Ontario councillors, candidates urge post-election action against 'nastiness' on campaign trail
CBC
Warning: The story details experiences and includes language that are disturbing.
One of the first times Ahona Mehdi canvassed Hamilton homes in her efforts to become a local public school board trustee was memorable for all the wrong reasons.
"I was spit on in the face," the 19-year-old told reporters earlier this week as she recalled her campaign experience.
Mehdi, who is Muslim, said that wasn't her only brush with hate.
"I've been told by a parent we need to remove Muslim girls from schools … [And] a few days before the election, I received an anonymous call and was told to choke and die."
Whether it involved first-time candidates or lifelong politicians, toxicity and hate in Ontario's municipal election seemed to be more venomous than past years, particularly for people from equity-seeking communities, several candidates told CBC Hamilton following the Oct. 24 vote.
"This election, there was much more nastiness," said Nrinder Nann, a re-elected councillor who in 2018 was the first woman of colour to become a Hamilton city councillor.
"I know some of my friends in other cities that were running this year were also experiencing it. It's happening across the board."
Nann said that while going door to door this year, one resident "slammed the door in my face, saying, 'Not that brown bitch.'"
"We also had some people walk by our campaign office, hitting on the windows, trying to intimidate and cause some upset … we thought it was a one-off, but it started happening more regularly," she said.
Hamilton mayor-elect Andrea Horwath had a sign vandalized with misogynistic slurs and imagery, while Ward 14 candidate Kojo Damptey had a white supremacist sticker placed on one of his campaign advertisements. Both instances led to police investigations.
The incidents occurred after several candidates — from Cambridge to Scarborough to Simcoe North — faced hate and vandalism on the campaign trail leading up to the Ontario election in June.
Elected officials across Ontario — including in Waterloo, Niagara region and Ottawa — received threats, especially during the height of the pandemic, causing some, such as former Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustee Keith Penny, not to run again last month.
The bitterness appeared online this election campaign as well.