Political environment has become 'toxic,' says Liberal MP

I want to start with that statement that the the phrase that jumped out in your statement where you talk about threats and misogyny, misogyny, was there a specific incident or incidents that that led you to this decision? It’s been building for a while, quite honestly, but since since the last election, the level of of, well, the level of misogyny has been bad since I got elected. I’m not going to lie, it’s just gotten worse. But the threats have definitely become worse since the pandemic, and I don’t get the worst of it. I’m not going to pretend that what I get is as bad as as someone like the Prime Minister. But it it just, it’s it’s not an environment that I feel safe in in my community and I it’s not a healthy way to live. Do you mean threats like e-mail social media or people coming up to you in public and and saying things to you in your face? I don’t know about it. All of it. Yeah. All three. So emails are are bad. Social media is a toxic cesspool of hate. And yeah I’ve had people yell at me in the grocery store so it’s and it business Chamber of Commerce events which never used to happen and and it’s being fed in in a number of ways. But I do think a lot of it is being fed by social media clips and the the the need to get likes on on social media and it’s just changed the kind of discourse that we have in in parliament and and in public. So you say it’s not a sustainable or a healthy way to live but you say you still want to to make a difference. So. So how do you do that if you leave politics? Well, I’m I there’s lots of people in our country that are making a difference with that are not in politics. I’ve met many of them. I look at at people like Ken Price from the Danforth families and we wouldn’t have a handgun ban if it wasn’t for Ken. There are people I’ve been at this morning. I might get emotional, David, but I was at Flores Walk this morning and and, you know, I met with two women who wanted to raise awareness around perinatal mental health. And there are, there are people that are doing big and small things across the country. You don’t need to be in politics to make a difference. And it’s just not the venue that I want to be in anymore. It’s just I’ve never been overly partisan and it’s it’s just not for me. There’s another chapter out there. I just don’t know what it is yet. No, I didn’t mean to imply with my question that politics is the only way to make a difference. I was wondering if you had a plan like what if you knew what you were going to do because you’re staying until the election. Do you have a sector or an idea of where you think you can go, where you can have this healthier, more secure life and and make the differences you want to make? I don’t, I honestly don’t know. I mean I’ve done a lot in the area of Cancer Research and working with the Terry Fox Research Institute on medical isotopes on you know I can think of a number area of areas but I’ve always felt that you know when 1 door closes another opens and sometimes it’s not what you’re expecting it to be. So I’m I’m not you know singling out any one particular area because I don’t know what’s out there. This we’re having this conversation the day after a pretty intense question period right where the where the Conservative leader tried to lay the deaths of a lot of people from the opioid crisis at the feet of the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister tried to associate the opposition leader with far right extremism as he defined it. How much of what happens in the political discourse between politicians do you think is driving this more toxic environment or is the discourse being fueled by that more toxic environment than the anger that’s out there? Well, I think, you know, when we’re elected representatives at all levels of government, I think Canadians have trust or have had trust in in our institutions and in our democracy and in politicians and look to us for leadership. And, you know, I had already made the decision yesterday when that happened. But it’s certainly it it it’s the kind of thing that fuels what I hear when when I’m out in the community where people are talking about what I hear in the discourse in Ottawa flows into social media, comments, comments I hear on the street. And you know, what’s happening with the drug crisis is absolutely horrible and my heart goes out to those families. But you can’t lay it on one politician. And if I I was disgusted by what happened in Parliament yesterday, it sounds like the job is just making you miserable and it’s become miserable as the years have gone on. Am am I reading it right? Well, it’s not as much fun as it used to be. No. And I and I, I’m really proud of what I’ve been able to do, whether as an MP, you know, or or as a parliamentary secretary. I mean, I’ve, I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot. And I I had a message from a a dear friend who said you’ve still got lots of good trouble that you can get into and I plan on doing that. But I it’s it’s it’s just the level of collaboration between parties. I’ve always loved committee and that has changed and it’s no longer a place where you get that same level of collaboration and it’s just it it the tone has changed and it’s a toxic atmosphere here. Is it just that issue or is there some policy disappointments as well? I know you were one of the MPs who wrote the Deputy Prime Minister saying you wanted a good approach to the disability tax benefit in this budget and I think you were disappointed with where it landed at about a Max of $200 a month, as a lot of people were. Is it policy disappointments? Is that factor into this at all? It’s not. And you know, I still have confidence in the Prime Minister and and in the government and my colleagues. I actually, I’m really proud of what’s in the budget. I, you know, there’s a red dress alert in there. There’s funding for the Terry Fox Humanitarian Awards, two things I advocated for that don’t get a lot of press. And the the disability benefit, yes, I was disappointed, but I was also happy that it’s the single largest line item in the budget. So, you know, might maybe my advocacy made a difference in in getting it to where it was and there’s always the ability to advocate for more. So it’s not policy related at all. You say you still have confidence in the Prime Minister and the government. Increasingly, a lot of Canadians don’t. You’re one of several M PS who said they don’t plan to run again. And we think there are going to be more between now and Election Day, some of it frustration, some of it the natural life cycle of people’s careers. But where do you think the country is with your government? I mean, what does it need to do as you’re not going to run again? What do the people who are running again need to do to win back the confidence of Canadians, which it seems to have lost pretty substantially in the past year? I actually think Canadians are looking for hope and they’re. I think we need to stick to a positive message and give people that hope. I don’t. I don’t think getting down into the muck is is something. Then Canadians just go, one’s just as bad as the other. I I think, you know, when we got elected in 2015, you’ll remember it was all, you know, hope and hard work and and there was a really positive message that we had. And I think the more we can show Canadians that there, that there is hope. I mean $10 a day childcare is something that I’ve advocated for for a long time and it’s benefiting my own family. And I see the difference that it’s making for for young women across the country that are able to work. I mean I almost didn’t go back to work after I had my son because of of how expensive childcare was. So there’s some really positive policies that we’ve brought in. I just I just think the more that we can be giving people that hope, times are tough, right. There’s there’s a people are are challenged right now but trying to to be positive and keep bringing forward good policy I think is the way to go. This is a final point you think you’ve gotten too far away from that. I mean question period yesterday was pretty rough there. There are things coming from the Conservatives which you know I’m I’m not trying to compare to what is coming from the Liberals necessarily but it’s gotten pretty aggressive on the Liberal side. You think you’ve gotten too far away from the positive message of 2015. I well we’ve been in government for almost 10 years so it’s you know it’s hard to to have the same message. The Prime Minister is always positive. I I I don’t know that we’ve gotten away from it. I just think we need to to make sure that we stick to it and and I’ve got I work with some amazing colleagues who really do have that kind of attitude call out what’s wrong for sure and I and I think we can do that. It doesn’t mean that you don’t call out the the when there’s an issue that you need to call out. But I trust Canadians to to just to do what’s right in the next election. Pam Demoth, thank you so much for your time today. Appreciate. You’re welcome. Thanks, David.