Catherine McKenna, a former Liberal cabinet minister who was often the target of harassment during her time in office, responded Sunday to a video of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland facing verbal abuse in Alberta, stating that intimidation and attacks need to be addressed.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not okay,鈥� she told 麻豆影视 Channel, adding that, too often, it is women and racialized politicians who face heightened vitriol.
McKenna herself had previously been given the misogynistic and patronizing nickname of 鈥淐limate Barbie鈥� by critics when she was Environment Minister.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want women, I don鈥檛 want racialized Canadians, members of the LGBTQ+ community, Indigenous Canadians, to think they can鈥檛 go into politics because they鈥檙e going to have to stand against this.鈥�
On Friday, a video was shared on Twitter, showing Freeland and several staffers approaching an elevator in the lobby of Grande Prairie, Alta.鈥檚 city hall.
The man filming followed Freeland to the elevator, hurling insults and curse words, all while telling her to get out of the province.
鈥淪he鈥檚 literally stuck in an elevator with all-female staff, I can鈥檛 even imagine how they felt,鈥� McKenna said.
鈥淭he Deputy prime minister is tough. She can stand up to Putin. But some big guy thinks it鈥檚 hilarious to start yelling at her and physically intimidating the Deputy Prime Minister with no security 鈥� [it鈥檚] not okay.鈥�
In a statement posted to Twitter on Saturday, Freeland, who was born in Alberta, condemned the 鈥渢hreats and intimidation鈥� and said she was 鈥済oing to keep coming back because Alberta is home.鈥�
McKenna said when she watched the video of Freeland facing a barrage of insults, she remembered the feeling all too well.
鈥淚t鈥檚 that feeling where you turn around 鈥� someone calls out to you, and you鈥檙e open, so you say, 鈥榟ey,鈥� and then you just get attacked,鈥� she said.
鈥淭his is why I鈥檓 speaking out, because I remember that feeling of being scared, but I also don鈥檛 want other people to go through it.鈥�
During her career in politics, McKenna was frequently subjected to misogynistic harassment, both online and in person, admitting in 2019 that she had begun to need a security detail on occasion 鈥� something that ministers generally aren鈥檛 equipped with.
A similar situation to Freeland鈥檚 encounter occurred outside of McKenna鈥檚 office in Ottawa in 2020, when a man approached the office while filming, and shouted expletives at a staffer who answered, at one point referring to McKenna with a misogynistic slur.
On other occasions while she was a politician, McKenna had misogynistic words and was confronted with curse words and shouting while in public with her children.
鈥淭here were some really high-profile incidents that were really worrying, not just for me, but for my family,鈥� she said.
鈥淏ut I鈥檓 not alone in this. High-profile politicians, especially women, especially if you happen to be racialized, you get attacked.鈥�
McKenna left politics in 2021 after six years as an MP, stating at the time that she wanted to spend more time with her family and focus on tackling climate change from outside of the government.
She said that harassment isn鈥檛 how we should deal with conflicting views, stating that it鈥檚 clear in the full video of the harassment against Freeland that the situation was humorous to the man who shouted at the deputy prime minister.
鈥淗e thinks this is really funny, that he鈥檚 tracked down someone who got in politics, may have different vision, but just did it because [they] want to get things done,鈥� McKenna said.
鈥淚f you are mad and you have a different vision, go volunteer on a campaign. Use the ballot box, that鈥檚 what a democracy is about.鈥�
McKenna had a message for her former colleagues in the House of Commons.
鈥淵ou have to call this out,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e need all politicians across party lines to say this is not acceptable.鈥�
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and numerous politicians have spoken out to condemn the treatment Freeland received in the video, including several Conservative MPs such as leadership candidate Jean Charest.
鈥淲hat I鈥檇 like to see, one, is that there鈥檚 a press conference with all party leaders, they stand up and say, 鈥楾his is not okay. This is not okay in Canada, we stand against this kind of abuse [and] harassment, and we鈥檙e going to step up security for politicians,鈥欌�� McKenna said.
鈥淏ecause it becomes, very quickly, a politicized issue. I remember when I spoke up, and some people would say, 鈥榳hat, you can鈥檛 take it?鈥� Yeah, guess what? I can take it, but it鈥檚 not okay.鈥�
She added that when politicians engage in personal attacks themselves, it emboldens the behaviour shown in the video with Freeland.
鈥淲e can have different views, but we can鈥檛 be doing politics like this,鈥� McKenna said.
鈥淲e need a conversation here in Canada, and politicians, if you鈥檙e going to be in politics, you owe it to behave responsibly. To actually talk, not attack people, but present ideas.鈥�
