So, incidents of harassment, intimidation and an undefined something called “threat behaviour” targeting MPs have increased over the past four years. Viable threats to safety require extra precautions, police involvement and prosecution when warranted. Every one of them. No one deserves that.If it’s a matter of name-calling peppered with naughty words, well, that’s unnecessary and unpleasant to hear. But boo hoo. Suck it up snowflakes. You’re well-paid to wear the big boy/girl, he/him, she/her, they/them pants. Sticks and stones…This might shock elected bubble-dwellers roaming the halls of Parliament. Hearing from Canadian citizens not being happy with every little thing they do is part of the job. Canadians frustrated about a long list of federal government policies making their lives harder can get a little edgy and ill-mannered. But, according to some Liberals the problem isn’t their abysmal record and habit of not listening to Canadians barely hanging on financially, worried about housing, getting robbed by a pointless carbon tax, fed up with woke nonsense targeting their children and the military, and too often unaccounted for wild, wasteful spending. The failings go on and on.No, no, it has nothing to do with their performance. They’re victims.And it’s all Pierre’s fault. And the two Michael’s. And Larry’s. And Damien’s. “Mom, the public is being mean to us because the Conservatives call us names.”Ontario Liberal MP Pam Damoff who testified at the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs Thursday won’t be seeking re-election because she can’t take it anymore. She blamed Conservative MPs Michael Barrett, Michael Cooper, Larry Brock, and Damien Kurek for accusing government members of the ethics committee as being “corrupt” and involved in a “coverup” on behalf of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Horrors! These rascals even used the word “treason” in parliament and on social media.“Members of Parliament must understand that they drive and exasperate harassment, abuse, and threats received by other MPs when they share misinformation and lies and make personal attacks against other members,” said Damoff.Apparently, dim-witted members of the public are just too stupid to figure out something is terribly wrong all by themselves.One can be sympathetic to the “misogynist” names Damoff said she’s been called in emails and on social media. However, her claim that alleged misinformation spread by Conservatives is a threat to democracy is over the top.Gee, a really, very sombre Trudeau — who would never dream of calling anyone names — also called it “attack on democracy.” What a coincidence.When MPs or their staff are targeted “that's not just an attack on an individual or a political party, that's in attack on our democracy,” preached the guy who undemocratically and for no good reason maliciously enacted the War Measure (Emergencies) Act.There’s a suspicious pattern developing.Toronto Liberal MP Julie Dzerowicz also said vandalism outside her constituency office was “an attack on democracy.” Coincidence again?Two people dressed in black painted a threatening message on the windows at 1 a.m. Tuesday. “Rahaf is burning Toronto will too,” read the message written in dripping red paint misspelling the city of Rafah in the city in the Gaza Strip.Toronto burning is a threat. But Dzerowicz called for more protection for MPs. Like what? Posting a SWAT team outside her home because the constituency office was vandalized in the middle of the night?The cost of security for MPs and their families was increased last month from $7.7 million to $8.4 million by the Commons Board of Internal Economy. This covers security that include “mobile duress” panic buttons and emergency alarms, and residential, office and personal security.Canadians at the mercy of rising crime the government has been negligent in properly addressing should be so lucky.Actual threats to safety don’t always appear to be what the alarm bells are ringing about. Sergeant-at-Arms Pat McDonell said so. Intimidating, yes. But not direct threats, just “threat behaviour.” Nothing that crosses a criminal threshold. However, McDonell also said there’s been a spike in death threats but didn’t say how many. Why not?The threats and in-person threat behaviour has been reported as either a steep rise or skyrocketed — an almost 800% increase. Let’s put this in perspective. According to Parliament’s tracking, the number increased from eight in 2019 to 530 files open in 2023. Four years. There are 335 MPs. Do the math.And please define “threat behaviour.” That’s wide open to the interpretation of ultra-sensitive types aghast at the use of a simple the word whacko. Remember, Pierre Poilievre was evicted from the House for accurately calling Trudeau and his decriminalized drug policies "wacko."McDonell said this harassment and intimidation problem is getting harder to track, despite Common security officials working with the RCMP and having 61 police forces at their disposal. Regular Canadians at risk from increasing crime — particularly violent attacks — should be lucky enough to get underfunded, overworked police to respond to calls for help in a timely fashion.Damoff, who has never reported incidents to police, said she was told she’s a “sad excuse as an MP and a worse excuse as a Canadian.” Call the Mounties now! These "skyrocketing" incidents coincide with the increasing frustration Canadians feel as the country crumbles under bad Liberal/NDP government — and the Liberals/NDP tanking in the polls with an election expected to be called by next October. Which brings us back to the attack on democracy thing. Is it that? Or is this an orchestrated ruse dreamed up by the liberals to shush opposition critics — like the Online Harms Act is designed to crush free speech for all Canadians.McDonell fretted that his office hasn’t had much success getting social media platforms to remove “harassing posts.”So, what to do to shut opposition critics up? Well, a parliamentary committee is exploring workplace harassment and violence policies pertaining to MPs. There’s a push for lawmakers to draft a code of conduct and new guidelines to stop MPs from harassing other MPs. You can’t make this stuff up.Again, define harassment. Without this proposed code of conduct Poilievre was evicted from the House by the allegedly nonpartisan (wink wink) Speaker Greg Fergus for calling Trudeau wacko.Armed with code of conduct ammo, who knows what the good Liberal/NDP comrades will find offensive while issues affecting Canadians are debated in the House. Don’t underestimate their sensitivities to objecting to demands for things like truth and accountability. Already, the Liberals are artful dodgers when questioned about just about everything.No politician should be threatened — not in the office, not at home, not online. But there’s something smelly here with the timing of the revelation of ‘skyrocketing’ incidents and a plan in the works to keep critics in line.
