On Tuesday morning, York-Simcoe NDP candidate Jess McLean woke up to a nasty, violent message on her Facebook campaign ad.
The comment made reference to Atlantic and Western Canada, and the NDP riding.
The threats were made by a man who is known to police for posting online comments of similar nature before.
“There is only a distance put on our Facebook ads, so we knew he was in reach,” she said. “There was a moment when I was really shook."
She added, “What made it worse was knowing he was somewhere local, and his name and photo. It wasn’t an anonymous troll on Twitter with a fake profile picture. You were able to go to his profile and see his updates, and it was a real person that was publicly making these statements in a public place. That was very brazen.”
McLean notified Facebook but has yet to receive a response. She also contacted York Regional Police and the RCMP in Alberta, as the threat included a political figure in that area, and notified both South Simcoe Police and Bradford Board of Trade ahead of the Meet the Candidates event being held tonight at the Bradford & District Memorial Community Centre.
“They’ll take the necessary steps to make sure we all feel safe,” she said.
After speaking with police, McLean is hoping there will be consequences for the poster’s actions.
McLean said it is disappointing when these types of things happen, adding that she is just trying to raise awareness of issues and do good for the community.
“Everyone gets into this (politics) because it’s a good thing to do for their community,” said McLean. “So for any candidates and their family to face this, it’s just unacceptable.”
She said the comments aren’t getting her down. “I am pretty defiant in nature and the idea that anyone would try to silence me, or my colleagues, it won’t work,” McLean said. “He’s probably pushed me to do more to be honest. I’m not going to let that hate win.”
While she hoped the threats only represent a keyboard warrior, she said, “You never just want to dismiss it as such. That’s why we followed up with the police and shared his photo with neighbouring ridings as well.”
York-Simcoe federal candidates will be at the Bradford Memorial Centre from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight for the Meet the Candidate panel. McLean said she is looking forward to the public session.
“Bradford always has a good turnout, so I am looking forward to it,” she said.
