Freeland harassment incident strikes chord with Lethbridge MLA

A man verbally ambushed Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in Grande Prairie, Alta.

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. -

Chrystia Freeland’s recent trip to Grand Prairie, Alta., made waves after a man ambushing, then berating the deputy prime minister was captured in a now-viral video.

But while the video has attracted national attention, it’s nothing new for politicians who've had to become used to this sort of behaviour.

“I have seen this movie before. There's question that things have become more difficult out there. Particularly for women politicians, but for others as well,” said Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillips.

Phillips says she’s no stranger to this sort of treatment, and that she’s not alone.

According to her, this sort of harassment against politicians and other public officials has only become more common.

The biggest worry for Phillips is that it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt.

“Things are not getting better, they're only getting worse," Phillips said.

"When I saw that, you know, I thought someone's going to get hurt. I don't know who it's going to be, but it's going to be one of us, and it's going to be soon.”

It’s not only politicians calling out this sort of behaviour.

Trevor Harrison, a professor of sociology at the University of Lethbridge, says he’s paid close attention to the trend.

He’s saying a growing political divide in Canada is partially to blame for this pattern.

“We've become extremely tribal in this. People pick their team and they are opposed to some other team. So they just simply vent at the other, without considering that hate,” Harrison said.

Despite what he’s seen, Harrison does believe that civility can be brought back to the world of politics, but it’s going to take work and will not happen quickly.

“We've seen this before. It's not going to be solved over night," Harrison said.

"But there are ways we can actually begin to draw back from this and create a civil kind of debate out there.”