RCMP commissioner vowed to change how Mounties handle threats against politicians

The head of the RCMPtoldPublic Safety Minister Bill Blair last yearthat Mountiesneed to do a better job ofresponding to threats against politicians.

"In recent months, the RCMP has recognized that the assessment and management of non-criminal threats must be ameliorated," RCMP Commissioner Brenda Luckisaid in a briefing note sent to the minister on Aug. 27, 2020. The note wasobtained by CBC News through an access to information request.

Lucki sent the note following last July's security incident at the Rideau Hall grounds in Ottawa, where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family live.Corey Hurrenpleaded guilty in Februaryto storming the gates of Rideau Hallwith loaded firearms and multiple rounds of ammunition.

On Sept. 25, 2020,a man accosted NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh on Parliament Hilland attempted to perform a"citizen's arrest."

WATCH: Jagmeet Singh discusses harassment incident

Singh addresses street harassment incident

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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was harassed while walking down an Ottawa street on Friday, September 25. The incident was filmed and then posted to Twitter.

Just this week, B.C. Conservative MP Todd Doherty tweeted out a video saying someone hadthreatened his family.

"I want to send a message. I don't run and I don't hide. You threaten my family, you approach my family, and I will take appropriate action. That's not a threat. That's a promise," he said.

Doherty declined to describe the nature of the threat and toldCBCthe matter is now in the hands of the authorities.

A spokesperson for the RCMPsaid the number of threats made against Prime Minister Trudeau and the federal cabinet spiked significantly last year.

The RCMP's protective policing unit reported about 229 files for the prime minister and 89 files for the cabinet ministers in 2020.

Already this year there has been about74 files for the prime minister and 19 files for the ministers.

The RCMP said it runs general threat assessments for the prime minister and for cabinet ministers sometimes based on the nature of an individualminister's work.

"For example, [Health Minister Patty] Hajdu was included as a result of the COVID situation," Lucki said in the briefing note.

Hajdu's spokespersonCole Davidsonsaid her officecouldn't discuss security issues.

"Everyone deserves to feel safe where they live and work, and there is no place in our society for threats," he said.

Trolled on the trail

Chris Tenove isa postdoctoral research fellow in political science at the University of British Columbia and worked on the report "Trolled on the Campaign Trail: Online Incivility and Abuse in Canadian Politics."Hehelped toanalyze more thanone million tweets directed at political candidatesduring the 2019 federal election andinterviewed candidates, campaign staffand elected officials.

The report concluded that about 40 per cent of tweets directed at candidates were uncivil, while 16 per cent were abusive or potentially threatening.

Some of the peopleTenove and his fellow researchers interviewedreported mixed experiences with police responses.

"It can be very hard to tell often what is a real threat and what isn't," he said. "In some casespolice have been dismissive, or people have experienced themas being dismissive to what they feel is threatening behaviour and didn't feel like it was given the consideration it warranted."

Some reported that police in some jurisdictions took the threats seriously, whileother officerschalked it up to"people can be jerks online," said Tenove.

"People are looking formore robust and systemic attention to the threats they face."

Lucki wrote to Blair to say that the force has taken steps to improve its "responsiveness" and has improved the way it assesses situations.

The details of those changes were redacted in the documentreleased to CBC Newsfor security reasons.

"The RCMP determined that we needed to do more to understand the concerns, raised by elected official as a result of the threats and offensive actions, and to work with our partners to ensure there was an aligned response to the activity that is having such an impact on protectees," said RCMP spokespersonRobin Percival in an email to CBC News.

"The RCMP also developed a pilot program in which RCMP officers communicate regularly with the federal ministerial offices to assist with greater assessment and awareness across all security agencies. The program staff engage directly with protectees and their chiefs of staff to ensure: gaps in communication are reduced; concerns are understood; services available and where to get them is understood; and, to adapt our service delivery to the realities of the environment."

Tenove said threats and harassing messagesmakeit difficultfor politicians to do their jobs.

"It makes it harder to do some of things we want politicians to do which is [to]be able toengage with and listen to and even meet without fear [with] members of the public," he said.

For example, Tenovesaid,some politiciansmight shun social media because of the online vitriol, or might limit theirface-to-face encounters with the people they represent.

"A number of cabinet ministers were warned 'Don't give so much warning about whether you're going to give a public event' because doing that allows people to plan actions,"he said.

"There's just these things that make it harder to run for office but also to be a good, elected democratic representative."

Threats could deter candidates, says critic

NDP public safety critic Jack Harris said politicians need adequate protection from the RCMP "not because of who they are, but because of what they're doing."

"These things are important issues of democracy," he said."[Police are]supposed to be the experts in all of this and the fact that they acknowledge their own efforts were not adequate is a little worrisome."

Harris said it's a problem if suchthreats deter people from running for office especially women and people of colour.

"It discourages some people enough to not want to do it. It also discourages people out there who might otherwise want to do it, if they're going to be subject to that kind of treatment. And in fact, it's intended to do that," he said.

"People who do that are seeking to intimidate, or want people to feel afraid."

In 2019,when he was still clerk of the Privy Council, Michael Wernick told a parliamentary committee that he was growing more and more alarmed about the prospectof political violence in Canada, pointing to the growing use of words like "treason" and "traitor" in political discourse.

"Those are the words that lead to assassination," Wernick said. "I'm worried that somebody's going to get shot this year during the political campaign."