Fontaine, Smith say they won’t be intimidated by targeted attacks on constituency offices By: Tyler Searle Posted: 2:03 PM CDT Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025 Last Modified: 4:10 PM CDT Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025 Updates

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This article was published 02/10/2025 (321 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A spate of fires and vandalism at the constituency offices of Nahanni Fontaine and Bernadette Smith will not intimidate the cabinet ministers, who described the incidents as acts of political violence.

“Minister Smith and myself are the first First Nations women in 152 years to ever be appointed to Manitoba government. We worked hard to be here,” Fontaine said Thursday.

“We continue to work hard — for our responsibilities, for our departments, for our communities, for our relatives — and no amount of attacks will ever push us out of this.”

Speaking to reporters during an unrelated news conference, Fontaine addressed a blaze that damaged her Main Street office on Tuesday. It joined four fires sparked at Smith’s office on Selkirk Avenue since August, and several instances of shattered windows and vandalism at both locations.

“No amount of attacks will ever push us out of this.”

Fontaine said her personal safety, and that of Smith, is currently under consideration and measures are being put in place to protect them.

A pair of protective services officers accompanied the ministers as they made a funding announcement on Selkirk Avenue. The officers, who typically provide security at the Manitoba legislature, were deployed in response to the recent incidents, a senior political staffer confirmed.

Political violence was a primary subject of discussion Wednesday, as MLAs gathered at the legislature for the first question period of the fall sitting. Members from both sides of the aisle paused for a moment of silence, and denounced such acts both locally and abroad.

The fire at Fontaine’s office follows a statement she reposted on social media after Charlie Kirk, an American conservative political commentator, was assassinated on Sept. 10. She later apologized for sharing the post, which described Kirk as a “racist, xenophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, sexist, white nationalist.”

Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan has called for Fontaine to be removed from cabinet, and a few dozen protesters gathered outside the Legislative Building Wednesday to echo that demand.

The Winnipeg Police Service has confirmed it has tapped its major crimes unit to investigate the vandalism and fires, but has not yet commented on a potential motive or suspects. Const. Pat Saydak said no updates were available Thursday.

Premier Wab Kinew said he believes his cabinet ministers are being targeted because they are Indigenous women.

He hinted at expanding the amount of money available to provincial politicians for security purposes.

Currently, members can claim up to $4,400 for the installation and ongoing operation of a security system, including cameras and alarms, at their constituency office, home and secondary residence. It also covers personal protective services for public events.

A report on MLA expenses for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, tabled in the legislative assembly Wednesday, showed Fontaine claimed the maximum amount, while Smith claimed just $227.81.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Smith noted a slate of recent security improvements, including the addition of shatter-resistant glass, made to her office since August. Those expenses would not have been captured in the expense report because the fiscal year ended in March.

Vandals shattered 22 of the office windows in two separate incidents. After the glass was replaced and strengthened, somebody tried to use a drill to cause further damage, Smith said.

Then, multiple fires damaged a bathroom and front foyer in the office. Smith said there was an intentional effort to torch wires providing the building with internet, in an apparent attempt to disable the security system.

“We feel targeted. They know what they are doing and it’s being elevated,” she said.

Fontaine said the incidents at her office left a lasting impact on her and staff members, who are temporarily being asked to work from the legislature.

“I don’t want to pretend that it is an easy situation to navigate through. It’s not normal that your office… is firebombed,” she said. “This is something that’s going to be with us for the rest of our lives.”

“I don’t want to pretend that is an easy situation to navigate through. It’s not normal that your office… is firebombed.”

Smith said the same, calling the fires “an attack on democracy.”

Her staff have been working from home for months and are under enhanced safety procedures requiring them to meet with people in public spaces and in “teams of two for their own safety,” Smith said.

“It doesn’t just impact Minister Fontaine and I, it impacts everybody,” she said. “It has prohibited us from doing our job fully.”

Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba, said political violence is trending upward in many countries, and Canada is not immune.

“It seems to be corrosive,” he said.” We shouldn’t have to adopt a kind of fortress mentality where we’ve got CCTV cameras, panic buttons, shatter-proof glass… but we seem to be headed in that direction. That’s a terrible thing.”

He agreed Fontaine and Smith may be targeted because of their status as Indigenous women, but also because they are charged with sensitive, high-profile and politically contentious portfolios within the Kinew government.

Fontaine is the minister of families, accessibility and gender equity; Smith oversees housing, addictions, homelessness and mental health.

“All of this makes the occupation of being a politician even less enticing for people. They don’t get the respect they deserve, their motivations are always being questioned… and now you can’t even do the job without risking the health and well-being of yourself and your family,” he said.

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Thomas urged political leaders to speak and act respectfully when interacting with their political opponents, even amid disagreements, warning their manner can influence the behaviours of the public.

“There is enough anger and frustration and disillusionment out there that it triggers people and becomes contagious,” he said.

“Politics has become nasty and violent.”

— With files from Carol Sanders

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

Tyler Searle
Reporter

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.

Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.