Violence, vandalism mar federal election campaign

Friday, September 17, 2021 – by John McHutchion

Here’s what you need to know to get the day started:

Between violence and vandalism, the parties are experiencing a very ugly campaign

The three main parties say they've experienced ugly incidents on the campaign trail, ranging from vandalism to assault. Some party operatives say it's the nastiest campaign they've ever experienced.

One high-profile incident happened earlier this month when someone threw gravel at Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, resulting in charges against a former People's Party of Canada riding president.

Protests are a common sight during any election but many party workers say the ones they're seeing during this campaign have been more alarming. The Liberal Party had to cancel a late August stop due to security concerns.

Calgary Nose Hill Conservative candidate Michelle Rempel Garner released a statement earlier in the campaign saying she has been a victim of harassing behaviour on the campaign trail. She said she's been accosted by men with cameras "demanding I respond to conspiracy theories."

"In the last two weeks, I have also received a death threat from someone who called my office in escalating states of verbal abuse over the course of days," she said in an Aug. 28 statement. “It's unfortunately an all-too frequent occurrence for me and many of my colleagues, particularly women, of all political stripes. And this increase in violent language, threats and abuse certainly isn't confined to politics."

Canadian Anti-Hate Network executive director Evan Balgord said that this has been the worst campaign he's seen in recent history in terms of far-right activity, which he sees as largely motivated by the pandemic.

"They believe that there is this awful situation going on, like the apocalypse, right? They think that they're using mask mandates and stuff to kill or kidnap children or render them infertile," he said.

"The scapegoats they've picked are the people they think are the puppet masters — Trudeau, provincial health authorities. And amongst the most hardcore adherents it would be the Jews, the shadow globalists, the elite and so on and so forth."

While the Liberal Party appears to be the prime target, Balgord said members of the far right see the Conservatives as complicit.

More on this issue

These new Canadians cast their first federal ballots. Here's what they thought.

Interactive: Poll Tracker.

Wrapped up

(Thomas Coex/AFPGetty Images)

This photograph taken Thursday night shows the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, wrapped in silver-blue fabric, as it was designed by late artist Christo. The 50-metre-high monument has been wrapped as a posthumous tribute to Christo, a longtime Paris resident. He made plans for sheathing the imposing war memorial at the top of the Champs-Élysées while renting an apartment near it in the 1960s. Read the As It Happens interview with Vladimir Yavachev, Christo's nephew.

In brief

Alberta hospitals are being told to find non-intensive care beds that can be used for patients who are critically ill with COVID-19. As a last resort, some patients may even be transferred to Ontario, said Dr. Verna Yiu, president and CEO of Alberta Health Services (AHS), on Thursday. "I cannot stress enough how serious the situation is in our hospitals," Yiu told a news conference. "Ontario has graciously offered their help and we are in discussions with them regarding potential transfer of patients if needed." Meanwhile, B.C. says it won't be able to take any of Alberta's extra intensive care unit patients. In a statement, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said the ministry met with its Alberta counterparts Thursday. "Given the current demands on B.C.'s health-care system, we will not be able to assist with taking patients at this time," he said. Read more on B.C.'s response.

Like many Canadians, Murray Dickson of Grande Cache, Alta., applied to vote by special mail-in ballot. But he didn't anticipate how difficult it would be. After three attempts — an Elections Canada representative told him there may have been a glitch in their system — he was finally able to verify his address with the agency. But now he's not confident they will be able to courier the mail-in ballot to his home in time. He doesn't know what went wrong — whether it was indeed just a glitch or whether his form had a typo. Dickson is not the only one. A number of Canadians who wanted to vote by mail-in ballot this election have told CBC News that they're beginning to lose hope they'll be able to, due to confusion and frustration with the process. Slightly more than 1.2 million Canadians have requested a mail-in voting kit, according to Elections Canada. While that is less than the agency anticipated amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it's still far more than in past elections. Read more on voter frustration with mail-in ballots.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was challenged by a small group of young environmentalists on Thursday following a media availability in Toronto over his positions on old-growth logging at Fairy Creek in British Columbia and the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. The group from Climate Justice Toronto unrolled a banner that said "Support Fairy Creek" and demanded he support an end to all old-growth logging in B.C. "He's going to lose votes in B.C. if he doesn't take a firm stand on this," said Niklas Agarwal, a 25-year-old climate activist from Toronto. "This needs to be integral if he wants to win the youth vote." Singh wouldn't unequivocally lend his support to the group's cause. If he did, Singh would put himself at odds with NDP Premier John Horgan, whose government is letting old-growth logging continue, though it has approved the request of three First Nations to defer logging in part of their territories that includes Fairy Creek. Read more on the protest.

If you have a question about the federal election, send us an email at ask@cbc.ca. We're answering as many as we can leading up to election day. Today: how to check if your polling station meets your accessibility requirements.

The criminal case involving the country's former top military commander will come before a provincial court judge in Ontario today. Retired general Jonathan Vance was charged by military police in July with one count of obstruction of justice in relation to an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct. The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) did not provide details about the charge but said that it relates to events that happened after the military police began investigating Vance on Feb. 4, 2021. Provincial court documents released in July allege that Vance "did willfully attempt to obstruct the course of justice in a judicial proceeding by repeatedly contacting Mrs. KB by phone and attempting to persuade her to make false statements about their past relationship to the CFNIS." "KB" refers to Maj. Kellie Brennan, a staff officer at army headquarters, who told Global News last winter that she and the former chief of the defence staff had an on-again, off-again intimate relationship. The court hearing is expected to be held via video conference. It's not clear whether Vance will be required to enter a plea. Read more on the court case.

When Canada's national women's soccer team defeated Sweden for Olympic gold last month, more than four million Canadians were glued to the dramatic game. Among them was Marina Peres Labelle, 12, who is part of the soccer program in Pointe-Claire, Que. She and some of her teammates would have liked to have been wearing a team jersey in their size to show support — but their hunt proved fruitless. "We couldn't find any women's jerseys and we were pretty disappointed because they had a bunch of men's jerseys," said Marina. "So we thought that was really unfair." Fans of — and even players on — Canada's women's soccer team find it frustrating that it's still so hard to buy player jerseys, even after an Olympic gold medal. In a statement, Nike Canada spokesperson Angineh Storino said the company is "working to make additional jerseys available so fans can show their support and pride." Read more on the lack of women's team merchandise.

Dozens of major film and television productions were put on hold when the pandemic hit, only to be followed by repeated false starts and rescheduling as the COVID-19 crisis kept spiking. But the fall season is a prime release spot for blockbusters, TV hits and awards contenders — and this year could be an embarrassment of riches. With so many films and television shows having been delayed into fall 2021, viewers can expect to see new fare from some of their favourite filmmakers, highly anticipated Marvel movies, the return of popular television shows (Succession fans, it's your moment!) and other exciting additions to the small screen. Check out when some of the anticipated releases will arrive.

Now for some good news to start your Friday: Vladimir Matusevitch was on holiday on the Arctic shores of the Rybachy Peninsula in northwestern Russia back in 2019 when he found a rubber duck on the beach. He realized it was from a duck race — a festival where thousands of rubber ducks are released into a river for charity. That set him on a quest to find where the duck came from. It wasn't until this summer that Monika Iverson, organizer of the Ardmore Duck Race in Ardmore, Alta., 260 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, noticed Matusevitch's Facebook message from 2019. "And I said, 'Hey, yeah, that's our duck,'" Iverson said. She and Matusevitch are in negotiations for the duck's eventual return to Alberta. Read more about the duck and its voyage from Alberta to Russia.

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Undecided voters grill leaders face to face

Party leaders Justin Trudeau, Erin O'Toole, Jagmeet Singh and Annamie Paul — all vying to be the next prime minister — recently went face to face with a group of undecided voters and CBC's senior political correspondent Rosemary Barton to make the case for their platforms ahead of the federal election.

On today's episode of Front Burner, we bring you some key moments from those conversations when leaders answered tough questions about rising inequality, affordability, child care and intolerance.
Listen to today's episode

Today in history: September 17

1978: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin sign the Camp David peace accords in Washington.

1999: The Supreme Court of Canada acquits Donald Marshall Jr., a member of the Membertou First Nation, on three charges of illegally catching eels, saying a 1760 treaty with the British gave him the right to catch fish and sell them for sustenance.

2001: Stock markets in the United States reopen for the first time since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., and air traffic began to return to normal. The Dow Jones average and NASDAQ, however, both fell by more than five per cent, with airline stocks taking particularly strong hits.

2002: Health officials say the death of a 70-year-old man in Mississauga, Ont., was caused by West Nile virus, making him the first person to die after being infected in Canada.