Democracy under siege

As Canadians raptly watch the committee hearings into the Jan. 6 attack on the United States Capitol, some among us may be thinking, thank goodness that would never happen here.

But really think about that for a moment. Because there are some sobering similarities between our two countries.

Academic and gun control advocate Wendy Cukier recently wrote a piece for The Conversation aptly titled “Take a look in the mirror: Canada shouldn’t be smug about gun violence.”

Cukier argues that here, as in the U.S., gun lobbyists have dominated the agenda. While most Canadians support firearms restrictions, particularly on semi-automatic assault weapons and handguns, most of us aren’t vocal about it unless we’ve been affected by gun violence ourselves.

“The gun lobby, meantime,” she writes, “will put up billboards, donate to the cause, organize protests and even stalk politicians on the campaign trail.”

The tabling of Bill C-21, which tightens restrictions on handgun ownership, among other measures, is a step in the right direction.

But apart from having strident gun lobbies, and more gun deaths than some other industrialized countries, such as the U.K., Canada and the U.S. are both home to a disturbing amount of hateful rhetoric, as is particularly evident online.

In recent months, we’ve heard of threats against some federal politicians, as well as an intimidating act of harassment against NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh during a campaign stop in Ontario.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino himself was sent multiple death threats on Instagram after introducing Bill C-21.

As a result, Canadian MPs are now being issued panic buttons which they’re encouraged to have with them at all times so that they can alert Parliamentary Protective Services

— or local police if they are travelling within Canada — if they experience a threat to their safety.

“There is more of a polarization and an aggression and an anger that I haven’t seen before,” Singh has said.

His observation is being echoed by politicians to the south, who are buying bulletproof vests and hiring security services for their homes as poisonous discourse continues to intensify in that country.

Peter Meijer, a Republican from Michigan, said last year he was worried about what would happen to those who voted to impeach Donald Trump.

“It’s sad that we have to get to that point, but you know, our expectation is that someone may try to kill us,” he said.

The trend is troubling for many reasons. Politicians fully expect opposition to their ideas and policies, but violence and intimidation should never be prevailing forces in a democracy. No one should have to live in fear for doing the work they were elected to do.

And if panic buttons and death threats are the new normal in politics, we have to ask the question — why would anyone want to throw their hat in that ring?

We need to try and stem this tide.