New Brunswick’s municipal elections are fast approaching and some candidates say online harassment is making them question the decision to put their names forward.
For Andrew Black, the harassment and bullying is such a concern, he’s decided to run as a councillor instead of re-offering as mayor of Tantramar, N.B.
“One of the big reasons is it has been very difficult this year with harassment but more specifically with disinformation and misinformation of residents,” he said.
Black was previously deputy mayor of Sackville. The Town of Sackville and village of Dorchester were amalgamated to become Tantramar in 2023, and Black was elected its first mayor.
He hopes by running as an area councillor in the May 11 municipal elections, it’ll alleviate some of that harassment he’s experienced in those higher level positions.
“Being the spokesperson for the community, I have answers I can give to people but people are reluctant to listen to them or don’t want to hear them,” he said.
“It’s caused division in the community and it’s something I can’t deal with anymore.”
Many communities are calling attention to this type of misinformation and bullying, with the Municipal District of St. Stephen releasing an open letter calling for civility from the public back in August.
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The Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick (UMNB), which held a symposium on the subject last fall, says the issue is a nationwide problem.
In a report released by their organization, alongside their Francophone counterpart, more than 80 per cent of municipal politicians pointed to having experienced harassment while on the job.
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“Certainly, there’s a lot of comments that are being posted on public social media pages. There are DMs that are happening,” said Dan Murphy, UMNB’s executive director.
“Sometimes it’s happening to people in-person to different places in the community.”
He adds the report found that women in politics often experience that harassment more intensely.
Outgoing Fredericton Mayor Kate Rogers, who has decided not to re-offer for unrelated reasons, agrees with that assertion.
“I believe that women are much more under the microscope and every gesture we take is analyzed and commented on in ways that our male counterparts do not experience,” she said.
In the running to replace Rogers is Jenica Atwin, a former MP for Fredericton.
Atwin has previously said she decided to step away from federal politics in part due to the online hate and toxicity she had faced.
“I think any time women step out in politics or in a public-facing position that we’re getting a lot of (harassment) lately. It is unacceptable. I think we need to speak out against it and really share some of these experiences,” she told Global News in February.
The UMNB says they will be releasing a new study next month with proposed solutions to mitigate the ongoing issue.
Dan Murphy’s comment that the report found that women experience harassment in municipal politics “more intensely” isn’t supported by the report document your article links to. The most that the report says is “some reporting gender and ethnicity-based targeting” without specifying how much or whether “gender-based tagetting” was predominantly affecting men or women.
The report specifically states
“Most (around 72%) respondents said the abuse/harassment they experienced was not directed at them due to any protected characteristics like gender, race, sexuality, religion, etc., although
it is important to note that a group (17%) of respondents did feel targeted based on these characteristics.” Again, this section of the report makes no claim about one sex or other reporting harassment more or less than the other.
The report does not support Murphy’s claim about women and harassment in municipal politics.
I didn’t vote for any of our councilors or mayor, but it’s also not worth my time to harass them online, or in person.