SCARY - Liberals targeted - CDN Politics-R
bassie
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Spray-painting - whatever....cutting phone- and brake-lines? WTF?!b,121_______________________________________________________________b,121b,121b,121Six more vandalism casesb,121TheStar.com - Federal Election - Six more vandalism casesb,121October 06, 2008 b,121Debra Blackb,121Staff Reporterb,121b,121Six more acts of vandalism have been reported today among Liberal supporters in the ridings of St. Paul's and Parkdale-High Park.b,121b,121Campaign officials say the new cases include the cutting of car brake, phone and cable lines and graffiti defacing homes and garages in the two ridings. They were committed over the weekend, but unreported until now.b,121b,121Yesterday, 12 acts of vandalism were reported to police in Parkdale-High Park. This morning Liberal officials in the riding said three more calls had come in plus three more cases in St. Paul's.b,121b,121Officials believe the incidents are connected and are the work of one person. b,121b,121"There's no excuse for this kind of intimidation," said Carolyn Bennett, Liberal incumbent for St. Paul's. "We think this is somebody who really is not well."b,121b,121In Parkdale-High Park, Andrew Krupowicz, who lives on Roncesvalles Ave., was horrified to find his car's brake lines were cut Saturday night while he and his girlfriend were inside the house he shares with his mother and stepfather. On the lawn is a sign supporting Gerard Kennedy, the Liberal candidate in the riding.b,121b,121It was only at 11 p.m. when he was taking his girlfriend home that he discovered something was wrong. "I was trying to pull out when I realized my brakes were all soft and mushy," he said. "Every time I pushed the brakes, it would squeeze out brake fluid. I was just creeping out of the driveway. It was leaking out so fast I immediately knew something was horribly wrong." b,121b,121Then this morning he found the cable and phone line had also been deliberately cut. b,121b,121"I'm in complete shock. This is something you don't expect to have happen in Canada. We have a democratic system. This could have killed me, my girlfriend and everyone else on the road."b,121b,121His neighbour Debra McNevin was also a victim. A big red "L" was painted on the brick wall of her house, the screen door and the garage door late Saturday. McNevin said she thinks she was targeted because she also has a sign supporting Kennedy on her lawn. "It's really upsetting," said McNevin. "Cutting somebody's brake lines is very dangerous. b,121b,121"It's unbelievable. Who would do something like that?"b,121b,121Kennedy was shocked when he heard of the incidents and called out to community members to "not allow this reckless attitude of intimidation to prevail." Kennedy and his campaign team yesterday alerted their supporters and those with signs. b,121b,121For supporters like McNevin and Krupowicz, the acts of vandalism weren't enough for them to even consider taking the signs down. Says McNevin: "My daughter said: `I think we should get a bigger sign.'"b,121b,121In St. Paul's riding, the story was much the same. Most supporters weren't bending to any form of intimidation and wanted to keep their signs or even exchange them for bigger signs. Some, however, including the elderly or single women, were fearful and took down their signs temporarily. b,121b,121Meanwhile, Bennett and a team of supporters spent part of yesterday afternoon cleaning up some of the graffiti that had defaced her supporters' homes.b,121b,121No new incidents of vandalism have been reported since police stepped up patrols in the neighbourhoods where the attacks occurred Friday night and early Saturday, said Staff Sgt. Shawn Meloche from 53 Division. b,121b,121"We want more people in Canada to participate in the democratic process," said Bennett in an interview with the Star yesterday. "We don't want people to feel it's too dangerous to put up a Liberal sign during an election."b,121b,121This isn't the first time vandals have targeted Liberals in recent election campaigns. There were cases in Guelph during the byelection campaign in August and in the riding of Willowdale during the March by-election.b,121b,121The NDP and the Conservatives in St. Paul's condemned the vandalism. b,121b,121NDP Leader Jack Layton called the attacks "outrageous." b,121b,121"Anybody who attacks the basic right of people to get involved in politics is attacking something that is very fundamental to all us, which is the right to vote. ... It is absolutely unacceptable and quite horrific to imagine such a thing is going on," Layton said during a campaign stop in Thunder Bay.b,121b,121Added Liberal Leader St??phane Dion during a stop in Churchill, Man.: "I think it's completely unacceptable in any democracy what is happening for Carolyn . . . we will not be intimidated by that ... It's something we cannot accept in Canada."
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