A video circulating online over the weekend shows Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland arriving inside City Hall in Grande Prairie, Alta., on Friday, and then being confronted by the man while she approached and entered an elevator.
Trudeau addressed the incident on Sunday during an announcement in Ottawa on funding for an action plan to support LGBTQ communities. He says what Freeland faced isn’t isolated and is being seen with increasing frequency by people in public life, particularly women and minorities.
“Threats, violence, intimidation of any kind, are always unacceptable and this kind of cowardly behaviour threatens and undermines our democracy and our values and openness and respect upon which Canada was built,” Trudeau said.
The incident has prompted current and former politicians from across the spectrum to denounce the incident and speak out against harassment faced by public figures.
The identity of the man in the video has been circulating widely on line, but efforts by The Canadian Press to reach him have been unsuccessful so far.
Source: The Canadian Press