Mr. Speaker, it is with a profound mix of both anger and sadness that I rise today to condemn the events that took place on Monday in my two riding offices and those of our colleague, the member for West Nova.
We received envelopes containing chemical irritants. One staff of mine unwittingly opened the envelope and had to be rushed to hospital, treated and decontaminated. Thankfully, he is fine and back at work.
This act underscores a deeper challenge regarding the demise of civility and respect in our democratic discourse on social media, through email, through mail and in person. We can debate. We can disagree. We can protest peacefully. Those things are the essence of democracy. Hateful acts of violence to servants of the people are not an attack on us individually but an attack on democracy itself. An attack on one is an attack on all.
My message is this: No member of this House will be intimidated. We will continue representing our communities, making Canada a better place for all.