P.E.I. representatives in Ottawa weigh in on increasing security concerns | CBC News

Rising safety concerns for public officials across Canada have led to big security changes for some MPs and senators, including P.E.I.’s representatives in Ottawa.

Some Canadian senators have been issued panic buttons in the face of increased online harassment and threatening phone calls. Meanwhile, the RCMP spent $2.5 million on security for MPs in the first nine months of this fiscal year. If spending continues at the same pace, the cost will be almost double what it cost a year earlier.

Malpeque MP Heath MacDonald worries about his staff on the Island and in Ottawa.

“I’m likely more concerned with my staff, to be quite honest, than I am with myself. I have a young staff in Ottawa and I want to make sure that they’re safe at all times,” said MacDonald.

“You’re always somewhat concerned about their safety, or your family’s, when you’re away.”

MacDonald blames a growing divisiveness driven in part by social media and exacerbated by reaction to how the COVID-19 pandemic was handled.

He says politics has become increasingly polarizing.

“Some politicians have to take responsibility for this,” he said.

“I really find concerning, which is increasing, the willingness of some politicians to prey on the anxieties of Canadians or Islanders, for example, and use those anxieties to drive fear, anger and division.”

He said security concerns have changed dramatically since he entered politics in 2015.

“I don’t know what it is and it would be great if we could resolve it, but I don’t think we will,” he said. “It’s not the Canada I, certainly, grew up in and I can tell you that. So you just have to beware.”

MacDonald is also worried about what the increasing harassment of politicians means for democracy and the ability to recruit people to run for office.

“People are not going to do this job. You’re going to lose a lot of really good people,” he said.

“They’re not going to put themselves in that position but more importantly they’re not going to put their families in those positions.”

Sen. Jane MacAdam, who was sworn in as a senator for P.E.I. in June, was taken aback to receive a panic button during her orientation sessions.

“I was very surprised,” she said. “There were many, many things that were coming at me, but it did stand out for me.”

MacAdam previously served as auditor general for P.E.I. but said security as a senator, particularly while she’s in Ottawa, is very different.

“I do think of security all the time when I’m on the Hill because there’s a big security presence there,” she said. “Some of my colleagues have been threatened.”

But MacAdam said she’s never felt unsafe in Ottawa. Her office has received harassing calls and emails, but they have largely been aimed at government bills and legislation.