Liberal supporters targeted by vandals

'I'm just sick to my stomach about this,' a shaken Bennett told the Toronto Star last night. She spent the day visiting the vandals' victims. 'It is so upsetting. I've spent my life encouraging people to get involved in the democratic process and now it would appear they are targeted for doing so.'

The Toronto Star reports that vandals cut the brake lines on at least 10 cars at the homes of people with Liberal election signs on their lawns. It's happening in the riding of St. Pauls in Toronto's Bathurst and Eglinton area. The Liberal candidate is the incumbent, Carolyn Bennett.

Carolyn Bennett's Blog

I feel very fortunate live in a country where speaking out, engaging in healthy debate, and showing support for ideas and people you believe in, has been a reasonable and safe thing to do. This is not the first time I've seen election vandalism. During the last municipal election in Toronto, many signs promoting a candidate in my ward were damaged. This is, however, the first time I've heard of a nastier kind of vandalism in one of our elections-vandalism which threatens the safety of supporters of a particular candidate.

What would you do if you lived in that riding and you had a Liberal sign on your property? Would you bow to the intimidation and remove the sign to protect your safety, or would you keep the sign up, or even ask for a bigger sign to show your defiance? It may be easier to answer that question from a safe distance than it would be in the shoes of someone whose brake lines were cut overnight.

I don't have any experience with Carolyn Bennett beyond reading the biography posted on her website, but I hope the constituents of the St. Paul's riding rally their support behind this candidate and show that they will not be intimidated. Hopefully the police will track down the criminal or criminals who have been cutting brake lines before somebody gets seriously hurt.