Canada MPs given panic buttons as threats increase

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Canada’s members of parliament will be given panic buttons to call police in an emergency, amid growing harassment, intimidation and threats of violence.

The move was announced by Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino who has himself received death threats.

The “very negative and toxic rhetoric that we see online” was very concerning, he said.

Canada’s MPs have also been threatened on the streets and last year PM Justin Trudeau was pelted with rocks.

Mr Mendicino, who said he was threatened last month after introducing a gun control bill in parliament, said the mobile alarms would add another layer of security for politicians.

MPs are also being offered cameras, alarms and other security measures to be installed in their homes, and training on how to de-escalate potentially violent situations.

Several MPs have said that the vitriol has intensified since an anti-vaccine mandate protest occupied Ottawa in February and March.

Read more via CBC

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