“May You All F—K Off and Die, “Says Anonymous Email to West Lincoln Councilors

Email Follows Councillors’ Reprimand of One of Their Own – Councillor Harold Jonker – For Continued Involvement in ‘Illegal” Ottawa ‘Freedom Rally’ Chaos

A Brief Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted August 4rth, 2022 on Niagara At Large

“It is disturbing and that’s putting it mildly,” West Lincoln Councillor William Reilly told me of the email that he and other fellow councillors received late this July from a party that did not have the courage to identify themselves.

The email, that called Reilly and fellow councillors “scumbag Canadians” who, in the online troller’s view, committed “disgusting,” and “shameful actions,” was an apparent response to the West Lincoln’s council to accept a report from its integrity commissioner that called fellow Councillor Harold Jonker out for continuing to participate in a ‘Freedom Convoy’ protest in Ottawa this past winter, even after it was deemed illegal by police authorities.

This vile email sent to these councillors has reportedly been forwarded to Niagara Regional Police and hopefully the NRP and any partner police agencies it may need to employ will use any forensic means possible to track down the source of the email.

I am not a lawyer but it just seems to me that sending a note with a death wish in it to members of a municipal council sounds dangerously close to threatening bodily harm on these people.

At the very least, a creep like this should receive a visit from police authorities and have their name placed on a watch list.

I know that we all have our beefs with politicians but think about it folks.

We can’t have thugs and bullies and cowards hiding on the other side of a computer screen threatening the people who are duly elected to represent us at any level of government or our whole system of democracy falls prey to tyrants.

Over the course of the past more than two years of this pandemic, we have had individuals and groups angry about mask mandates, vaccination and so on lashing out, right here in Niagara and elsewhere,  against elected representatives. They have verbally harassed and threatened them and vandalized their homes.

This is no way to behave in a Canada many of hope will remain a civil society.

If you happen to witness or hear of anyone behaving in despicable ways against our elected representatives or others, please call the police.

I am not going to mention in names for the moment, but I have had quality people tell me that they are getting out of politics or have decided not to get into it because of all the ugly conduct that is out there today.

And when good people want to leave public office or decide not to get into it, we are all the losers.

This cowardly bullying and violence against our elected representatives has got to stop!

• Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

For a related story, click on  https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/west-lincoln-jonker-1.6526790

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