Official fears ‘somebody’s going to get shot’ during fall election campaign

The ugly political tension that highlighted America’s 2016 election campaign could cross borders this fall.

On Thursday, Canada’s top public servant expressed deep concerns that a candidate will be assassinated while campaigning in Canada’s federal election this fall.

Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick told the House of Commons justice committee that a “disturbing tenor” has engulfed the overall state of public political dialogue.

“I worry about the rising tide of incitements to violence when people use terms like ‘treason’ and ‘traitor’ in open discourse. Those are the words that lead to assassination,” Wernick told the MPs.

“I’m worried that somebody’s going to be shot in this country this year during the political campaign.”

Wernick also called out “trolling” culture on the “vomitorium” of social media that has become popular in movements such as the yellow-vest group.

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Pendulum Swinging to the Right. Demonization will only Swing Pendulum further to the Right. #unitedwerollconvoyforcanada #UnitedWeRoll #yellowvest

A post shared by Jay Kanuck (@jay_kanuck) on Feb 19, 2019 at 5:41pm PST

With files from the Canadian Press.