Crossing the line
MLAs subject to online abuse in response to bill aimed at curbing youth vaping, smoking
Progressive Conservative MLA Cory Deagle says he has received some online comments that cross the line from criticizing government to outright threats.
One comment posted on Facebook even suggests harm to his family.
“I really hope you and your family gets lung cancer, so you can realize how important vapes are in this day and age,” it reads.
“I’d prefer if he was the victim of a vicious beating,” reads another.
Several comments were posted on Deagle’s personal Facebook account. Deagle took a screenshot of three of the messages and posted the images.
“I believe in democracy and free speech but threatening my life with a vicious beating and hoping I get cancer [crosses] the line,” Deagle said in a post on his own page.
In an interview, Deagle said the threatening comments were a small minority of the comments he’s received.
“Overwhelmingly it’s been positive, but there was a handful — three or four, five — [that] I guess you could call threats,” Deagle said.
“It’s unfortunate that people choose to do that type of thing.”
The comments came in response to a private member’s bill he introduced that aims to curb youth vaping.
The bill, which would see the province increase the smoking and vaping age to 21 andwould also ban some flavoured vaping products and restrict the sale of vaping products to tobacconist shops.
The bill, passed unanimously this week, would make P.E.I. the first province in Canada to increase the smoking and vaping age to 21.
In the legislature on Thursday, fellow PC backbench MLA Natalie Jameson said “hurtful remarks on social media” were also directed against her. Jameson had posted a photo of herself and Deagle, with a message in support of the bill.
Some of the threatening comments aimed at Deagle were posted to Jameson’s public Facebook profile.
“If I’m being honest, this actually led to a sleepless night,” Jameson told the House.
“In my opinion, some of these comments involve matters that border on criminal threats and harassment.”
Premier Dennis King told the House that comments that could be deemed criminal be reported to authorities.
“I also think it’s important for us to continue to call it out,” King said.
“Too many members of this legislature already have probably felt the brunt of this in some way, shape or form. I know I have.”
Green Opposition Leader Peter Bevan-Baker, who supported Deagle’s bill, also said he was sorry to see the comments directed at Deagle.
In an interview, Jameson said the majority of messages she received were private messages sent to her personally. Some comments directed insults at Jameson for supporting the bill.
Jameson said she was surprised by the “can of worms” she saw online.
“You expect this in high school,” Jameson said.
“I would expect more from Islanders, to be honest.”
The Guardian contacted a representative from Facebook to ask if the comments directed at Deagle violated the platform’s community standards. A representative indicated staff would look into the comments, but did not respond to questions by deadline.
Deagle said he had chosen not to report the comments to authorities.
“Hopefully they wouldn’t turn into anything. [I’ll] take the high road, I guess,” Deagle said.
When reached by The Guardian on Thursday, Sgt. Chris Gunn of the Kings District RCMP said he had seen media reports of the Facebook comments but had not yet seen the specific comments.
“We have started an investigation this morning and we’ll be following up with Mr. Deagle later on today,” Gunn said.
Deagle is not the first P.E.I. MLA to have faced online threats. In June of 2018, Hannah Bell faced a torrent of what she called “sexist and hateful comments” on social media after making a remark at a public event organized by the P.E.I. Coalition for Women in Government.
A death threat was later left on her car.
A police investigation did not produce results. The Green Opposition office had already been fitted with a panic button at the time, as a result of prior threats.
“The incident impacted me, my family and my workplace significantly, and is not something that anyone should have to endure as ‘part of the job,’” Bell wrote in an e-mail to The Guardian.
“It’s not acceptable under any circumstances at any time.”