Suspicious envelopes that were delivered to Halifax City Hall were reported to police on Monday, the same day that three Nova Scotia MP offices received envelopes with a “suspected chemical irritant.”
Halifax police say they received a report just before 8 p.m. Monday that suspicious envelopes were delivered to City Hall.
According to a release, officers seized several envelopes and police are now testing their contents.
“At this time, there are no reported injuries or illness in relation to the envelopes,” read the Halifax Regional Police (HRP) release.
In a 12 p.m. email to Global News, HRP spokesperson Const. John MacLeod said investigators are looking at “commonalities and linkages to similar incidents.” MacLeod said the contents of the envelopes are still under investigation.
“We are not releasing that information at this time,” he wrote.
In an interview, District 2 Coun. David Hendsbee said the brown envelopes were received by all councillors last week.
“It was just a bunch of anti-vax information I guess you could say,” Hendsbee said, adding there were over a dozen pages.
The councillor said he wasn’t concerned about the package, as he had received similar letters previously, and he believes they were from the same sender.
On Monday night, it was reported that a trio of suspicious brown envelopes — at least one containing “disturbing images” and an apparent skin and eye irritant – arrived at constituency offices for Conservative Nova Scotia members of Parliament.
On Tuesday, RCMP released more details on Monday’s investigation.
The agency said a package, delivered to a constituency office in Barrington, was first reported at 11 a.m.
The Canadian Press reported that Rick Perkins, the Tory member for South Shore-St. Margarets, said a staff member at his office in Barrington described the envelope as being stuffed thick with papers. When the man opened the package, he saw it was full of “disturbing images” before his eyes and hands began to burn, Perkins said.After the man rinsed himself off, he called police and also called the offices of nearby politicians. He also called Perkins’ second post in Bridgewater, about 140 kilometres away, where an identical envelope had arrived too. Perkins said staff had not yet opened it.
RCMP said “the affected employee was transported to hospital by ambulance for decontamination and did not suffer further injury.”
In Yarmouth, an identical envelope had arrived at the constituency office for Chris d’Entremont, the Conservative member for West Nova. His chief of staff Isabelle Lapointe said Perkins’ office called to warn them just in time, and that envelope wasn’t opened either.
According to RCMP, the Yarmouth delivery was reported around 1 p.m.
“An employee who handled the package did experience skin irritation,” read the RCMP release, though it noted the employee did not need medical attention.
— With files from the Canadian Press.
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