The incident took place on Friday in Alberta (western part of the country), the province from which Chrystia Freeland, who was born in Peace River, 200 km northeast of Grande Prairie where she was talking with the mayor of this locality after meeting farmers in the morning.
The 14-second video, posted on TikTok and Twitter, shows the Canadian government’s N.2 heading for an elevator, while being followed by a man who insults her.
“You traitor”, launches him in particular the man, cap on the head and dressed in a tank top. “Get out of this province!” he continued.
“What happened yesterday is not correct. No one (…) should have to tolerate threats or intimidation,” responded the Deputy Prime Minister, in a statement posted on Twitter on Saturday in end of the day, regretting an “unpleasant incident”.
“I will keep coming back to Alberta because it’s my home,” she said.
Various political figures, like Jason Kenney, Conservative Premier of Alberta, have denounced the “verbal harassment” and “threats” against Ms. Freeland, who is also Minister of Finance.
“What the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada went through is unacceptable,” again castigated François Legault, the Prime Minister of Quebec.
Chrystia Freeland also received the support of several members of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government: François-Philippe Champagne, the Minister of Innovation, said he was “shocked” while Anita Anand, the Minister of Defense indicated that she was “dismayed by the threats and intimidation” aimed at her colleague.
“This behavior has no place in Canada. We are all here to promote dialogue on important public policy issues, and such harassment cannot be tolerated,” added Ms. Anand.
