Security incident prompts closure of BC NDP MLA's office
North Vancouver RCMP are at the scene outside NDP MLA Bowinn Ma's constituency office on Friday morning.
In a statement, Ma confirmed that a 'security incident' has prompted the closure of her office and all meetings and appointments have been cancelled.
The incident took place in the early hours of the morning.
'Thankfully, nobody was injured, but incidents like this can be quite frightening,' Ma said in a statement.
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'I appreciate the concern expressed by community members. I am grateful to serve such a caring and compassionate community. I'd also like to thank the officers who responded for their diligence and professionalism. Due to the active police investigation, I will not be able to provide more details at this time.'
Some damage can be seen to the front door of the office but RCMP has not provided any details about the incident.
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Ma is the MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale and also B.C.'s infrastructure minister.
The BC NDP has called an emergency caucus meeting on Friday and urges all MLAs and staff to be cautious.
More to come.
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The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors 'I think that there's good reason to think that these types of incidents are becoming more frequent in Canadian politics,' said Chris Tenove, assistant director at UBC's centre for the study of democratic institutions. 'Two years ago now, the federal government commissioned an intelligence report on threats against politicians, and that noted that threats had become increasingly normalized because of extremist narratives, often prompted by people with grievances, often fuelled by misinformation or conspiracies.' 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Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West told Postmedia he has had several threatening incidents, including one where someone engaged in a dispute with the city threatened his family and showed up at his house while his wife and two young sons were home. In another case, he said a man struggling with mental health issues told a local bylaw officer he had a gun and was going to shoot West, only for police to arrest him and find out it was a replica gun. The mayor said he had to 'fight like hell' to get police and prosecutors to lay charges following the gun incident only for the individual to get a conditional discharge and believes the public system is failing all British Columbians, not just politicians. 'It's very easy for the system to to rationalize threats against individuals when they're not the individual who's having the threats against them,' said West. 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