.

Vance Badawey, a Liberal MP, doesn’t want to talk about the guy who came to his Port Colborne home last year, smashed the front window with a baseball bat, threatened his neighbours and chased kids down the street.

In a victim impact statement, Badawey made clear he remains angry about the impact on his family and neighbours, who were deeply rattled, and still are.