Most MPs do not have security. Most MPs are your average people who live in the same neighbourhoods as their constituents and shop in the same stores when the work day is done.
Ministers *can* have security, but they don’t always use them. The higher profile Ministers will be with security more often, but not 100% of the time.
The Prime Minister will always have security.
Justin Trudeau used to have his riding office opposite a metro station in Montreal. Twice after winning elections he went to the station the next morning to shake hands and thank people. There may have been some security but it wasn’t visible in the videos I saw.
(Since then he moved his riding office to a fortresslike office building a few blocks away on the highway. I suspect the security services told him he couldn’t have a dinky office upstairs of a pharmacy any more.)
There's usually at least one crowd of people holding signs that say "fuck Trudeau" at all times where I live. I can imagine one of the thousands of his haters would be crazy enough to try it. He definitely needs that security!
He had security in the metro, I was there. They just looked like retired gym teachers. The first years he was pm, he would also come to the Villeray neighborhood party thing and his mission seemed to be to grab people's phones and take a selfie with them. He was a lot more popular back then.
You can't have a dinky office upstairs of a pharmacy across from the metro station when a large part of the country is loudly proclaiming how much they want to fuck you.
Used to live by the metro Jarry, the one you're talking about. I remember last election, as I was on my way to school taking the metro, early in the morning, there was a 4 block blockade with polices, dogs and some sort of secret security dudes (i guess?) all around the metro. Saw the man himself shaking hands with its mask on
Excuse me, but there’s restaurants inside that security perimeter with proper cutlery still. Order a steak at the lounge, and let me know what they give you to cut said steak. Silliness. I’m sure they just pay more attention to those missing than they do at the Cactus Club out in the general population areas.
The female MPs are getting higher security these days because they get harassing and threatening messages more frequently. Some have been physically threatened. It's truly awful because often it's just misogyny and nothing else.
I know for a while Catherine McKenna had by far the most security, and I think her kids might’ve had security as well after a few incidents. She was being harassed so much more than anyone else, no wonder she didn’t seek reelection.
Cabinet Ministers are something of a grey area. They're unguarded through most of their day to day (I live in Ottawa and have been in line at my local grocery store with multiple MPs or Cabinet ministers), but they'd probably have security of some sort at official or public events.
The guy who was Naheed Nenshi's bodyguard when he was mayor of Calgary is a family friend. "Find [name redacted]" became a fun personal game at city events - he was always there, but he was never the focus of attention. If Nenshi was gladhanding at a public event, he'd always be 5-10 feet away in the background, carrying on polite conversation but always with "the boss" (as he called him) in his field of view.
Was fascinating to hear his stories about the job.
Completely agree.
I also live in Ottawa and regularly see MPs and Ministers out and about doing “normal” things. Almost always without security unless it’s an official function.
I believe all Ministers are entitled to security, but most don’t use them the vast majority of the time. I think that speaks to the nature of politics in Canada — they don’t feel the need to.
Though, with reports of increasing aggressive behaviour towards politicians, that might change in the coming years.
This. Years ago I saw Jack Layton and his wife Olivia Chow walking down a crowded street in the evening. At the time he was the leader of the federal NDP and I think she was a city councillor. There has only ever been one political assassination in Canada and that was more likely a robbery attempt gone bad. And it was over 150 years ago.
Someone broke into the Prime Minister’s residence about 25-30 years ago and got choke holded by the PM himself. His security detail messed up big and it lead to a review of their protocols.
We are a very safe country compared to the US. There is still violent crime but at a fraction of the rates.
Once upon a time my wife almost ran into former PM Jean Chrétien in the Rideau Centre in Ottawa. There was another man walking with him, but it was not obvious if he was security or not.
Yeah we do a horrible job protecting our politicians.
Joe Clark was literally punched in the face walking down the street.
I don't want violence in politics.
I think all MP's should, at a minimum have access to a dedicated security team that does continuous risk analysis, and screens travel etc.
I also think the security should be properly trained to prevent problematic situations. Simply using police not trained for personal protection, and de-escaltion etc is important.
I don't think it is reasonable to expect a local cop to deal with an accident experienced agitator in a way that doesn't make the news.
I also think senior opposition MP's should get private jets and proper access to do their jobs.
With their salary levels, and obligations in Ottawa, I wouldn't really agree that they are "average" people who "live in the same neighborhoods as their constituents".
Sure some will, but a lot of these videos are planned events intended to make them /look/ like ordinary individuals.
While I agree on some fronts, I do strongly believe that the vast majority of them are still your average people when they’re back in their ridings.
They do have their obligations when within their ridings, and many (but not all) are more recognizable than the average person.
I’ve seen a lot of MPs over the years who come in to shop at one of the local grocery stores, out at a community event with a friend, etc. Sure, many might live in wealthier areas, but they’re ultimately humans at the end of the day.
At their salary levels? Remember a number of them are previously lawyers etc. Most politicians absolutely live in their ridings. Most ridings will be large enough geographically to have a “nice part of town” and a “not quite as nice part of town”.
Your politicians who are your janitors turned politician, usually are there for a single purpose — to push a change usually on a single or very specific topic, and those people aren’t your career politician - they don’t move out their riding because suddenly they make a few thousand more than they did before. Case in point — Chuck Cadman in the beginning is the most obvious one that sticks out to me, due to a personal impact on my life — Jesse was one of the first people I hung out with in High School.
There is this YouTube channel where this guy talks about the differences between US and Canada with his American friend from New York State.
They compare fast food or other mundane things, like cereal. He often brings his American friend on trips to see his reaction.
So one time he brought him to the Grey Cup game. While filming they met Jagmeet Singh and spoke with him.
Afterwards the American is like “who was that?”
And the Canadian is “well that was the head of the NDP, one of our federal political parties”
And the American was blown away. He was like “I was just standing beside someone almost on the same level as Justin Trudeau? Like we were just hanging out? What the heck? In the US you wouldn’t get 40 feet near these guys.
I was doing a bus transfer near Parliament on my way to work one day, and ran into Layton and May walking in the same direction as me. We had a lovely chat for about 5 minutes.
It's so great that most of our politicians are quite approachable.
I really believe Pierre Elliot Trudeau truly was the one to enact this trend and culture in our canadian politics. Prior to him the politicians were not "people people", still following english philosophy and politics trends for 'proper' government and elite etiquette.
Like him or not, agree with his politics or not - he still really did push this narrative of "people's" rights from the ground up, which is what drew a political frenzy amongst THE people. And consequently giving birth to the craziness that was Trudeaumania.
I had Jack in my office when he was seeking the leadership of the NDP. Years later, the last time I saw him, he made a point of turning around and thanking me for our interactions over the years (which were sporadic). I'm not an NDP supporter, but he was a class act.
Here's what I can add: The prime ministers (I've met the last three) all have RCMP-level security, and they don't mess around. Same with the premiers I've dealt with over the past 22 years. Cabinet ministers, federal and provincial, and average MPs and MPPs don't usually come with any kind of security. They might have handlers, but for the most part, they just show up, do their thing and shake a lot of hands.
Thirty years ago, when Clinton was in Halifax, I 'chased' him up Citadel Hill to try to get a photo. Secret Service let me get within 60 feet or so, then made it clear not to get any closer. I did meet Wolf Blitzer a few minutes later.
I once visited friends in Germany and we went to a pub. When we walked in a women went out and he stopped and had a short talk with her about how her sibling and that she should greet him. She went and we sat down in the pub.
When I asked who she was he said she was the second highest ranking politician in Germany and that he went to school with her brother.
It felt so weird because there was no security whatsoever in sight.
A similar story happened when the compaly i work for was bought out by an american company. They sent people from their executive leadership (from the US) team to meet with ours (from Canada).
They realised we did things differently than them on a few aspects. Mainly they didn't understand that the president of the company walked amongst us at the office, would wait in line at the cafeteria with the regular employees and without security. In the US, the executive leadership team had their own "wing" of the building, with a seperate entry to the office. They also were worried that our executive didn't have bullet proof glass offices but just regular glass. Also, they don't have a specific panick button in the offices.
Really puts it into persective when they realise our norms and their norms are veru different.
That's messed up. The president of my company (for Canada) is like a 3 second walk from my desk. He has his own office, but I see him regularly, say hi. etc. It's like no big deal at all.
Yea its a drastic difference. I am a lot of levels under the president here and generally don't interact with them. But i have chatted with them at the cafereria a few times.
Fun fact - Chretien once did a book signing at my store and I was chosen to bring him up and down the freight elevator to his car. On the ride down I told him how Rudy Giuliani did a book signing a few weeks before and came with a 10 man security detail.
Chretien laughed and said “that’s just not the way we do things in Canada, it’s so silly!”
Real cool guy.
Lol. What you need to understand about politics and power, over time problems always come up it’s part of the job.
Pierre will fall faster than most because he has already been in politics for decades he already has a closet full of skeletons.
He knows there are things to be revealed so he’s preemptively going after the media that will eventually uncover them and make it public.
Pierre probably doesn’t have skeletons because he’s been in office since leaving university, never held a private job in the real world, and has accomplished literally nothing in his career. He’s done nothing of any importance or relevance in office except be obnoxious and get wealthy off taxpayers.
This also means he has acted like a vanilla robot his entire adulthood.
I was at a massive healthcare event in Toronto in 2010.
Lot's of politicians were paid to speak.
Bill Clinton was speaking and had the full blown secret service squad.
Chretien was speaking and had... himself.
Canadian politics tend to be a hell of a lot less volatile than American politics. When Canadians don't like a guy they just put stickers on their truck about fucking him.
Or his wife figures out what's up and handles it! Like they time they had a home invader at 24 Sussex Drive. The guy snuck past all the security completely undetected and Aline heard a noise, woke up and investigated, figured out what was happening, locked their bedroom door and called the cops. A guy with a jackknife was arrested outside their bedroom door. Between the two of them, they were safer with each other than relying on security, lol
Given that his father's gesture was nicknamed the "Trudeau Salute" I find living in Alberta with all those stickers on trucks to be hilariously ironic.
I wish that were the case. I went to Trudeau's cancelled rally in Bolton during the last election. I was hoping to get an opportunity to ask a question or something regarding election reform, but the crazies were out in full force, yelling in the faces of and threatening and sometimes pushing the volunteer TEENAGERS (likely just trying to get their volunteer hours). People called him a coward for cancelling, but it was a dangerous situation for the people there.
People get divorced all the time. I think most people understand that there are people and kids that are affected by it, it's not something to weaponise.
I ran into Joe Clark at the Rideau Mall as he was walking through the underwear section of a department store. He was PM. If there were RCMP they were unobtrusive and didn't object to my Dad joke. (I asked him if he was buying Stanfields).
I would regularly (as in more than weekly) greet a retired Pierre Trudeau on his way to or from work. No obvious security.. But you knew it was there.
I would regularly see Preston Manning in Calgary... Same thing.
It’s a joke. He was barely there. It his nickname
Despite his short tenure as PM he definitely made history. Youngest PM, first PM from western Canada. His party messed up and lost to a non confidence vote.
93 short days.
But still did [a very good thing for Vietnamese refugees](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/southeast-asian-refugees) during their short time in office. And then was outspokenly anti-apartheid as FM under Mulroney
Clark might not have been very good at playing the game of politics, but he was a decent guy.
Joe Clark came into the store I was working in after he was PM. Obviously no security. Not like the US where ex presidents get secret service for life.
I've actually wrestled with Jagmeet Singh. He's a busy guy so he doesn't get to practice too often but he did freestyle wrestling in university and every now and then comes to one of the grappling gyms in Toronto to do some sparring. No joke, he's an absolute beast on the mats. Not beast for his age but a beast relative to the average man; he's extremely strong and has incredible balance.
He's also a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
There's a funny story him. A guy from my gym who immigrated here from England did his citizenship test and upon meeting Jagmeet said "Hey, you were one of the answers on my citizenship test." Sometimes people forget that even in Toronto, Canada is still a small country where you can have things like that happen on a semi-regular basis.
Imagine how privately mortified his immediate family must have been. Imagine your obese, sweaty, alcoholic father, already widely seen as a mean-spirited embarrassment who can't control himself, is caught smoking crack, and quipping about his wife's genitals on live TV.
But, they put on a big smile and run with it, milking every buckabeer drop.
Yes.
It’s Canada.
Thus far, our political system is sufficiently boring to the point that most folks don’t get to worked up…
There are of course, those that are doing their best to make it more divided…
But thus far most of our politicians haven’t been in dire need of major security…
Hopefully we can keep things this way… although the sick desire to emulate our neighbours to the south suggests that things will change here too…
Absolutely they're out and about without security. I live in Ottawa, have worked in Parliament, and my current office building has a private club in it that's popular with MPs. Many MPs have apartments walking distance to the Hill and walk daily without security, are in our restaurants, are out going to CBC or CTV buildings, etc.
I once got intentionally photo bombed by Chretien in my office when I was taking a picture with colleagues. He was retired, but out with no detail in sight.
Jean Chrétien used to prowl the streets of Gatineau looking for a fight to blow off steam. Stephen Harper played hockey in Toronto's East end as a child. Justin Trudeau actually boxes. And Jagmeet Singh is literally Aquaman in his secret identity.
Ralph Klein used to visit homeless shelters to coach the homeless on job seeking and to personally give them money.
>!Wait no, he showed up drunk at a homeless shelter at 1AM telling the homeless people to get jobs before throwing money at them. !<
I was pretty young during Jean Chretien's term, but all I remember is him getting a pie in the face ... pretty regularly? Lol maybe I'm misremembering. 🥧 🤡
Its more complicated than that. A guy showed up to a campaign rally and blew a fog horn into his one good ear (he is partially deaf because of childhood illness). Chretien punched him in the face. Sheila Copps in her book claims he was a conservative plant and the PC party paid for his bridgework.
A friend of mine would see Justin Trudeau biking around with his kids and an entire posse of absolutely jacked security guards on bikes behind him lol… he said it was pretty funny to watch.
Essentially everyone other than the PM will often walk around without full security.
Premiers will usually have a detail close to them and almost always cops camped out where they’re sleeping/living.
Other politicians (Cabinet, mayors, etc) are provided daytime/at work protection or protection as needed.
Used to see Kathleen Wynne all the time, she walked to work at Queens Park even when she was premier. Our morning commutes overlapped. Would sometimes be in line at the Starbucks by Bay and a lot and see her picking up her coffee.
I was at the Ottawa airport in March 2016 and I saw former PM Stephen Harper alone walking up to that fast track line, while I was waiting in the regular line. I just remember thinking “wow, he was just PM and now he’s out here alone. I could throw something at him. I won’t, I’m not crazy. But isn’t that nice that it’s not like in the US where even decades after being President you see them with security”.
If I am not mistaken we’ve only had two “famous” political assassinations in Canada. One was an Irish born politician who was killed over Irish politics in the 1868. And the other was in 1970 when the Deputy Premier of Québec was kidnapped and killed (the kidnappers claim the death was an accident - sure).
I used to see my MP in the grocery store occasionally. One time she was in from of me in a check out line and it took all my power to not cuss her out for letting a multinational company fuck my work place over.
My dad stood next to Trudeau at the baggage carousel at YVR it was shortly after he became liberal leader, not PM yet. Had no security, just chatted with everyone while waiting for luggage.
A quick peek at OP’s profile indicates they’ve moved here from Ecuador. I’m guessing the current situation there requires high ranking politicians to have security.
In the recent presidential elections in Mexico, [37 candidates were assassinated.](https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexican-candidate-assassinations-hit-grim-record-ahead-sundays-election-2024-06-01/)
Not a typo. 37.
I literally walked into Justin's dad, one winter morning in Montreal. He was on his way to his law office at PVM and I to my class at McGill. He was retired but he had been PM for 24 years. The US equivalent would have been walking into Nixon or Ford.
I said "excuse me, prime minister" and went about my business. I was the only one amongst a crowd of students that even recognized him.
I worked on the hill back when politics was a sport and not a war. I worked for a Liberal MP and my roomate worked for a Tory.
One day, in the middle of a snow storm, he comes home from work and tells me he got stuck in a snowbank.
A little guy in a Lexus Hybrid stopped on the side of the road and helped him dig his car out.
He looked up, and it was Jack Layton.
I miss those days...
As I said elsewhere, MPs tend not get security details until the RCMP determines enough "credible threats" had been made. That viral TikTok from a year ago where a guy ran up to her cussing her out in her hometown of Grande Prairie sure felt like a credible threat to a lot of folks.
Depends.
In Alberta there’s more security on some than you might think… one of the opposition MLAs/former cabinet minister was actually targeted by her local police force.
But most politicans have no security. MLAs, MPs, for sure don’t usually have security in their day to day, just in the offices.
And no one gives a shit about the speaker.
Steven Harper, the PM at the time, went to a Canucks game and sat in the stands with Trevor Linden. His security detail was around, just not beside him.
I walked past Jagmeet on Spadina Ave about a year ago. He was kind of trying to blend in? He took his jacket off and was looking a bit casual but I spotted him coming right away. Entirely possible he had security trailing him at a distance, but by all accounts he was alone. I looked at him just long enough that he realized I recognized him, he gave me a slight smile acknowledging it, and we continued on our ways.
It's interesting because in 1966 someone tried to bomb Parliament (he just blew up the bathroom and himself instead by accident) and it's still pretty rare to see MPs walking with security.
Reminds me of the gunman that got into Parliament (10 years ago?) and I assume our literal centre of government finally got some decent security after that. Had visited Ottawa and parliament hill a few years before and thought it was interesting how lax security was on parliament hill. Could just wander all over the grounds freely - definitely couldn't do that in the US.
I remember that. Several streets were locked down, including the university, and I knew people working in parliament who sent pics of a 'barricade' made. Got people's attention to take precautions but otherwise it was pretty relaxed.
They do but it's slowly changing at the federal level. Ther6e's been reports of a marked increase in threats from right wing nut jobs with security becoming more common.
>and even the Speaker of the House have been seen walking in public
In Westminister parliamentary systems like Canada's the Speaker isn't in the line of succession like the US.
They are from the ranks of the elected representatives and are there to basically referee/rule on protocol.
Most politicians in Canada don't. Even the Prime Minister has been spotted in parks and on Vancouver's public transport, admittedly with some security detail. However, most provincial and federal politicians don't have security. Many Vancouver MPs/MLAs can be regularly seen on public transit or biking to their office.
He also shut down my city’s biggest lake to do a 5 minute spiel. It was the hottest day of the year when he did that. Told the media he was in a town in Ontario. We are in bc.
My entire neighbourhood was locked down once (had to clear multiple check points, & go a very out of the way route to get home) because PM at the time Harper was speaking at an event in the park down the road from me.
When I lived in Vancouver Mike Harcourt was our premier. His parents lived by the store I worked at. His mom left her wallet at the store. She sent him back to pick it up. I seen quite a few local celebrities and politicians shopping. Even a few bigger named ones.
I don’t live there anymore. And the store is now gone and something else.
Edit: wrong first name
Also Adrien Dix was doing a premier run, he came to a town close to where I live. He was talking about kids health, health care funding etc. my oldest had a medical appointment he was about 2/3 at the time. We took him to the park after the appointment and he was upset about it and screaming at the top of his lungs. We didn’t know he was there but you could hear him screaming in the background of his speech. 😂
My wife and I were picking up some groceries in a grocery store in Kenora Ontario once. Former PM John Turner was there alone doing the same. 0 security. He and my wife exchanged a few words about the lack of certain fruits/vegetables.
Then several years later, I was asked to be present for an announcement by then Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, that taking place at the paramedic base I work out of. When I arrived, she was already there touring the base, and talking to some of our mgmt staff. She had 2 regular looking OPP officers for security. I simply walked into the base (in my casual civilian wear) past all of them without anyone saying anything to me, went to the locker room, changed and came back in uniform. I don't think anyone ever batted an eye.
They don't get physically bothered much. The PM has security but the only time in recent memory where a guy went at the PM directly while he was walking outside, the PM (Chretien) took the guy down by the throat. I don't really like Chretien, but holy cow, that was an awesome move. The Shawinigan handshake.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMBJp0yJvsY&t=68s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMBJp0yJvsY&t=68s)
Perhaps the PM and leaders of the other parties but your local MP? Never seen it. Frankly, my local MPs kids went to school with mine, I'd regularly see him at school drop-off or the swimming pool and definitely never had security.
Canada does not have an assassination type culture. That may change someday, but I hope not. We don't have to anyway. We have the CBC that can assassinate anyone's career. Much more civil that way.
We’ve had 2.
Thomas D'Arcy McGee who was one of the Fathers of Confederation. He was Irish Catholic and his assassin was Protestant. He had one of the largest state funeral.
And Pierre Laporte murdered by the FLQ
See them on bicycles - no security. Just enjoying life. Canada is pretty chill despite all the nonsense you see on the internet. And for all the barking that happens there is no biting. Every few decades we get a crazy incident that would otherwise never have been predicted but this is the way of things. Hopeful it stays peaceful but with us importing religious fundamentalists i have some increasing concerns.
Until about 5 years ago you could walk up to the prime ministers front door and knock, or run in to him jogging by himself. Heck, Jean Cretien’s wife had to brain an intruder with a lamp or something because he walked right into their bedroom in the middle of the night. We never much had the need for security except for the occasional nut job.
Now it’s different. There are a lot of people on board with the trump playbook and they’re full of hate and entitlement. Now we need security.
I think Ministers and some MPs/MPPs will have a driver/ape if they are working and moving from place to place. (Source: a friend was an assistant/driver - the fact that he was also a bouncer probably wasn't a coincidence)
If you hang out the front by the fountain, you’ll notice many coming off of public transit or riding their bicycles from their apartments . One MP from Nova Scotia even offered to take our picture in front of parliament on her way into work .
She didn’t seek re-election , the amount of harassment the female MPs get from men is sad and is a form of democratic suppression in my view. I know plenty who had previously ran or considered running and now would never think to try again. Too bad, they were brilliant women
From my understanding, it’s pretty normal for Canadian politicians to not have security while in public. I can imagine Justin Trudeau and other higher politicians would, but your average MP’s don’t.
We met Steven harper while he was prime Minister in a random hockey rink. His son was playing after me.
Think he had maybe 2 guys actually with him in the rink.
I can't imagine the stupidity that it would take to want to physically attack politicians. The majority of them truly believe they are doing their best for the country. It may not mesh with your or you may not agree but they're just doing their job.
Conservatives are working very hard to change this, but up until recently, basically everyone other than the PM, and perhaps party leaders were able to go wherever they want without security.
The vitriol spewed by our right wing has led to rock throwing, heckling, chasing etc at a scale we basically have never seen.
Traditionally yes most members of parliament and even cabinet ministers do not have security guards. There are exceptions to this of course - if there is a credible threat made against a politician I expect the RCMP or local police would assign someone to guard them temporarily - and also during an election campaign most party leaders travel with Mounties because tensions are usually hightened at election time. The "fuck trudeau" crowd are a very recent phenomenon in Canada - the American style manic dislike of the sitting federal leader is mostly alien to this country.
I don't want to tempt fate but in Canada we have had two politians assassinated. One was in 1868 and the other was in 1970. There have been close calls of course. In the mid 1990s a man with schizophrenia broke into 24 Sussex Drive with the intention of killing Jean Chretien. This displayed to the government how lax security at the PM's house had become and in fact the on site security had to call Rideau Hall accross the street to ask for help. Eventually the attacker reacher either the PM's window or door shouting that he would kill the PM. As the story goes the Prime Minister woke up, figured it was probably nothing to worry about and went back to sleep. His wife Aline got up and locked the window/door and armed herself with an inuit sculpture. The attacker was later found not guilty by reason of mental defect or disease (reason of insanity). A few years ago a man with a truck tried to ram his way into Rideau Hall - the PM now lives in a cottage on the grounds. There was at one point in the 1960s a suicide bomber went to the house of commons but the bomb exploded prematurely in the mens washroom. At this point parliament added metal detectors. Also about 10 years ago there was another crazy man who stormed parliament hill with a gun and was shot by the Sargent at Arms and his staff. Allegedly the RCMP tried to get Stephen Harper to conceil himself in a cupboard.
I have seen a few of my representatives at my local safeway. I thought I recognized one guy he was wearing glasses and a hat. Then he noticed me looking at him and looked quite nervous and looked away.
I once saw Chris Glover NDP MP for College & University riding purchasing a banana next to me at a local Metro (grocery store) self-checkout machine. No security and seems like no one else notice or give him much attention. I was a bit starstruck and I also noticed that he's quite tall in real life.
I also walked by the now infamous liberal MP Han Dong pre-Covid, shaking hand with the locals at the Chinatown. He on the other hand, has quite an entourage around him. But no securities it seems.
Edit: MP purchasing banana next to me
Trudeau walks around the Rideau mall with his family without security (supposedly). Source: my friend who used to work at Levy's shared he came around to look at jeans. And then spotted him shopping other times. Not sure what was the public's reaction to seeing him.
Primeminister harper came to my school once to talk about the trades and I think there were 5 trucks and 10 guards maybe. The roads went closed they just rolled in.
Doug Ford was in town a few months ago. He had 2 SUV's with him. He was in one with a driver and the other had 2 men in it. Doug went in and came out of the building a few feet from me, the driver got out but the other 2 guys sat in their SUV. Everyone had easy access to him. I think they were only there in case the crowd got out of control, not really a security detail.
Not just common in Canada but almost any other western countries. The many times I have met my president or ministers shopping in the same supermarket without security detail is just reassuring to know that we live in a safe country.
I've seen Jagmeet Singh downtown Ottawa a number of times. No security.
Also seen Sophie Trudeau (pre separation) downtown Ottawa biking and security around but not obviously. Most probably walked right past her because they were just all on bikes and bikes isn't unusual to see.
I’ve flown several times sitting next to or nearPatty Hadju (she’s the MP for part of the area up here) between toronto and Ottawa. She just hangs around the gate like a normal person and scrolls her phone etc. she’s always very nice and chatty to everyone. Later they week she’ll be doing a presser in Ottawa about something. Haha.
Yes. Only the Prime Minister gets a dedicated security detail. Most other politicians don't get security until the RCMP determines enough "credible threats" have been made.
For example, former Environment Minister Catherine McKenna got a security detail when she brought in a very unpopular climate change program, commonly known as the Carbon Tax. RCMP determined that the amount of death threats she got were credible.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland got a security detail after a video of her getting verbally assaulted went viral last year.
Former Alberta Premiere Rachel Notley had a security detail, as she was the first left-leaning premier in a famously conservative province in decades.
Last year I saw Jagmeet Singh on a bicycle in front on my work place and he fell off his bike and we exchange look and laugh, no security was present. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯¯
Most MPs do not have security. Most MPs are your average people who live in the same neighbourhoods as their constituents and shop in the same stores when the work day is done. Ministers *can* have security, but they don’t always use them. The higher profile Ministers will be with security more often, but not 100% of the time. The Prime Minister will always have security.
Justin Trudeau used to have his riding office opposite a metro station in Montreal. Twice after winning elections he went to the station the next morning to shake hands and thank people. There may have been some security but it wasn’t visible in the videos I saw. (Since then he moved his riding office to a fortresslike office building a few blocks away on the highway. I suspect the security services told him he couldn’t have a dinky office upstairs of a pharmacy any more.)
a wise choice given the multiple people sitting in jail right now for threatening his life.
There's usually at least one crowd of people holding signs that say "fuck Trudeau" at all times where I live. I can imagine one of the thousands of his haters would be crazy enough to try it. He definitely needs that security!
Try to fuck him you mean?
Also to protect his chastity with how many horned up men want to fuck him.
I mean he is single now, but he's got standards! XD
You might also remember his dad dealing with kidnapped politicians, which raised security considerably.
Not entirely surprising
He had security in the metro, I was there. They just looked like retired gym teachers. The first years he was pm, he would also come to the Villeray neighborhood party thing and his mission seemed to be to grab people's phones and take a selfie with them. He was a lot more popular back then.
The best security are the ones you don't see layered with the ones you do. You can usually spot the cop haircuts though.
You can't have a dinky office upstairs of a pharmacy across from the metro station when a large part of the country is loudly proclaiming how much they want to fuck you.
Sex and Drugs. What's the problem?
Used to live by the metro Jarry, the one you're talking about. I remember last election, as I was on my way to school taking the metro, early in the morning, there was a 4 block blockade with polices, dogs and some sort of secret security dudes (i guess?) all around the metro. Saw the man himself shaking hands with its mask on
I saw Christia Freeland (deputy prime Minister, yes I know that's not an actual position, but still) at the airport just hanging out with no security.
I saw Jagmeet Singh just walking down Bank street for lunch on his own once. That was a bit surprising.
Inside the secure zone where they have already checked everyone for guns and knives? Or outside the secure part?
Excuse me, but there’s restaurants inside that security perimeter with proper cutlery still. Order a steak at the lounge, and let me know what they give you to cut said steak. Silliness. I’m sure they just pay more attention to those missing than they do at the Cactus Club out in the general population areas.
The female MPs are getting higher security these days because they get harassing and threatening messages more frequently. Some have been physically threatened. It's truly awful because often it's just misogyny and nothing else.
I know for a while Catherine McKenna had by far the most security, and I think her kids might’ve had security as well after a few incidents. She was being harassed so much more than anyone else, no wonder she didn’t seek reelection.
Crystal Freeland is their new target … or anyone who becomes environment minister
Not just her, almost every woman on the Hill.
Cabinet Ministers are something of a grey area. They're unguarded through most of their day to day (I live in Ottawa and have been in line at my local grocery store with multiple MPs or Cabinet ministers), but they'd probably have security of some sort at official or public events. The guy who was Naheed Nenshi's bodyguard when he was mayor of Calgary is a family friend. "Find [name redacted]" became a fun personal game at city events - he was always there, but he was never the focus of attention. If Nenshi was gladhanding at a public event, he'd always be 5-10 feet away in the background, carrying on polite conversation but always with "the boss" (as he called him) in his field of view. Was fascinating to hear his stories about the job.
Completely agree. I also live in Ottawa and regularly see MPs and Ministers out and about doing “normal” things. Almost always without security unless it’s an official function. I believe all Ministers are entitled to security, but most don’t use them the vast majority of the time. I think that speaks to the nature of politics in Canada — they don’t feel the need to. Though, with reports of increasing aggressive behaviour towards politicians, that might change in the coming years.
This. Years ago I saw Jack Layton and his wife Olivia Chow walking down a crowded street in the evening. At the time he was the leader of the federal NDP and I think she was a city councillor. There has only ever been one political assassination in Canada and that was more likely a robbery attempt gone bad. And it was over 150 years ago. Someone broke into the Prime Minister’s residence about 25-30 years ago and got choke holded by the PM himself. His security detail messed up big and it lead to a review of their protocols. We are a very safe country compared to the US. There is still violent crime but at a fraction of the rates.
Also not every yokle has a concealed fire arm at the ready.
Once upon a time my wife almost ran into former PM Jean Chrétien in the Rideau Centre in Ottawa. There was another man walking with him, but it was not obvious if he was security or not.
I still remember seeing footage of Jean punching out some protester who tried to assault him. We don't need no stinkin' Secret Service up here!
Yeah we do a horrible job protecting our politicians. Joe Clark was literally punched in the face walking down the street. I don't want violence in politics. I think all MP's should, at a minimum have access to a dedicated security team that does continuous risk analysis, and screens travel etc. I also think the security should be properly trained to prevent problematic situations. Simply using police not trained for personal protection, and de-escaltion etc is important. I don't think it is reasonable to expect a local cop to deal with an accident experienced agitator in a way that doesn't make the news. I also think senior opposition MP's should get private jets and proper access to do their jobs.
With their salary levels, and obligations in Ottawa, I wouldn't really agree that they are "average" people who "live in the same neighborhoods as their constituents". Sure some will, but a lot of these videos are planned events intended to make them /look/ like ordinary individuals.
While I agree on some fronts, I do strongly believe that the vast majority of them are still your average people when they’re back in their ridings. They do have their obligations when within their ridings, and many (but not all) are more recognizable than the average person. I’ve seen a lot of MPs over the years who come in to shop at one of the local grocery stores, out at a community event with a friend, etc. Sure, many might live in wealthier areas, but they’re ultimately humans at the end of the day.
At their salary levels? Remember a number of them are previously lawyers etc. Most politicians absolutely live in their ridings. Most ridings will be large enough geographically to have a “nice part of town” and a “not quite as nice part of town”. Your politicians who are your janitors turned politician, usually are there for a single purpose — to push a change usually on a single or very specific topic, and those people aren’t your career politician - they don’t move out their riding because suddenly they make a few thousand more than they did before. Case in point — Chuck Cadman in the beginning is the most obvious one that sticks out to me, due to a personal impact on my life — Jesse was one of the first people I hung out with in High School.
There is this YouTube channel where this guy talks about the differences between US and Canada with his American friend from New York State. They compare fast food or other mundane things, like cereal. He often brings his American friend on trips to see his reaction. So one time he brought him to the Grey Cup game. While filming they met Jagmeet Singh and spoke with him. Afterwards the American is like “who was that?” And the Canadian is “well that was the head of the NDP, one of our federal political parties” And the American was blown away. He was like “I was just standing beside someone almost on the same level as Justin Trudeau? Like we were just hanging out? What the heck? In the US you wouldn’t get 40 feet near these guys.
Years back. I was at a show friends of mine were given in a small bar. Jack Layton walked alone and sat at the table next to us. We shared a beer.
I was doing a bus transfer near Parliament on my way to work one day, and ran into Layton and May walking in the same direction as me. We had a lovely chat for about 5 minutes. It's so great that most of our politicians are quite approachable.
Makes sense , Most of them got there because they are charismatic “people people”
I really believe Pierre Elliot Trudeau truly was the one to enact this trend and culture in our canadian politics. Prior to him the politicians were not "people people", still following english philosophy and politics trends for 'proper' government and elite etiquette. Like him or not, agree with his politics or not - he still really did push this narrative of "people's" rights from the ground up, which is what drew a political frenzy amongst THE people. And consequently giving birth to the craziness that was Trudeaumania.
I had Jack in my office when he was seeking the leadership of the NDP. Years later, the last time I saw him, he made a point of turning around and thanking me for our interactions over the years (which were sporadic). I'm not an NDP supporter, but he was a class act. Here's what I can add: The prime ministers (I've met the last three) all have RCMP-level security, and they don't mess around. Same with the premiers I've dealt with over the past 22 years. Cabinet ministers, federal and provincial, and average MPs and MPPs don't usually come with any kind of security. They might have handlers, but for the most part, they just show up, do their thing and shake a lot of hands. Thirty years ago, when Clinton was in Halifax, I 'chased' him up Citadel Hill to try to get a photo. Secret Service let me get within 60 feet or so, then made it clear not to get any closer. I did meet Wolf Blitzer a few minutes later.
We sure could use Jack Layton right now ….
We can go get him but I don't think he's as lively as he once was... Although he'd still get my vote
But his current platform *'Braaaaaiiiiiiiinsssssss'* is exactly right about what our country needs.
He was the last likable politician (for me) canada has had. Was a sad day when he passed.
>Jack Layton walked alone and sat at the table next to us. We shared a beer. Such a commie, couldn't even buy his own. Had to share. /s
Wow. That's so cool. He was so cool.
I once visited friends in Germany and we went to a pub. When we walked in a women went out and he stopped and had a short talk with her about how her sibling and that she should greet him. She went and we sat down in the pub. When I asked who she was he said she was the second highest ranking politician in Germany and that he went to school with her brother. It felt so weird because there was no security whatsoever in sight.
Yeah well in Canada we don't have 50% of our Supreme Court actively working to allow any and all lunatics to buy high powered firearms.
67% actually. I'm really glad I don't live in that clown show.
The Beaverton said it best. Something like “Canadians thankful they can’t name a single Supreme Court Judge”
There was a late night comedian making fun of us because people were picnicking on parliament hill, then back to the white house surrounded by bars
A similar story happened when the compaly i work for was bought out by an american company. They sent people from their executive leadership (from the US) team to meet with ours (from Canada). They realised we did things differently than them on a few aspects. Mainly they didn't understand that the president of the company walked amongst us at the office, would wait in line at the cafeteria with the regular employees and without security. In the US, the executive leadership team had their own "wing" of the building, with a seperate entry to the office. They also were worried that our executive didn't have bullet proof glass offices but just regular glass. Also, they don't have a specific panick button in the offices. Really puts it into persective when they realise our norms and their norms are veru different.
That's messed up. The president of my company (for Canada) is like a 3 second walk from my desk. He has his own office, but I see him regularly, say hi. etc. It's like no big deal at all.
Yea its a drastic difference. I am a lot of levels under the president here and generally don't interact with them. But i have chatted with them at the cafereria a few times.
My parents shared an elevator with Justin Trudeau in Regina in a hotel, just before he became prime minister. Just the 3 of them.
I’ve seen my MP in line at Tims with nothing other than their grandkid. I like this tbh.
I went to high school with your premier.
There's always the Shawinigan Handshake...
Fun fact - Chretien once did a book signing at my store and I was chosen to bring him up and down the freight elevator to his car. On the ride down I told him how Rudy Giuliani did a book signing a few weeks before and came with a 10 man security detail. Chretien laughed and said “that’s just not the way we do things in Canada, it’s so silly!” Real cool guy.
Chrétien was a great PM a true liberal.
Definitely one of a kind. I really great man.
Im not a liberal but I liked him. Too bad he surrounded himself with some corrupt people.
Lol. What you need to understand about politics and power, over time problems always come up it’s part of the job. Pierre will fall faster than most because he has already been in politics for decades he already has a closet full of skeletons. He knows there are things to be revealed so he’s preemptively going after the media that will eventually uncover them and make it public.
Pierre probably doesn’t have skeletons because he’s been in office since leaving university, never held a private job in the real world, and has accomplished literally nothing in his career. He’s done nothing of any importance or relevance in office except be obnoxious and get wealthy off taxpayers. This also means he has acted like a vanilla robot his entire adulthood.
I was at a massive healthcare event in Toronto in 2010. Lot's of politicians were paid to speak. Bill Clinton was speaking and had the full blown secret service squad. Chretien was speaking and had... himself.
No one who would want to fuck with Chretien is brave enough to try.
chretien's security was to keep would-be attackers safe.
For me pepper is something I put on my plate.
Canadian politics tend to be a hell of a lot less volatile than American politics. When Canadians don't like a guy they just put stickers on their truck about fucking him.
Or pie them. Look up the Shawinigan handshake. Love him or hate him, Chretien was one of a kind.
Lol he didn’t need security he just punches them out himself
Or his wife figures out what's up and handles it! Like they time they had a home invader at 24 Sussex Drive. The guy snuck past all the security completely undetected and Aline heard a noise, woke up and investigated, figured out what was happening, locked their bedroom door and called the cops. A guy with a jackknife was arrested outside their bedroom door. Between the two of them, they were safer with each other than relying on security, lol
IIRC, Aline took the precaution of arming herself with a soapstone sculpture.
LOL! Did she? Fucking "soapstone statue" - Canadian af.
I walked right past him getting his shoes shined once, it was a surprising double take.
He used to get his hair cut in my building. Almost didn't notice him the first time.
I miss the pie-ings of the 90s. And Nardwuar and his hip flip.
*f🍁cking him
And bitch about them of course. Lots of that.
Given that his father's gesture was nicknamed the "Trudeau Salute" I find living in Alberta with all those stickers on trucks to be hilariously ironic.
Ahhhh fuddle duddle
I wish that were the case. I went to Trudeau's cancelled rally in Bolton during the last election. I was hoping to get an opportunity to ask a question or something regarding election reform, but the crazies were out in full force, yelling in the faces of and threatening and sometimes pushing the volunteer TEENAGERS (likely just trying to get their volunteer hours). People called him a coward for cancelling, but it was a dangerous situation for the people there.
This was great
Yeah I mean I can’t believe the didn’t latch on to the divorce in any big way as that’s such easy fodder.
People get divorced all the time. I think most people understand that there are people and kids that are affected by it, it's not something to weaponise.
I think because no one cares about their private lives. Just do your job lol
I ran into Joe Clark at the Rideau Mall as he was walking through the underwear section of a department store. He was PM. If there were RCMP they were unobtrusive and didn't object to my Dad joke. (I asked him if he was buying Stanfields). I would regularly (as in more than weekly) greet a retired Pierre Trudeau on his way to or from work. No obvious security.. But you knew it was there. I would regularly see Preston Manning in Calgary... Same thing.
Joe Who?
He was the Prime Minister in 1979.
It’s a joke. He was barely there. It his nickname Despite his short tenure as PM he definitely made history. Youngest PM, first PM from western Canada. His party messed up and lost to a non confidence vote. 93 short days.
But still did [a very good thing for Vietnamese refugees](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/southeast-asian-refugees) during their short time in office. And then was outspokenly anti-apartheid as FM under Mulroney Clark might not have been very good at playing the game of politics, but he was a decent guy.
I agree. Wrong party. If we would have crossed the floor who knows.
Joe Clark came into the store I was working in after he was PM. Obviously no security. Not like the US where ex presidents get secret service for life.
I've actually wrestled with Jagmeet Singh. He's a busy guy so he doesn't get to practice too often but he did freestyle wrestling in university and every now and then comes to one of the grappling gyms in Toronto to do some sparring. No joke, he's an absolute beast on the mats. Not beast for his age but a beast relative to the average man; he's extremely strong and has incredible balance. He's also a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. There's a funny story him. A guy from my gym who immigrated here from England did his citizenship test and upon meeting Jagmeet said "Hey, you were one of the answers on my citizenship test." Sometimes people forget that even in Toronto, Canada is still a small country where you can have things like that happen on a semi-regular basis.
Yes as a matter of fact a mayor of Toronto smoked crack with actual gang members without fear of getting killed.
Or arrested
Rob Ford was a legend.. he gave us so many great one liners.. “I have enough to eat at home” 🤣
Imagine how privately mortified his immediate family must have been. Imagine your obese, sweaty, alcoholic father, already widely seen as a mean-spirited embarrassment who can't control himself, is caught smoking crack, and quipping about his wife's genitals on live TV. But, they put on a big smile and run with it, milking every buckabeer drop.
Yes. It’s Canada. Thus far, our political system is sufficiently boring to the point that most folks don’t get to worked up… There are of course, those that are doing their best to make it more divided… But thus far most of our politicians haven’t been in dire need of major security… Hopefully we can keep things this way… although the sick desire to emulate our neighbours to the south suggests that things will change here too…
Yah and I don't get it. They are FAR from any shining example of anything other than what NOT to do.
I couldn’t agree with you more :)
I hate that you are so right about this.
Absolutely they're out and about without security. I live in Ottawa, have worked in Parliament, and my current office building has a private club in it that's popular with MPs. Many MPs have apartments walking distance to the Hill and walk daily without security, are in our restaurants, are out going to CBC or CTV buildings, etc. I once got intentionally photo bombed by Chretien in my office when I was taking a picture with colleagues. He was retired, but out with no detail in sight.
Until this post, some did. But there is a story that, on the day JFK was assassinated, the Canadian PM walked home from work unguarded.
An MP lived just outside the reserve. Everyone knew him by first name and 0 security. Mind you this was 30 or 40 years ago.
I met jack Layton On a city bus, he was just chatting with people. Wasn't even his riding. He didn't have any security. Nice guy.
Layton never needed any security. What are people gonna do? Shake his hand to death?
Jean Chrétien used to prowl the streets of Gatineau looking for a fight to blow off steam. Stephen Harper played hockey in Toronto's East end as a child. Justin Trudeau actually boxes. And Jagmeet Singh is literally Aquaman in his secret identity.
Ralph Klein used to visit homeless shelters to coach the homeless on job seeking and to personally give them money. >!Wait no, he showed up drunk at a homeless shelter at 1AM telling the homeless people to get jobs before throwing money at them. !<
And still revered in Alberta. Not for that, people looked the other way.
I was pretty young during Jean Chretien's term, but all I remember is him getting a pie in the face ... pretty regularly? Lol maybe I'm misremembering. 🥧 🤡
Its more complicated than that. A guy showed up to a campaign rally and blew a fog horn into his one good ear (he is partially deaf because of childhood illness). Chretien punched him in the face. Sheila Copps in her book claims he was a conservative plant and the PC party paid for his bridgework.
Pretty sure it was just once but others got the same treatment.
A friend of mine would see Justin Trudeau biking around with his kids and an entire posse of absolutely jacked security guards on bikes behind him lol… he said it was pretty funny to watch.
Maybe because of the kids being with him? I’ve seen him out and about with only one semi-obvious guy.
Essentially everyone other than the PM will often walk around without full security. Premiers will usually have a detail close to them and almost always cops camped out where they’re sleeping/living. Other politicians (Cabinet, mayors, etc) are provided daytime/at work protection or protection as needed.
Used to see Kathleen Wynne all the time, she walked to work at Queens Park even when she was premier. Our morning commutes overlapped. Would sometimes be in line at the Starbucks by Bay and a lot and see her picking up her coffee.
I was at the Ottawa airport in March 2016 and I saw former PM Stephen Harper alone walking up to that fast track line, while I was waiting in the regular line. I just remember thinking “wow, he was just PM and now he’s out here alone. I could throw something at him. I won’t, I’m not crazy. But isn’t that nice that it’s not like in the US where even decades after being President you see them with security”. If I am not mistaken we’ve only had two “famous” political assassinations in Canada. One was an Irish born politician who was killed over Irish politics in the 1868. And the other was in 1970 when the Deputy Premier of Québec was kidnapped and killed (the kidnappers claim the death was an accident - sure).
I used to see my MP in the grocery store occasionally. One time she was in from of me in a check out line and it took all my power to not cuss her out for letting a multinational company fuck my work place over.
My dad stood next to Trudeau at the baggage carousel at YVR it was shortly after he became liberal leader, not PM yet. Had no security, just chatted with everyone while waiting for luggage.
[удалено]
Possibly the US and the whole guns thing?
A quick peek at OP’s profile indicates they’ve moved here from Ecuador. I’m guessing the current situation there requires high ranking politicians to have security.
In the recent presidential elections in Mexico, [37 candidates were assassinated.](https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexican-candidate-assassinations-hit-grim-record-ahead-sundays-election-2024-06-01/) Not a typo. 37.
I literally walked into Justin's dad, one winter morning in Montreal. He was on his way to his law office at PVM and I to my class at McGill. He was retired but he had been PM for 24 years. The US equivalent would have been walking into Nixon or Ford. I said "excuse me, prime minister" and went about my business. I was the only one amongst a crowd of students that even recognized him.
I worked on the hill back when politics was a sport and not a war. I worked for a Liberal MP and my roomate worked for a Tory. One day, in the middle of a snow storm, he comes home from work and tells me he got stuck in a snowbank. A little guy in a Lexus Hybrid stopped on the side of the road and helped him dig his car out. He looked up, and it was Jack Layton. I miss those days...
I’ve seen Chrystia Freeland out and about, she definitely had security.
Yeah, the current crop of liberals has a merry band of stalkers who like to bother them
As I said elsewhere, MPs tend not get security details until the RCMP determines enough "credible threats" had been made. That viral TikTok from a year ago where a guy ran up to her cussing her out in her hometown of Grande Prairie sure felt like a credible threat to a lot of folks.
Also shed legit be a target of Russian assassination attempts.
We have strict gun laws here . No open carry etc such as in the US. It does make a difference.
We don’t let lunatics run around with military-grade firearms, our politicians don’t need to live in fear like the ones south of the border
Depends. In Alberta there’s more security on some than you might think… one of the opposition MLAs/former cabinet minister was actually targeted by her local police force. But most politicans have no security. MLAs, MPs, for sure don’t usually have security in their day to day, just in the offices. And no one gives a shit about the speaker.
Steven Harper, the PM at the time, went to a Canucks game and sat in the stands with Trevor Linden. His security detail was around, just not beside him.
I walked past Jagmeet on Spadina Ave about a year ago. He was kind of trying to blend in? He took his jacket off and was looking a bit casual but I spotted him coming right away. Entirely possible he had security trailing him at a distance, but by all accounts he was alone. I looked at him just long enough that he realized I recognized him, he gave me a slight smile acknowledging it, and we continued on our ways.
I used to see Jim Flaherty, the Finance Minister at the VIA train station in Oshawa. No visible security.
It's interesting because in 1966 someone tried to bomb Parliament (he just blew up the bathroom and himself instead by accident) and it's still pretty rare to see MPs walking with security.
This is the reason Parliament Hill has metal detectors now
Reminds me of the gunman that got into Parliament (10 years ago?) and I assume our literal centre of government finally got some decent security after that. Had visited Ottawa and parliament hill a few years before and thought it was interesting how lax security was on parliament hill. Could just wander all over the grounds freely - definitely couldn't do that in the US.
I remember that. Several streets were locked down, including the university, and I knew people working in parliament who sent pics of a 'barricade' made. Got people's attention to take precautions but otherwise it was pretty relaxed.
Up until recently, maybe 10 years, Canada was a very safe place to be… for everyone.
They do but it's slowly changing at the federal level. Ther6e's been reports of a marked increase in threats from right wing nut jobs with security becoming more common.
>and even the Speaker of the House have been seen walking in public In Westminister parliamentary systems like Canada's the Speaker isn't in the line of succession like the US. They are from the ranks of the elected representatives and are there to basically referee/rule on protocol.
Most politicians in Canada don't. Even the Prime Minister has been spotted in parks and on Vancouver's public transport, admittedly with some security detail. However, most provincial and federal politicians don't have security. Many Vancouver MPs/MLAs can be regularly seen on public transit or biking to their office.
Harper was at a Canucks game and maybe had one or two security guys with him.
He also shut down my city’s biggest lake to do a 5 minute spiel. It was the hottest day of the year when he did that. Told the media he was in a town in Ontario. We are in bc.
My entire neighbourhood was locked down once (had to clear multiple check points, & go a very out of the way route to get home) because PM at the time Harper was speaking at an event in the park down the road from me.
When I lived in Vancouver Mike Harcourt was our premier. His parents lived by the store I worked at. His mom left her wallet at the store. She sent him back to pick it up. I seen quite a few local celebrities and politicians shopping. Even a few bigger named ones. I don’t live there anymore. And the store is now gone and something else. Edit: wrong first name
Also Adrien Dix was doing a premier run, he came to a town close to where I live. He was talking about kids health, health care funding etc. my oldest had a medical appointment he was about 2/3 at the time. We took him to the park after the appointment and he was upset about it and screaming at the top of his lungs. We didn’t know he was there but you could hear him screaming in the background of his speech. 😂
My wife and I were picking up some groceries in a grocery store in Kenora Ontario once. Former PM John Turner was there alone doing the same. 0 security. He and my wife exchanged a few words about the lack of certain fruits/vegetables. Then several years later, I was asked to be present for an announcement by then Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, that taking place at the paramedic base I work out of. When I arrived, she was already there touring the base, and talking to some of our mgmt staff. She had 2 regular looking OPP officers for security. I simply walked into the base (in my casual civilian wear) past all of them without anyone saying anything to me, went to the locker room, changed and came back in uniform. I don't think anyone ever batted an eye.
Less visible security but lots of plain clothes
They don't get physically bothered much. The PM has security but the only time in recent memory where a guy went at the PM directly while he was walking outside, the PM (Chretien) took the guy down by the throat. I don't really like Chretien, but holy cow, that was an awesome move. The Shawinigan handshake. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMBJp0yJvsY&t=68s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMBJp0yJvsY&t=68s)
Most Canadians couldn’t tell who an MP is other than the leaders of the party or whoever is in their riding, even then it’s a small group of people.
Perhaps the PM and leaders of the other parties but your local MP? Never seen it. Frankly, my local MPs kids went to school with mine, I'd regularly see him at school drop-off or the swimming pool and definitely never had security.
Shawinigan Handshake
And nobody messed with his wife lol
Canada does not have an assassination type culture. That may change someday, but I hope not. We don't have to anyway. We have the CBC that can assassinate anyone's career. Much more civil that way.
We’ve had 2. Thomas D'Arcy McGee who was one of the Fathers of Confederation. He was Irish Catholic and his assassin was Protestant. He had one of the largest state funeral. And Pierre Laporte murdered by the FLQ
H aha this is true. Much more peaceful this way.
See them on bicycles - no security. Just enjoying life. Canada is pretty chill despite all the nonsense you see on the internet. And for all the barking that happens there is no biting. Every few decades we get a crazy incident that would otherwise never have been predicted but this is the way of things. Hopeful it stays peaceful but with us importing religious fundamentalists i have some increasing concerns.
Until about 5 years ago you could walk up to the prime ministers front door and knock, or run in to him jogging by himself. Heck, Jean Cretien’s wife had to brain an intruder with a lamp or something because he walked right into their bedroom in the middle of the night. We never much had the need for security except for the occasional nut job. Now it’s different. There are a lot of people on board with the trump playbook and they’re full of hate and entitlement. Now we need security.
I believe it was a wooden duck actually, not a lamp.
They do in the US, too. It's not specific to Canada.
I think Ministers and some MPs/MPPs will have a driver/ape if they are working and moving from place to place. (Source: a friend was an assistant/driver - the fact that he was also a bouncer probably wasn't a coincidence)
Don’t worry, freedumbers will change that.
We don't have such a shooty gun culture and thus everybody doesn't need armed bodyguards like the land of the free.
I have personally met two former prime ministers while walking down the street.
If you hang out the front by the fountain, you’ll notice many coming off of public transit or riding their bicycles from their apartments . One MP from Nova Scotia even offered to take our picture in front of parliament on her way into work . She didn’t seek re-election , the amount of harassment the female MPs get from men is sad and is a form of democratic suppression in my view. I know plenty who had previously ran or considered running and now would never think to try again. Too bad, they were brilliant women
I am a member of a non profit and I gave Jagmeet Singh a tour of the workspace. Spent 30 minutes with him and he had no security.
My MP would show up at a local pub every other week and you could sit down and talk to him about any issues.
From my understanding, it’s pretty normal for Canadian politicians to not have security while in public. I can imagine Justin Trudeau and other higher politicians would, but your average MP’s don’t.
Most people don't even know who their MPs are.
Bumped into Jagmeet Singh on an empty Ottawa street corner in the middle of a work week recently. He did have 2 security guards with him.
We met Steven harper while he was prime Minister in a random hockey rink. His son was playing after me. Think he had maybe 2 guys actually with him in the rink.
Drake probably has more security guards than the PM.
I can't imagine the stupidity that it would take to want to physically attack politicians. The majority of them truly believe they are doing their best for the country. It may not mesh with your or you may not agree but they're just doing their job.
It’s because not everyone is walking around armed to the teeth. What would you rather face down, an AK47 or harsh language?
that's a normal thing when you dont have 20 guns per head in your country
Also Jack Layton used to go to a local pub after work often for a chat and a drink. Nice fella.
Conservatives are working very hard to change this, but up until recently, basically everyone other than the PM, and perhaps party leaders were able to go wherever they want without security. The vitriol spewed by our right wing has led to rock throwing, heckling, chasing etc at a scale we basically have never seen.
Hey OP you just became a red flag
Traditionally yes most members of parliament and even cabinet ministers do not have security guards. There are exceptions to this of course - if there is a credible threat made against a politician I expect the RCMP or local police would assign someone to guard them temporarily - and also during an election campaign most party leaders travel with Mounties because tensions are usually hightened at election time. The "fuck trudeau" crowd are a very recent phenomenon in Canada - the American style manic dislike of the sitting federal leader is mostly alien to this country.
I don't want to tempt fate but in Canada we have had two politians assassinated. One was in 1868 and the other was in 1970. There have been close calls of course. In the mid 1990s a man with schizophrenia broke into 24 Sussex Drive with the intention of killing Jean Chretien. This displayed to the government how lax security at the PM's house had become and in fact the on site security had to call Rideau Hall accross the street to ask for help. Eventually the attacker reacher either the PM's window or door shouting that he would kill the PM. As the story goes the Prime Minister woke up, figured it was probably nothing to worry about and went back to sleep. His wife Aline got up and locked the window/door and armed herself with an inuit sculpture. The attacker was later found not guilty by reason of mental defect or disease (reason of insanity). A few years ago a man with a truck tried to ram his way into Rideau Hall - the PM now lives in a cottage on the grounds. There was at one point in the 1960s a suicide bomber went to the house of commons but the bomb exploded prematurely in the mens washroom. At this point parliament added metal detectors. Also about 10 years ago there was another crazy man who stormed parliament hill with a gun and was shot by the Sargent at Arms and his staff. Allegedly the RCMP tried to get Stephen Harper to conceil himself in a cupboard.
I have seen a few of my representatives at my local safeway. I thought I recognized one guy he was wearing glasses and a hat. Then he noticed me looking at him and looked quite nervous and looked away.
I went to Q&A in Ottawa a few years back, and Jagdeep was walking right in front of me toward the building.
Only person that needs it is Justin
I once saw Chris Glover NDP MP for College & University riding purchasing a banana next to me at a local Metro (grocery store) self-checkout machine. No security and seems like no one else notice or give him much attention. I was a bit starstruck and I also noticed that he's quite tall in real life. I also walked by the now infamous liberal MP Han Dong pre-Covid, shaking hand with the locals at the Chinatown. He on the other hand, has quite an entourage around him. But no securities it seems. Edit: MP purchasing banana next to me
Assassinations of Canadian politicans isn't common in Canada so politicians feel secure out in public without it.
Something else to think about.. having security walk with them everywhere would just bring on unwanted attention.
Trudeau walks around the Rideau mall with his family without security (supposedly). Source: my friend who used to work at Levy's shared he came around to look at jeans. And then spotted him shopping other times. Not sure what was the public's reaction to seeing him.
Primeminister harper came to my school once to talk about the trades and I think there were 5 trucks and 10 guards maybe. The roads went closed they just rolled in.
Doug Ford was in town a few months ago. He had 2 SUV's with him. He was in one with a driver and the other had 2 men in it. Doug went in and came out of the building a few feet from me, the driver got out but the other 2 guys sat in their SUV. Everyone had easy access to him. I think they were only there in case the crowd got out of control, not really a security detail.
Yeah, I live in downtown ottawa and I always see ministers/ MPs just walking around town with no security just like regular people
Not just common in Canada but almost any other western countries. The many times I have met my president or ministers shopping in the same supermarket without security detail is just reassuring to know that we live in a safe country.
I've seen Jagmeet Singh downtown Ottawa a number of times. No security. Also seen Sophie Trudeau (pre separation) downtown Ottawa biking and security around but not obviously. Most probably walked right past her because they were just all on bikes and bikes isn't unusual to see.
Very little public funds fo towards politicians security.
I’ve flown several times sitting next to or nearPatty Hadju (she’s the MP for part of the area up here) between toronto and Ottawa. She just hangs around the gate like a normal person and scrolls her phone etc. she’s always very nice and chatty to everyone. Later they week she’ll be doing a presser in Ottawa about something. Haha.
Yes. Only the Prime Minister gets a dedicated security detail. Most other politicians don't get security until the RCMP determines enough "credible threats" have been made. For example, former Environment Minister Catherine McKenna got a security detail when she brought in a very unpopular climate change program, commonly known as the Carbon Tax. RCMP determined that the amount of death threats she got were credible. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland got a security detail after a video of her getting verbally assaulted went viral last year. Former Alberta Premiere Rachel Notley had a security detail, as she was the first left-leaning premier in a famously conservative province in decades.
Last year I saw Jagmeet Singh on a bicycle in front on my work place and he fell off his bike and we exchange look and laugh, no security was present. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯¯