Attacks on Indigenous cabinet ministers’ offices a threat to democracy

Opinion

Manitobans should be deeply troubled by the escalating pattern of violence, vandalism, and arson directed at the constituency offices of two provincial cabinet ministers, Nahanni Fontaine and Bernadette Smith.

In the past two months alone, Fontaine’s Main Street office has been damaged by fire, and Smith’s Selkirk Avenue office has been targeted with at least four deliberately set blazes.

Windows have been smashed, graffiti scrawled and offices left battered and unsafe. These are not isolated acts of mischief. They are calculated attacks, repeated over and over, intended to intimidate and silence.

Both Fontaine and Smith are not only senior members of the governing NDP cabinet, they are also the first two First Nations women to ever serve as provincial cabinet ministers in Manitoba. That fact matters.

Because when violence is directed at them, the threat carries more weight than against most other politicians. These are Indigenous women who represent communities that have endured generations of systemic harm, racism and violence. To target them with fire and destruction is to target that legacy, as well.

Fontaine put it plainly this week after a blaze damaged her office: “No amount of attacks will ever push us out of this.”

Her words are defiant. And they need to be. Because this is about more than repairing broken glass or repainting walls. It is about the safety of women in politics, the health of our democracy and the dangerous message that is sent when violence becomes part of political expression.

This is not protest, this is not free speech. Setting fire to an elected official’s office is an act of political violence. Fontaine and Smith have described it as such, and they are right.

The point of violence is not to persuade, it is to terrify. To create an environment where politicians — especially women, especially Indigenous women — fear for their lives and the lives of their staff. It is meant to drive them out of public life.

And it works in some cases. Many people — particularly women — cite fear of harassment, threats or violence as a reason they would never enter politics. Add physical attacks that include fires and vandalism, and the cost of public service becomes unbearable for many.

We cannot afford a democracy where only those willing to endure violence feel able to run for office.

It is important to see these attacks in a broader context. Indigenous women in Canada live with disproportionately high rates of violence. They face systemic barriers in health care, education, justice and employment. The crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls has been called a national tragedy, yet remains unresolved.

So when two Indigenous women ascend to powerful positions in cabinet, it is both historic and threatening — not to most Manitobans, but to those who resent their leadership and would rather they not be there.

Violence against them is not random. It is rooted in a long, shameful history of trying to silence Indigenous women’s voices.

That is why Manitobans should treat these attacks with special urgency. They are not just attacks on two offices, they are attacks on representation itself.

In the United States, elected officials are now regularly threatened. Violent incidents, from pipe bombs sent to political figures to the assault on the Capitol, are no longer shocking. In Canada, we have seen politicians harassed at their homes, threatened online and physically assaulted.

This is the slow normalization of political violence. It doesn’t start with assassinations. It starts with fires, broken windows, threats shouted from the sidewalk. It starts with ordinary citizens shrugging it off as just another story in the news.

That is why Manitobans cannot afford to minimize what is happening here. If this becomes “the new normal,” we will lose far more than two constituency offices. We will lose the ability to recruit and retain leaders willing to serve.

Political leaders of all stripes must speak with one voice in condemning these acts. This is not a partisan issue. The safety of elected representatives is the foundation of democratic governance.

Whether you agree with Fontaine and Smith’s politics is irrelevant. They are elected officials chosen by their communities, and attacks on them are attacks on the communities that elected them.

It is tempting to dismiss these incidents as isolated acts carried out by a troubled individual or two. That would be a mistake.

Even if only a handful of people committed these acts, the impact is much larger. Violence breeds fear. Fear deters participation. And fewer voices in public life — especially voices from historically marginalized communities — leaves all of us poorer.

If we fail to confront this now, the consequences will only grow. Democracy cannot thrive when its leaders are under siege. And it will not thrive if the next generation of women and Indigenous leaders looks at these attacks and decides public service simply isn’t worth it.

That would be the greatest tragedy of all.

tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca