My MLA Called Me a Crude Swear Word. I’m Not Mad

The disintegration of civil discourse is making life next to intolerable for some of our elected officials. Unless we can find a way to curb the torrid tirades of obscenities and threats our MPs, MLAs and councillors are subjected to, it will drive the people who should be our representatives out of office.

Many readers will recall the disturbing incident in 2022 when a small, hostile gang chased then-deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland into an elevator in Grande Prairie’s city hall. One shouted “traitor,” a “f___ing bitch” and told her to leave the province.

It was hardly a one-off. Such abuse happens to politicians of every political stripe, as I became acutely aware after an incident involving my local MLA last week

In fact, this column started out as an exposé of a Calgary MLA being caught on voicemail calling me, a constituent, a swear word. But the real story took an unexpected turn as I dug deeper.

It appears Tanya Fir, my Alberta MLA for Calgary-Peigan and minister of arts, culture and status of women, was in a state of shell shock from abusive calls she had been fielding when she uttered my name as the next “motherf___er” she would be calling back.

And as I reviewed the circumstances of this bizarre incident with Fir, my mood swung from anger and indignation to, instead, a deeper understanding of the horrendous verbal abuse and threats our elected officials must endure.

Here’s how the incident unfolded. On Oct. 27, the UCP government ordered 51,000 public, francophone and Catholic striking teachers back to work and invoked the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to close off any potential court challenge.

Like many Albertans, I felt the use of the notwithstanding clause was an over-the-top pre-emptive measure that undermined the strikers’ right to challenge the order in court.

Following the advice in a column by political scientist Jared Wesley, I called Fir’s constituency office to voice my concern. The call went to voicemail, and I left a message.

I heard nothing until the evening of Nov. 10, when I received a call from someone named Sean who asked for me by name. He said he got my number from a voice message he had received from Fir. He too had called Fir’s office to object to the use of the notwithstanding clause.

The message he received back from Fir confirmed receipt of his call, but it didn’t end there. Apparently, the recording continued capturing conversation between Fir and another person in her office after Fir thought the call had ended.

In the recording, the pair discuss the message, record the caller’s details, and then prepare to call me. Fir says, “All right. Going on to this next motherfucker.”

The other voice is heard chuckling and then starts to say something that is indecipherable because my original voicemail to Fir begins playing. In my message, I give my name and telephone number. Then the recording ends.

Naturally, I felt a flash of anger and indignation when I heard the recording, and I had Sean forward it to me. You can listen to the message (with phone numbers redacted) here.

I called Sean back the next day to discuss the message. He begged me not to publish his full name because, “I’m scared of reprisal.”

Was I overreacting to this incident? I called Wesley, a well-known political scientist, and co-director of the Peter Lougheed School of Politics and Democracy at the University of Alberta to get his view.

The candour “is unfortunate.” he said. “If they [callers] don’t support the government, then they’re motherf___s.”

“I’d be mighty offended.”

But my anger quickly dissipated when I talked to Fir and played the recording back to her.

After taking a few minutes to review the recording, she called me back. In a voice breaking with emotion, she delivered a barrage of mea culpas for the mistake of not ensuring her message to Sean had stopped recording.

“There’s absolutely no excuse for my behaviour. It was unprofessional... and I fully apologize.”

Apology accepted.

But what of the profanity? She assured me the profanity was not intended for me and told me she only used it because she was overwhelmed by obscene messages she had to listen to. At my request, she played back three.

The first concluded, “You’re a motherf___er for voting the teachers back.” In the second, the caller says, “Eat shit and die, you f___ing mouthpiece.” And in the third, a caller yells loudly and concludes, “Just f___ off and get a different job, you f___ing bitch.”

Thankfully, my objection to the government’s action had a much more respectful tone. Fir added, “What happened on Monday (the day of the voice message)… I was trying to add levity to the situation.”

Cynics might accuse Fir of scrambling to cover her butt. I don’t think so. Her words sounded absolutely sincere and her contriteness ran very deep. I was moved by the distress she obviously felt.

Wesley was introspective. “Have I ever let something slip in the past? Probably,” he said. “Should I be held to account? Probably.”

Fir admits to making a mistake with the errant recording that went to Sean’s phone. It was a serious mistake, and she needs to be much more careful.

But I also have had some time to consider what elected officials — especially women — have to endure. From the sexist “Climate Barbie” label attached to former federal Liberal environment minister Catherine McKenna (and the spray-painting of the c-word on her riding office) to describing Premier Danielle Smith with the c-word on social media to Lethbridge police officers spying on then-Alberta MLA Shannon Phillips to death threats against Green Party Leader Elizabeth May to NDP MP Jenny Kwan getting her tires slashed and office window smashed when she was a B.C. MLA, things have gotten bad.

Is this the Trump effect? Partly. When the most powerful political leader on Earth lies, insults and commits countless outrages with apparent impunity, it sends a signal to the rest of us that anything goes.

But that’s no excuse. I remain firmly opposed to the Alberta government’s imposition of the notwithstanding clause. And I also think the UCP government is making a lot of stupid decisions these days.

But if you think it’s OK to rain abuse on MLAs you disagree with, you can count me out.

Because whoever those people are, they’re rotting the roots of our democracy.