Intimidation, threats, fear: B.C. civic leaders look to province for help

Whistler, B.C. -

Behind the official agenda for the annual gathering of B.C.'s municipal officials and provincial politicians is a quiet and urgent discussion about the alarming levels of hate and harassment they're experiencing on the job.

The leader of the BC Green Party broached the subject in her remarks to the Union of BC Municipalities convention Wednesday morning, describing her own experience.

"There is a fear that has been introduced into politics that wasn’t there before," said Sonia Furstenau. "I was walking my dog in my neighbourhood and having somebody tell me I was responsible for killing children because I supported vaccines."

Some delegates told CTV News they hoped the municipal affairs minister would announce some kind of provincial support or reporting system. But while Nathan Cullen acknowledged "the public scrutiny has gotten pretty intense," he didn't make any commitments during his standing-room-only address.

CANDIDATES FLEEING LOCAL POLITICS

From emailed threats to confrontations in public places and even at their homes, municipal office-holders describe an atmosphere increasing in toxicity to the point many are not seeking reelection next month.

"It's not the reason I'm not running, but I did experience threats," revealed Fort St. John Mayor Lori Ackerman, who's spoken to many of her peers on the issue.

"Some of my colleagues made that decision (not to run) based on that, and that’s really unfortunate."

Ackerman said that in Interior and northern B.C., anti-vaccination and anti-mandate protestors have held local governments accountable for pandemic policies that rest with the provincial government, and she would've liked to see a clear explanation of roles and responsibilities.

She cited federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland's experience in Alberta, as did several other elected officials. 

The mayor of Squamish, who's been targeted along with three councillors by a mysterious and well-funded smear campaign, said it's had a chilling effect on the democratic process in her community.

"Trying to recruit candidates for this election was really very, very difficult. Most of them said, 'Why would I do this? Look what’s happened to you,'" said Karen Elliott. "My husband was dragged into it; it started to impact my kids."

WHAT TO DO?

Figuring out what crosses the line from a nasty tweet to criminal conduct can be difficult: an angry confrontation in a grocery store, picketing at city hall, emailing threats, and going to someone's home all have different levels of intimidation.

Several elected officials told CTV News they'd like to see a reporting process, potentially with some kind of ombudsperson or commissioner to document where the threat or intimidation occurred and the nature of it to compile statistics for year-over-year comparison. They all wanted legal advice to help determine when an interaction goes from annoyance to potential criminal conduct that should involve their local police.

"It feels like people are getting angrier and angrier, having less patience in general — with each other, with government," said Chilliwack city councillor Jason Lum. "Someone who gathers the data to measure it is going to be increasingly important."