The recent harassment of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland by a man in Grande Prairie has led to public conversations about the abuse and threats suffered by women and minorities in public life. The man told Freeland she did not belong in Alberta and called her a “traitor.”
Chrystia Freeland, Canada's deputy prime minister and finance minister, speaks during a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022.
© Provided by Edmonton Journal
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was unequivocal in his condemnation of the act and its broad implications. Trudeau notes that “threats, violence, intimidation of any kind, are always unacceptable and this kind of cowardly behaviour threatens and undermines our democracy and our values and openness and respect upon which Canada was built.”
This is turning out to be one of those precious moments of genuine collective citizenship and bipartisanship. Several former and current elected leaders across the political spectrum have condemned the incident. Premier Jason Kenney, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and Travis Toews, among others, have condemned the incident.
NDP Leader Rachel Notley captured a perspective that should give us all pause. She said “this incident will discourage good people, namely women, from entering public office.” Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek shared her constellation of experiences with harassment, intimidation and abuse in public life. Mayor Gondek notes on her Twitter page that the incident “brings up too much pain … you need to hear what actually happens to women after something like this.” Gondek’s 17-tweet thread makes for a sobering read on the facticity of femaleness and experience in public life.
This is indeed a long overdue conversation. It appears some of those who scream “freedom” on the streets do not mean liberty for all regardless of gender or background. Several such persons have a narrow view of who has the right to be in elected office, make decisions about governance of society or contribute to public discourse.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was unequivocal in his condemnation of the act and its broad implications. Trudeau notes that “threats, violence, intimidation of any kind, are always unacceptable and this kind of cowardly behaviour threatens and undermines our democracy and our values and openness and respect upon which Canada was built.”
This is turning out to be one of those precious moments of genuine collective citizenship and bipartisanship. Several former and current elected leaders across the political spectrum have condemned the incident. Premier Jason Kenney, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and Travis Toews, among others, have condemned the incident.
NDP Leader Rachel Notley captured a perspective that should give us all pause. She said “this incident will discourage good people, namely women, from entering public office.” Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek shared her constellation of experiences with harassment, intimidation and abuse in public life. Mayor Gondek notes on her Twitter page that the incident “brings up too much pain … you need to hear what actually happens to women after something like this.” Gondek’s 17-tweet thread makes for a sobering read on the facticity of femaleness and experience in public life.
This is indeed a long overdue conversation. It appears some of those who scream “freedom” on the streets do not mean liberty for all regardless of gender or background. Several such persons have a narrow view of who has the right to be in elected office, make decisions about governance of society or contribute to public discourse.
Related video: PM condemns harassment of Chrystia Freeland in AlbertaDuration 1:30 View on Watch
On March 10, 2022, I received an email from an investigator at the University of Alberta Protective Services (UAPS). The message stated “we have learned of several voice messages being left on faculty members’ desk lines at both the University of Calgary and here at the U of A which are aimed, in part, at you. The messages did not contain any direct threats and risk was deemed low. However, they certainly came across to me as racist and rather vitriolic. The incidents have been reported to the police in both Calgary and here. I will also be reaching out directly to the EPS Hate Crimes Unit to discuss the messages.” The UAPS staffer went on to state that the identity of the caller was unknown.
I listened to the voicemail on my office phone and realized the caller was an individual with a high level of conscientious hatred. He had clearly been following my public engagement. He did not want my voice in any public discourse. How does anyone hate in such a deep manner somebody they have never met? What manner of socialization have they had to hate so much?
His words were performatively selected and designed to hurt. It seemed he had a script. He told me to go back to the “sh-thole country” I came from. He claimed I was a “parasite” on Canada. There were other words in the message I may never be able to share publicly. I appreciated the promptness of the action of the UAPS, arranged a phone conversation and took several safety measures.
I had been receiving a steady stream of angry-to-hate messages via email but never gave them much thought. For example, one woman copied me on an email to a university administrator in order to get me sacked. One man wrote that “you may be book smart but you are as dumb as brick when it comes to the realities of life … .(Y)ou must be on something.”
I have declined many radio requests because hate emails tend to increase after some of those radio interviews (less so with television appearances though I am not entirely sure why). I have engaged in a range of self-surveillance and borderline censorship to attenuate hate.
To be clear, I do not equate my experience with Freeland’s or Gondek’s. Their experience is on a whole new level. This is a fundamentally gendered issue. Besides, they are elected leaders. Academia is a cocoon. We have work to do as a society on treatment of women and minorities in public life.
Temitope Oriola is professor of criminology at the University of Alberta and president-elect of the Canadian Sociological Association. Email: oriola@ualberta.ca Twitter: @topeoriola
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