Thank you, Chair.
Thank you to all of the witnesses for being here today.
I want to talk a little bit about the way that online disinformation gets turned into real-world experiences for politicians—in particular, the role that politicians themselves play in that.
I've decided not to run in the next election largely because of the atmosphere that has developed here in Canada. When we were studying Bill C-21 at committee, I recall that the non-partisan officials were receiving threats, and the chair repeatedly had to warn Conservative Party members about the tone they were using with the witnesses.
Back in March at this committee, I brought up that when Mr. Barrett and Conservatives were bringing up words like “cover-up” and “corruption”, it ended up leading to my inbox filling up with just horrible messages, and I was called a “pearl clutcher”, yet last week, when Mr. Chiu was here talking about his experience on social media, I think Mr. Kurek called him a hero.
It speaks to the obvious views that politicians hold of, perhaps, women in politics, but I can't count the number of times I've been called a pearl clutcher. The new one is a “cry-bully” from the gun lobby, which seems to have spread repeatedly.
I wonder what responsibility you think politicians have to ensure they're not fanning the flames that lead to threats and real-world violence against politicians. I'd like to hear from all three of you on this.
Mr. Loewen, you can start.