Niagara Regional Chair denounces weekend attack on Deputy Prime Minister

Canada’s political divide became brazenly apparent over the weekend when Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was accosted in Alberta over the weekend by a man who repeatedly yelled profanity at her and called her a traitor.

The widely circulated video shows Freeland arriving inside the city hall building in Grande Prairie, Alta., on Friday and being confronted by the man as she approached and entered an elevator.

During the encounter, which was posted online, the man yelled at Freeland, calling her a “traitor” and a “f—ing b—h,” and telling her to leave the province.

Here in Niagara, Regional Chair Jim Bradley called the confrontation “an act of intimidation.”

Said Bradley, “The events witnessed on social media this weekend from Grand Prairie City Hall in Alberta were alarming and totally unacceptable in a democratic society.”

Bradley noted that while there has always been political discourse, “Respectable dialogue, even when disagreement is present, is the appropriate way to express views on public issues. Acts of intimidation and threats are never acceptable.”

He added that unprovoked incidents of this kind have “resulted in many good potential candidates for public office being discouraged from participating in the electoral process.”

Bradley added it was encouraging to hear the widespread condemnation of the verbal assault on the Deputy Prime Minister by elected officials of all political stripes and levels of government.

“It was evidence of our collective desire to experience a return to civility in public discussion.”

Currently, the RCMP is investigating the incident.