Ontario
“I feel like I have a target on my back”, say Elizabeth Quinto
First-time Liberal candidate Elizabeth Quinto insists that most people in her southern Ontario riding of Oxford aren’t hostile.
But recent events makes her feel anxious when putting up signs and tries not to door-knock alone.
Over the past two weeks, Quinto has experienced a surge of opposition from a pocket of residents including signs stolen and thrown into a cree, The Star reported.
“When I have been installing these signs with my volunteers, people are just yelling obscenities from the car,” Quinto told the Star. “Basically, ‘You’re a disgrace. Eff Trudeau. Eff the Liberals. You’re destroying this country.’ Just yelling at the top of their lungs as we’re trying to do our part.”
The family law lawyer says she was also barred from talking to residents and handing out political literature at a local farmers’ market where other candidates appeared to be welcome.
Quinto is one of several Liberal candidates who have noticed a swell of vitriol and vandalism within their ridings, as Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau contends with unrest plaguing his own campaign in recent days.
“I’ve never seen so much division in Canadian politics. It seems like it’s like an American political thing creeping … up the border, in my opinion,” said Quinto, who believes the discontent from those opposed to Trudeau’s pandemic response is trickling down into her campaign.
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