Police investigating fires, vandalism at NDP cabinet ministers’ North End constituency offices

Police are investigating after several vandalism incidents at two NDP cabinet ministers’ constituency offices, including four fires in two months.

NDP cabinet minister and Point Douglas MLA Bernadette Smith’s North End constituency office has been hit by fire four times, starting in the beginning of August, the Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service confirmed Tuesday.

A Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson said the major crimes unit is investigating.

Smith declined to be interviewed, citing the ongoing investigation. A press secretary said no staff were at the 804 Selkirk Ave. office at the time.

“A police investigation into recent vandalism at the Point Douglas constituency office is ongoing,” press secretary Ryan Jamula said in an email. “Services remain open, which can be scheduled through phone and email.”

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine’s 1763 Main St. office was vandalized over the weekend.

The St. John’s MLA’s office windows, which had been smashed, were boarded up on Tuesday. Both Fontaine and Smith’s offices were locked, with no one inside, on Tuesday afternoon.

Fontaine said her staff are working from home this week. No staff were inside when the vandalism occurred in the early morning hours.

“The fact that Minister Smith’s office has been vandalized, as well as my own, I think should concern everybody,” she said. “But now, we can’t say much… I have faith that (the) major crimes (unit) is doing what they need to do to make sure that our offices are safe, and that every constituency office is safe.”

“The fact that Minister Smith’s office has been vandalized, as well as my own, I think should concern everybody.”

She called issues of safety at constituency offices, in Manitoba and across the country, an “ongoing conversation.”

Fontaine recently came under fire after sharing a social-media post condemning U.S. right-wing activist Charlie Kirk after his assassination Sept. 10.

She shared a post on Sept. 11 that said Kirk was a “racist, xenophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, sexist, white nationalist mouthpiece who made millions of dollars inciting hatred in this country.” It went on to say, “I extend absolutely no empathy for people like that.”

Fontaine apologized in a statement the following day.

“Violence has no place in our democracy,” she said in the written statement. “Political debate is achieved with words and discussion. In a world too often divided, we should strive to show empathy to everyone, even those we don’t agree with.”

Premier Wab Kinew said he would not remove Fontaine from cabinet after the post.

At the pharmacy located across the street from Smith’s Selkirk Avenue office, staff member Dwayne Hynes said he believed the string of fires were “absolutely” targeted.

“It’s the only (location) in the area getting damaged, and it’s continuous,” he said Tuesday.

The Point Douglas resident said police checked the business’s security camera video. He speculated it could be someone “making a statement” about the NDP’s leadership.

“They’re damaging anything, because it’ll bring politics here… because then the bigwigs come, government and police come,” he said.

Security at the Legislative Building has ramped up over the years. Metal detectors have been installed, and some entrances and exits have been closed off.

Following COVID-19 protests that blocked the main entrance to the legislature, a security guard is stationed at the entrance, checking all vehicles entering the area.

In 2022, a man yelling obscenities about COVID-19 vaccination requirements barged into now-Finance Minister Adrien Sala’s constituency office in St. James. His legislative assistant, who was alone in the office at the time, managed to de-escalate the situation and he left, vowing to return. She locked the door and called police.

—With files from Maggie Macintosh and The Canadian Press

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca