Outgoing Winnipeg councillor reflects on increasing polarization, hostility towards elected officials

Outgoing Waverley West councillor Janice Lukes is reflecting on her 12 years at Winnipeg city hall: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

“I’m ready to go, I made up my mind, so I’m excited. It’s like a new beginning for me,” Lukes told Global News.

She says a lot has changed since she first started as city councillor.

“The world has become very polarized, everything is black and white now it seems. Very different even from 12 years ago when I started. I attribute it to a lot of it to the orange man down south and the disrespect(ful) language that he uses,” she said, adding that economic instability, global conflict and mental health issues all play a role.

“There’s a lot of upset people, a lot of unrest, a lot of polarization, and people take that out on elected officials, (while) driving, people at Tim Horton’s, wherever. People are frustrated in the world right now.”

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Lukes says while she hasn’t had many issues with the residents in her ward, the increased cases of threats and hostility often come with chairing a committee and being involved with broader decision making at city hall.

“People coming into this role have to understand very clearly that you’re not going to make everybody happy at all,” she said.

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“And you’re making decisions that impact people’s lives, income, (and) livelihoods. You’re making very big decisions here at city hall and not everybody is going to agree with that, so it makes you a target for comments and feedback and probably some other things.”

Lukes has taken her own safety precautions. Last year, she hired private security to attend a community event following concerning comments online. She’s also consulted with police to know what to do in the event of an emergency at city hall.

“I met with a police officer. We sat down in my office and he told me what to do if there is a shooting or a break in or whatever,” Lukes said. “So I am mentally all prepared for all that, I have my baseball bat, I know what window to jump out of.”

While it may be amplified in recent years, hostility towards elected officials isn’t new, if you ask former Winnipeg mayor Susan Thompson.

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She says during the 1990s, security measures at city hall were nearly non-existent.

“Even in my day, I had some really bad situations. And I mainly had to handle them personally, and that’s not right,” Thompson said.

“It was not until I got a bomb threat, and my car keyed, and tires slashed, and death threats that (security) began to evolve.”

Last year, Manitoba NDP cabinet ministers Nahanni Fontaine and Bernadette Smith had their constituency offices set on fire. A man was arrested and charged in that case.

Kelly Saunders, a political science professor at Brandon University, says social media has played a role in heightening hostility, particularly towards marginalized communities.

“Women politicians, people of colour – those politicians are unfortunately experiencing even high threats of violence compared to everyone else,” Saunders said.

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She also says it’s having an impact on how many people want to run for office.

“It really has a chilling impact,” she said. “I mean how many people are willing to subject themselves and their families to this kind of vitriol of hatred, of violence.”

As for Lukes, her message to the next council is to be prepared.

“Always be aware of your surroundings, know that you’re not going to make everyone happy, know that the world is unstable, that people are unstable,” she said.

“You have to think about these things, because you are making decisions that are impacting lives, and that’s very big stuff.”