MEPs are being given panic buttons to increase their personal security in response to threats and growing concerns about harassment of parliamentarians.
In an interview, Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino revealed that he has been the target of death threats on social media in recent weeks after presenting a bill to limit gun ownership.
Mendicino said he, police and the Parliamentary Security Service are reassessing the security of lawmakers after a series of threats and threatening incidents.
This includes verbal harassment of NDP leader Jagmit Singh during a campaign visit to Ontario last month.
Video shows that when Singh left the campaign office, he met protesters who could be heard shouting curses at him and calling him a “traitor.”
Singh said the experience in Peterborough, Ont., Is one of the worst cases of aggressive behavior he has experienced in his political career.
A video posted on social media shows protesters shouting at NDP leader Jagmit Singh and following him to a vehicle after a campaign in Peterborough, Ont. (Freedom through unity – Peterborough / Kavarta / Facebook)
Among the measures being introduced to increase the protection of MPs are panic buttons or “mobile coercive alarms”. Deputies can carry them around to immediately alert the Parliamentary Security Service or local police for a quick response.
In a presentation to Liberal lawmakers on the new security measures, the sergeant urged them to keep their panic buttons with them “at all times”.
The device can be used throughout Canada, including in MPs’ home constituencies, the presentation said.
The military sergeant in charge of the security of the House of Commons offers training to MPs and officials on how to de-escalate situations of potential violence.
An increasing number of threats
Parliament also offers MEPs security assessments of the offices and homes of their constituencies and says it can install alarms, panic buttons, cameras and other security measures if needed.
Mendicino said it was part of his mandate to “ensure that all parliamentarians have the security they need”.
He said he was working closely with law enforcement, the chief, the Parliamentary Defense Service and Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs Dominique LeBlanc to “constantly” reassess the “risk to parliamentarians”.
The security assessment follows a number of threats to MPs and incidents over the past year. At a pre-election event during the last election, a handful of gravel was thrown at Liberal leader Justin Trudeau outside a political rally.
Mendicino said he had received a number of death threats on Instagram after presenting a bill in parliament last month that introduced gun control to prevent gun violence.
Publications from an account entitled “elite terrorist” include: “Someone will shoot you to death” and another death threat containing a derogatory term for a person of Italian descent.
“Threats, including death threats, have no place in this debate,” Mendicino said. “It is really important to be able to have vigorous debates on this issue, but to make sure that these debates are conducted in a way that is civil and free of any threats, intimidation and outright criminal behavior that we see more and more often. online. ”
He said that people who threaten and intimidate must be held accountable in order to avoid a chilling effect on freedom of speech, which would be a “threat to our democracy”.
“Obviously, we will continue to mark these criminal publications on the platforms,” he said, adding that the authors of these publications must suffer serious consequences, such as being expelled from the platforms.
Instagram was not immediately available for comment.
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