Buttons, also called “mobile pressure alarms”, can be used to alert the Parliamentary Protection Service (PPS) or local police. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said this week that his office, the PPS and law enforcement are examining the safety of MPs following a series of threatening incidents this year. Medicino said he received multiple death threats through social media. He is not alone. Liberal MP Chris Bittle did not say whether he was holding a panic button. He said he had received about 20 threats to his life, all of which he had forwarded to police. He said there were some convictions as a result. Bittle said his threats came as a surprise when he entered politics. “I knew people would be angry with us. I did not expect all the threats to life,” 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 by politicians, among others. “If you think someone is a traitor or worse … it could lead to violence.” CLOCKS Trinto, the Minister of Public Security and the deputies are talking about panic buttons
Trinto, the Minister of Public Security and the deputies are talking about panic buttons
Prime Minister Justin Trinto, Public Security Secretary Marco Medicino, NDP MP Heather McPherson and Conservative MP Ben Lobb are debating whether members of parliament need panic buttons. Liberal MP Judy Sgro said she felt the threats and harassment of MPs were “much worse” now than in previous years. He suggested that the Freedom Convoy vaccine order, 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 escort issue, most of us felt very insecure.” Although parliamentary security offered personal panic buttons to lawmakers before Monday’s announcement, Sgro said it did not get one at first – only when someone followed it for most of its one-day walk home. Sgro said the stranger mourned the vaccination situation for COVID-19 and the restrictions it entailed. He said he was ready to call 911 when the stranger finally left.
“Bad, angry, frustrated people”
“I think women are more vulnerable and they feel much more vulnerable as well,” Sgro said. “It’s unfortunate that security is improving for all MPs, but we seem to be in a difficult period in society at the moment. [There’s] a lot of ugly, angry, frustrated people. “ He said he felt safer now holding the panic button. Earlier this month, Supreme Court Justice Richard Wagner said the seizure of the Freedom Escort showed the court needed extra security. Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi said that while he has not personally felt the need for a panic button, he is concerned for the safety of his family. “For me, my biggest concern is my family – to make sure they are always safe, to make sure I have the proper security at home, which is provided by the House of Commons,” he said. Conservative MP Dan Albas said the rise in angry rhetoric runs counter to Canada’s friendly reputation. “Canadians are known to be warm people. We want the best for everyone. So we need to start having more discussions about how we can bring our conversations back, especially our political discourse, to this line,” Albas said. Conservative MP Ben Lobb agrees that political rhetoric has grown more in recent years. “The rhetoric is exaggerated … it is very different from what it was 10 or 15 years ago,” he said. “I do not know if it is social media or just the state of mental health of people in some cases, but I think everyone should relax a little and try and not believe that every issue is the end of the world to threaten people. ». But Lobb also questioned how useful a panic button would be if someone became violent with a politician. “In many cases, I think once you have an attack, it ‘s probably too late to push the button,” he said.
Head of the security questions of the Parliament Inaction of the police
Sergeant Patrick McDonnell, Parliament’s security chief, is now offering de-escalation training to MEPs in the hope that such attacks can be prevented. On Tuesday, McDonnell told a committee of lawmakers he was “surprised” by how Ottawa city police allowed lawmakers and lawmakers to continue harassing protesters during the Freedom March. He told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that lawmakers and their staff had been harassed almost daily on Wellington Street in central Ottawa, which is under the jurisdiction of local police. McDonnell said there was a police car “very close” to the events he described and that incidents were reported to Ottawa police “every day”. Sergeant Patrick McDonnell carries the House of Commons staff in front of House Speaker Anthony Rota on November 23, 2021. McDonnell, Parliament’s security chief, said he was surprised local police did not take further action when lawmakers threatened during the occupation of the Freedom Escort. (Justin Tang / The Canadian Press) Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trindade said the government was focused on tackling the escalation of violent threats. “We know, unfortunately, that there is a significant amount of anger and frustration out there addressed to the government, to the officials,” Trinto told reporters. “We need to make sure that anyone who works to serve their community, at any policy level, is safe, and that is what we take very seriously.”
The MP says that the involvement of politicians, diversity can be threatened
NDP lawmaker Heather McPherson told the media on Tuesday that, sometime in January, she was so afraid for her family’s safety that she called home to make sure the doors were locked. She said people on the Internet had threatened to kill her dog. McPherson referred to the assassinations of two British MPs – Joe Cox in 2016 and David Ames in 2021 – when he spoke of the need to protect politicians. “We see what happened in the UK, we see what happened to MPs in other countries and I do not think it is wise to wait for such a situation to happen in Canada to act on the security that I believe is necessary,” he told reporters. Flowers surround a picture of Jo Cox during a vigil in Parliament Square on June 16, 2016 in London, United Kingdom. Cox was assassinated in 2016 and another British MP, David Amess, was assassinated in 2021. NDP MP Heather McPherson said the tragedies in the UK and elsewhere show the need for security measures for Canadian MPs. (Dan Kitwood / Getty Images) He said the threats could jeopardize policies’ commitment to the public. “I want to have a barbecue, I want to share 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 need to seriously consider the pros and cons of holding public events that we widely advertise.” McPherson said she never had to use a panic button, although she has one in her office and one she has with her. He said he feared people would be made aware of stories of violent threats against politicians and government officials. He said the threatening environment could discourage women and people of color from running. “We have to be so careful not to be like this frog in the cold water with the heat up,” McPherson said. “We can not normalize this. We can not normalize violence against people who claim positions, hold positions in positions. Because if we do, our democracy will be deeply affected.”
