A 67-year-old Edmonton man has been charged after he posted death threats against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh.
The man faces three Criminal Code charges for making threats against a person, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a news release Monday.
The purported threat from a user of the YouTube account was reported to the RCMP Federal Police Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) on June 7.
The man was charged June 13 and is scheduled to appear in Edmonton court on Thursday, RCMP said.
Following a separate investigation, a 23-year-old Calgary man was charged on June 6 with posting death threats against Prime Minister Trudeau on Twitter. He is scheduled to appear in court in Calgary on Tuesday.
“In the digital age, where many interactions take place online and are perceived to be anonymous, there is a belief that virtual actions and words are without consequence,” Inspector Matthew Johnson, interim head of the North West Region INSET team, said in the release.
“If these hypothetical actions and words cross the boundaries of Charter-protected speech and constitute criminal conduct, police will investigate thoroughly to punish those responsible.”
In a news release, the RCMP said they recognize the changing security environment for public figures in Canada and abroad and the need for increased vigilance.
Several people have been charged with making online threats against Trudeau, including a Montreal man who was charged in February.
House procedural chiefs said in May that harassment of lawmakers has increased nearly 800 percent over the past five years.
More recently, the deputy commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who is in charge of protective policing, said the number of MPs requesting protection has nearly doubled since 2018.
“It’s not surprising that we’re seeing an increase in online threats against people in power and politicians,” Stephanie Carvin, a former national security analyst and now an associate professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, said Monday.
“What’s even rarer is for these threats to actually result in criminal prosecution.”
Carvin said the comments in question must meet certain standards in terms of content, adding that online threats can be a challenge for law enforcement to identify.
