Recent fires and acts of vandalism won't scare cabinet ministers Nahanni Fontaine and Bernadette Smith out of politics, Fontaine says.
Fontaine said her personal safety and that of her colleague — the first two First Nations women cabinet ministers in Manitoba — are being considered carefully after several fires and acts of vandalism at their campaign offices.
"We worked hard to be here. We continue to work hard for our responsibilities, for our departments, for our communities, for our relatives, and no amount of attacks will ever, ever push us out of this," Fontaine said to applause at an unrelated funding announcement on Thursday.
The Winnipeg police major crimes unit is investigating four fires at Smith's Point Douglas office from August until September, as well as vandalism and a fire, the latter on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, at Fontaine's St. Johns office.
The incidents were under the microscope Wednesday at the Manitoba Legislature during the first question period of the fall sitting.
Two officers monitor the Nahanni Must Go protest outside the Manitoba Legislative Building on Wednesday. Premier Wab Kinew says he stands by his decision to keep Fontaine in cabinet. (Bryce Hoye/CBC)
Members from both sides of the aisle took turns denouncing acts of political violence, local and abroad.
Fontaine has faced backlash since reposting a social media post in the aftermath of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, on Sept. 10. The post, shared by a U.S.-based Indigenous activist, called Kirk a "racist, xenophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic" individual who represented "nothing but hate."
Fontaine apologized, but Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan has called for her to be removed from cabinet.
There was also a "Nahanni Must Go" protest Wednesday outside the legislative building, coinciding with the first day of the fall sitting.
Extensive damage at Fontaine's constituency office is shown after a recent fire. (Submitted)
Police have not said whether they believe the fires and vandalism are random or targeted, but Premier Wab Kinew believes they were deliberate and said the incidents might be "gender-based violence … Indigenous-specific racism."
"My constituency office gets protested all the time. Nobody lit a match," he told CBC Manitoba Information Radio host Marcy Markusa on Thursday.
"These are the first two Indigenous women to publicly serve our province as cabinet ministers. I think it's fair to say that these are intentional."
He has also said that extra safety measures are being considered.
MLAs are allotted $4,400 for security systems at their constituency offices.
The Legislative Assembly Management Commission, a group that oversees expenses by elected officials, is expected to review the issue of security.
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba protective services officers monitor the entrance of a building where Fontaine and Smith made a funding announcement on Thursday for a 24/7 safe space. (Josh Crabb/CBC)
"A reasonable person, I think, would look at this and conclude that, yeah, there's an issue going on here in Manitoba right now," Kinew said.
"There is reasonable debate to be had over whether or not you agree with my decision to keep Nahanni in cabinet. But the second that that crosses the line into threatening her life, the life of her staff, it's no longer reasonable.
"I have two ministers of the Crown who are in tears. I'm very confident that Manitobans at that point … are no longer OK with what's going on.
Manitoba premier condemns political violence but doesn't regret 'goofballs' comment Duration 10:20 Premier Wab Kinew speaks about the fires and vandalism at the constituency offices of cabinet ministers Nahanni Fontaine and Bernadette Smith.
Fontaine said she and Smith are holding up OK, although she said the incidents, which she called targeted, will have an enduring impact on both of them.
"This is something that we're going to carry with us for the rest of our lives," she said Thursday.
"Your constituency office, it's that place, it's that space that you're able to welcome in your constituents ... and so it's not only an attack on Minister Smith and myself. It's an attack on community, it's an attack on us being able to serve our constituents in a safe way, in a good way, and it's just not normal," Fontaine said.
"It's not normal that in this day and age that somebody could be so angry that they would think political violence is the path to go down."
'An attack on democracy': Smith
Smith, whose constituency office has been closed with staff working from home for the last few months, says the fires and vandalism are "an attack on democracy."
"We're not able to do our job fully — constituents can't come into our office, obviously, and this has been happening for months now," she told CBC News on Thursday.
Smith believes the incidents were targeted.
"Whoever's doing this has gone from breaking windows to setting fires," she said. "They know what they're doing."
She says the vandalism at her office began with 22 windows being broken. They were replaced with rock glass, but someone went at the windows with drills.
Vandals later got inside, lit fires in the foyer and the bathroom, and then burned the wires so there was no WiFi and security alarms couldn't work, she said.
Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith sits in the legislature during question period on Wednesday. (Bryce Hoye/CBC)
She says it's having an impact on staff and the community.
"Our staff have had to be really careful about meeting — we've had to meet people in public because we still have to do our jobs, right? We still have to serve our constituents."
Political violence has grown since the COVID-19 pandemic, and something needs to be done about it, Smith said.
"We have to really have some discussions on what the future looks like, and our security and our safety has to be No.1."
[SRC] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/nahanni-fontaine-bernadette-smith-safety-political-violence-1.7649321
