Federal Law Minister Arif Virani says he won’t go anywhere without a mobile alarm in his pocket.
He doesn’t move without first informing someone, even when attending public events.
And he not only works with a security team at the Department of Justice, but also with a separate one in the House of Commons.
“Unfortunately, that is the situation we currently find ourselves in in Canadian society,” Virani said in an interview Wednesday, as members of Parliament prepared for a summer break.
“What is even more shocking is that it is not just cabinet ministers who have to do that. “I have many colleagues who have been doing this for over a year.”
While Virani said he wishes things were different, he’s not willing to back the RCMP chief’s recent suggestion that Ottawa make it easier for police to lay charges against people who threaten elected officials.
“I think there are strong tools, for example, in the Penal Code,” Virani said, adding that the federal government provides police with resources to do their job.
“I think a combination of those two is… enough to address what’s going on.”
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme expressed concern in an interview with The Canadian Press last month about the increase in threats Mounties are seeing against elected officials.
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He said an individual’s behavior often does not meet the threshold for laying a charge under Canadian law.
Duheme expressed hope that Public Safety Canada and the Department of Justice will work with the RCMP on possibly creating a new provision to address the growing problem.
An intelligence report last June described how extremist narratives tied to personal grievances (and fueled by outright lies and misinformation that spread easily online) have “increasingly normalized” threats against politicians.
The report noted that violent rhetoric often targets high-profile women.
Liberal MP Pam Damoff has said she will not seek re-election due to the threats and harassment she has faced, while a growing number of MPs, including Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman, have been seen with a protective detail on Parliament Hill.
In April, a handful of protesters demonstrated outside Virani’s home in Toronto over the government’s response to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
He condemned his actions and said his wife and two children “do not deserve to be harassed.”
Toronto police said no arrests were made and they were aware protesters were in the area for a short time.
Protests over the same issue also erupted outside Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly’s home in Montreal, drawing criticism from MPs across the spectrum who said such behavior crossed a line.
Virani said his message to Commissioner Duheme is that the government is always open to ways it can help better address the challenges facing the police.
One approach is to “empower” hate crimes units, Virani said, which fight threats against elected officials and ordinary Canadians.
“There aren’t as many as there should be.”
The minister also pointed to provisions contained in the Online Harms Act, a long-promised bill that would force social media giants to be more responsible for reducing the harms users are exposed to on their platforms.
It also proposes harsher punishments for hate crimes, measures that civil society advocates and other legal experts have warned could put freedom of expression at risk, but that Virani defended as necessary to prevent online hate. turns into violence in real life.
“I would maintain that document as a comprehensive response to address the root causes of what is causing the concerns that (Duheme) was raising.”
The House of Commons began its summer recess on Wednesday after making little progress on the bill, which has yet to be sent to a parliamentary committee for study despite being introduced almost four months ago.
Government House leader Steven MacKinnon suggested Conservative procedural tactics were to blame for that, saying “time simply ran out” on the debate.
A spokesman for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said the Liberal minority’s political pact with the NDP gives the government the ability to prioritize or block any legislation it wants, “against their complaints.”
NDP House Leader Peter Julian said in a statement that “any delay is in the hands of Justin Trudeau,” noting that the Liberals initially promised to introduce the bill within 100 days of winning the election. 2021.
– with files from Jim Bronskill.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
