Video shows protester spitting at MP

Toronto MP and former public safety minister Marco Mendicino was spat on by a protester in Ottawa this week, a video circulating online appears to show.

- MARK RAMZY AND TONDA MACCHARLES

A video posted on YouTube shows a protester spitting in the face of Toronto MP Marco Mendicino near Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday. Mendicino wouldn't comment on the incident because it is under investigation.

Mendicino confirmed an incident occurred on Wednesday, the day the House of Commons adjourned for the summer, in an email to the Star.

“I will not be commenting given that the incident is under investigation,” he said. “It is not the first time. I’ve been the target of multiple death threats and incidents of harassment.”

The video, which has been viewed thousands of times on YouTube and Reddit, shows a man wearing a “Save Canada” hat approaching Mendicino on Sparks Street near Parliament Hill and spitting on him as Mendicino reached out to shake his hand. The man later apologizes to Mendicino.

Save Canada, an organization that gained prominence during the socalled “Freedom Convoy” in 2022, says on its Facebook page that it promotes “the Free Christian Values, culture and History of Canada.”