Threats against Stéphanie Plante: a man arrested by Ottawa police

Ottawa police have arrested and charged a man who allegedly made threats against the municipal councilor of the Rideau-Vanier district, Stéphanie Plante.

Present at the opening of the police operations center at the Rideau Center on Wednesday morning, Stéphanie Plante said she never spoke against the individual in question, but remembers having already encountered him during public events.

He was angry with me and had negative opinions [des] French-speaking people, to the point where he threatened my life. I am very proud to be French-speaking. It worries me, but I’m not going to stop being French-speakingassured the elected official.

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By email, an Ottawa Police Service (OPS) spokesperson confirmed that a report was completed on June 21 through the Ottawa police online reporting portal.

years old from Ottawa was accused of threats and harassment.”,”text”:”An investigation was opened and, [mardi], an individual was arrested and charged. A 47-year-old Ottawa man has been charged with threats and harassment.”}}”>An investigation was opened and, [mardi], an individual was arrested and charged. A 47-year-old Ottawa man has been charged with threats and harassment.

The police, however, refused to specify the content of the threats made and also did not want to confirm whether it had a link with the fact that Ms. Plante is French-speaking.

Calls to better protect elected officials

In recent years, threats against elected officials at all levels of government have garnered a great deal of attention, to the point where intelligence services fear it is on the verge of becoming a normal occurrence.

The Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Mike Duhemeeven advised the federal government to strengthen the law to make it easier for the police to lay charges against people who threaten elected officials.

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Stéphanie Plante also agrees.

We need to change the laws. This needs to be taken seriouslyshe insisted.

The elected official also deplores that, according to her observations, female politicians are increasingly the subject of threats than their male colleagues.

People need to understand that we want to help the public. We want to make positive changes in our community, but I don’t want to feel threatened.

One of the members of Stéphanie Plante’s team, Cameron Stahlbrandbelieves that this event is proof of the worrying rise in violence against politicians that we are witnessing across the country and around the world.

This incident is part of a broader pattern of growing hostility and aggression directed at elected officials. Such threats not only endanger the targeted individuals, but also undermine the integrity and functioning of democratic institutions.he tweeted on the social network

The Mayor of Ottawa, Mark Sutcliffefor his part mentioned that he was Shame et tragic to see so many elected officials being threatened. The subject was also discussed a few weeks ago when the mayors of major Canadian cities met in Calgary, Alberta.

It is sad. There are more and more threats, hostility and harassment towards elected officials. This is something we will need to revisit to ensure the safety of our elected officials.

The Ottawa police chief, Eric Stubbsalso indicated that he was concerned by all the threats against the elected officials. He says he has spoken about it with municipal, provincial and federal politicians.

They need to report this to us so we can investigate. People who threaten our elected officials must face their actions. We are all free to express our opinions, but we must do so respectfully.he recalled.

It has to stopproclaims Stéphanie Chouinard

In reaction to the Radio-Canada article on the threats against Stéphanie Plante, political scientist Stéphanie Chouinard addressed the reality of being a woman in politics and additional challenge to be a minority.

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“Aggression towards elected officials”

Former member of the Coalition Avenir Québec, Émilie Foster recalled that the phenomenon was world and that the time had come to equip political figures.

It’s more and more universal. We see it in Quebec, in Ontario, and on a global scale. It’s worrying, worrying. It takes tools to deal with this and currently, there are not enough legislative tools.

According to Ms. Fostermunicipal elected officials seem to be more targeted, and women too.

[…] Women are more exposed.”,”text”:”Municipal is the level of government where elected officials are closest to citizens. It is also at the municipal level that there is the least security. An elected official is not protected by security, by a county office. There is no filter to protect them.[…] Women are more exposed.”}}”>Municipal is the level of government where elected officials are closest to the citizens. Municipal is also where there is the least security. An elected official is not protected by security, by a county office. There is no filter to protect them. […] Women are more exposed.

With information from Frédéric Pepin and Emmanuelle Poisson