Liberal MP Pam Damoff rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on March 31, 2023.PATRICK DOYLE/The Canadian Press
Female MPs recounted Thursday how they had received a torrent of death threats, hateful messages loaded with profanities, as well as warnings of extreme violence that had made them afraid to go out in public.
In emotional testimony before a Commons committee examining harassment of MPs, Liberals Pam Damoff and Iqra Khalid fought back tears as they spoke of abuse they have received from members of the public, including a threat to harm Ms. Khalid.
MPs on the Procedure and House Affairs Committee were visibly disturbed as Ms. Damoff and Ms. Khalid read out some of the hate-filled messages they had received, including a warning to Ms. Damoff to get out of Canada.
Ms. Damoff, who earlier this month announced she is not standing for Parliament again because of death threats, misogyny and a toxic work environment, said: “The level of threats and misogyny I am subject to both online and in person are such that I often fear going out in public, and that is not a sustainable and healthy way to live.”
She said some hate was being fuelled by MPs posting on social media, with extreme messaging getting far more exposure than measured comments because algorithms “push angry to the top.”
“The toxic drive for social media likes and clips among elected officials has hindered constructive conversations, exacerbated differences between us, and diminished our capacity to show empathy towards each other,” she said, adding that the “tone and tenor of public discourse has deteriorated.”
Ms. Khalid said the “politics of agitation” was creating a political environment that is so adversarial it has led to life-threatening situations. She said she is embarrassed by the deteriorating conduct of MPs, saying if they “don’t respect each other, how can we expect Canadians to respect each other and how can we build a democracy built on respect.”
She disclosed she had been spat on, and that her home address released on a radio talk show with threats against her life. Members of a right-wing extremist organization had stalked her office and shared her address, videotaping her as she walked around her community.
Conservative and NDP female MPs, including Lindsay Mathyssen and Michelle Rempel Garner, also disclosed that they had received death threats.
“I don’t want to share my experience publicly, but I’ve actually had scenarios where charges have been laid and somebody has been released on bail immediately and then disappeared – and these were death threats,” Ms. Rempel Garner said
Ms. Damoff, elected in the riding of Oakville North-Burlington in 2015, described how she had been verbally abused in a grocery store, and at a business event in Burlington
She told the committee the slew of threats and abusive messages were upsetting and worrying her staff and son.
Some vitriol came after criticism of her on social media and in the Commons by Conservative MPs, including on the issue of gun control, she said.
“When I report explicit threats of violence towards me to the police, they often say they don’t cross the line for them to do anything,” she said, noting that the RCMP commissioner said recently that MPs should look at giving police additional tools in law to respond to threats against politicians.
At a news conference in Toronto on Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said no one should face harassment or threats of violence in their workplace. He said when MPs or their staff are targeted, which is “increasingly the case,” it is not simply an attack against an individual or a political party.
“That’s an attack on our democracy,” he said.
“Individual hatreds and acts of violence aimed at people who are serving their communities, who’ve put themselves forward to serve their communities in any order of government, that’s unacceptable,” he said.
Long-time NDP MP Charlie Angus, who is not running again, said in an interview that last year his constituency office received so many threats within a 24-hour period that the Ontario Provincial Police came in and answered the phones.
During his first 16 years as an MP, there were a few cases where his office had to seek no-trespass warnings. But he said things changed during the third lockdown during the pandemic when the “switch had been flipped” and individuals were “raging” with anti-government conspiracies, and this has not abated.
He has gone to court a couple of times, and once received death threats from an individual who threatened him and the police if officers were to show up at the individual’s house to issue a no-trespass order.
Mr. Angus said MPs do not want to talk about what they facing but some have told him their stories, with some dealing with “real direct threats.”
He said “constant online harassment” makes it difficult to discern what is serious and what is not. This can make politicians think twice about posting about where they will be, such as at a community hall, he said.