Warning: This story contains sexually graphic details that may disturb readers
The RCMP confirmed Monday that they are investigating a threat of sexual violence directed at Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s wife, Anaida Poilievre.
Poilievre denounced the threat from far-right political commentator Jeremy MacKenzie and said his office contacted law enforcement about the matter.
An RCMP spokesperson told CBC News on Monday that they are investigating the report.
“We can confirm that the matter has been referred to the RCMP and we are reviewing the information provided,” they said in an email.
“Only in the event that criminal charges are laid would the RCMP be in a position to confirm the nature of the complaint or any individuals allegedly involved.”
Jeremy MacKenzie, the leader of the Canadian far-right group Diagolon, made the threats over the weekend in a stream on the social media app Telegram while speaking with a guest, Alex Vriend.
“Let’s rape her,” MacKenzie said. “It’s not really about sex. It’s like we want to show people that we can do things to you if we want to. It’s a power move.”
MacKenzie made several racist and derogatory comments about Anaida Poilievre’s Venezuelan background in the stream.
Anaida Poilievre was born in Venezuela and grew up in Montreal. Pierre and Anaida married in 2017 and have two children. Pierre Poilievre was elected Conservative leader earlier this month and Anaida Poilievre works as a political staff member on Parliament Hill.
In a statement posted on Twitter Monday, Poilievre said his office has contacted the RCMP about the comments.
“My office has forwarded these comments to the RCMP to assess whether criminal charges should be laid,” he said in the statement.
Jenni Byrne, the head of Poilievre’s transition team, told CBC News she called the RCMP on Saturday after learning of the threat. Byrne said he will meet with the Mounted this afternoon to discuss the situation.
Declaration of the Excellency Pierre Poilievre pic.twitter.com/LekmhiLbUa
—@PierrePoilievre
“These men are dirtbags,” Poilievre said in the statement. “Frankly, like most Canadians, I had never heard of Diagolon and these losers until about a month ago. They are all hateful.
“This kind of garbage has no place in Canada. No one should have to deal with this abuse.
“People can attack my politics, they can insult me, they can protest my ideas and what I stand for. But threatening my wife and my family is appalling and I will not tolerate it. Leave my family alone.”
In an interview with The Canadian Press, MacKenzie said he had been drinking when he made the comments and did not mean to hurt them.
Politicians, journalists and other public figures, especially women and people of color, have faced an increase in harassment and threats in recent months.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced threats and hate in response to a reporter’s question on Monday. He did not mention Poilievre specifically.
“No one should ever have to suffer threats of violence or the kind of hate that we’ve seen more and more in public discourse, in the public sphere,” Trudeau said at a news conference.
“It’s important that we all stand up and condemn this, and we all look for ways to ensure that everyone feels safe in this country.”
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh also denounced the threat.
“No one should be threatened with sexual violence. Not journalists, not politicians, not anyone’s family, not anyone,” Singh said in a tweet on Monday.
No one should be threatened with sexual violence.
Not journalists, not politicians, not anyone’s family, not anyone.
The rise of violent extremism in Canada should be a concern for all leaders.
If the political will is there, we can do something to stop it.
—@theJagmeetSingh
He called on political leaders to work to stop violent extremism.
“The rise of violent extremism in Canada should be a concern for all leaders. If the political will is there, we can do something to stop it,” he said.
Mark Gerretsen, a Liberal member of Parliament representing Kingston and the Islands, tweeted on Monday that he also received a sexual assault threat directed at his wife. He tweeted the message and said both Kingston Police and the Parliamentary Protection Service have opened files on it.
“I agree 100% with Pierre Poilievre on this,” Gerrettsen said in the tweet. “Attack me all you want. Leave our families out of this.”
Who is Jeremy MacKenzie?
MacKenzie, 36, has drawn attention for his support of the anti-vaccine mandate convoy protest that occupied Ottawa earlier this year, and for his leadership of the far-right group Diagolon.
A spokesperson for the Department of National Defense told CBC in an email that MacKenzie served in the Canadian Armed Forces. They said MacKenzie enlisted in 2003 and was released in 2017, adding that he was an infantry soldier in the Royal Canadian Regiment and had a deployment to Afghanistan.
An Instagram account bearing MacKenzie’s name describes him as a “sub-standard podcaster, super-villain sit-down comedian, Sardinian Emperor of Diagolon, very scary.”
Saskatchewan RCMP charged MacKenzie in July with assault, pointing a firearm, careless use of a restricted weapon and mischief. Nova Scotia RCMP charged MacKenzie with 13 weapons-related charges in June.
Barbara Perry, director of the Center for Hate, Prejudice and Extremism at the Ontario University of Technology, said Diagolon aims to establish a “white ethno-nationalist state” that would run diagonally from the Pacific Northwest through the Canada to Florida.
Perry said his group began investigating Diagnolon after police in Coutts, Alta., found the group’s patch on his body armor while executing a search warrant. Two men arrested in connection with the border blockades at Coutts in February have links to MacKenzie and Diagolon.
Barbara Perry, director of the Center for Hate, Bias and Extremism and Ontario Tech University, says Diagolon aims to establish a “white ethno-nationalist state” that stretches from the Pacific Northwest to Florida. (CBC)
“So the idea is … to accelerate some kind of civil war,” Perry said. “[MacKenzie] he feels, and some of his followers believe, that we’re already in the middle of a race war in which white men, in particular, are losing, so it’s time for them to stand up and fight back.
“So they would like to ‘accelerate’ this civil war, if you will, and replace the current order with this white ethno-nationalist state.”
Perry said that while Diagolon has no concrete plans, the group’s narrative is violent and aggressive, and can inspire violence.
“The narratives themselves are dangerous because of the potential consequences,” he said.
Perry said MacKenzie may have seen Anaida Poilievre’s ethnicity and gender, as well as the fact that she has children with Pierre, as an opportunity to highlight her racist and misogynistic narrative.
Poilievre shook hands with MacKenzie at an event in August. In a statement issued to Global News, he denied knowing MacKenzie.
“My campaign events are public. There is no registration and anyone can enter… It is impossible to do a background check on every person who attends my events,” Poilievre said in the statement. “As I have always done, I denounce racism and anyone who spreads it.”
Perry said MacKenzie may also have threatened Poilievre because of Poilievre’s new status as opposition leader.
“Now, to the extent that Poilievre is the leader of a primary political party in Canada, he is now part of the machinery. He is, because of that leadership role, part of the state to which [Diagolon is] so opposite,” Perry said.