ALL IN A DAY'S WORK — No one called PAM DAMOFF the c-word until she was elected to public office. “I get called that all the time in phone calls, in emails, in comments on social media,” the Liberal MP tells Playbook. “Never in my life — suddenly it’s just normal to use that when describing another person.” Damoff belongs to the 2015 class of Liberal MPs, a cohort swept into government by a then ascendant JUSTIN TRUDEAU, bringing with her 25 years of experience in the private sector and five as an Oakville town councillor. She was not a political neophyte. In May, after three elections, she announced she does not plan to run in another. The “drive for social media clips and likes” and proliferation of misinformation has eroded “respectful dialogue,” she wrote in a letter that explained her decision. She said the new realities change the way people interact on and off the Hill. It’s also influencing recruitment and retention in constituency offices. — Topical talk: U.S. President JOE BIDEN broached today’s polarized political environment in his historic Oval Office address last night, putting it this way to Americans: “We have to decide: Do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect? Freedom, justice and democracy?” — Changes in the public square: Threats against MPs have escalated so much so that the Parliamentary Protective Services now advises constituency offices to keep doors locked except for scheduled visitors. In May, CBC News reported: Harassment of MPs spiked almost 800 percent in 5 years, says House sergeant-at-arms. No one gets into Damoff's office without an appointment. “There's a security system, they buzz,” she said. — Stranger things: Damoff tells Playbook she’s always on guard when she goes out. “It’s just not a healthy way to live when you're constantly sort of looking over your shoulder, looking at people, wondering, ‘Are they going to start yelling at me,’” she said. “I’ve had people yell at me in the grocery store when I’m grocery shopping at night. It’s not appropriate.” The assassination attempt on DONALD TRUMP’s life has renewed discussion and debate around the political rhetoric that feeds threats of violence against politicians. Former public safety minister MARCO MENDICINO told The Hill Times recently that Canadians must stop thinking about political harassment and violence as an American phenomenon. — Earlier this week: Ontario MPP LISA MACLEOD wrote in the National Post: “It’s time we sound the alarm and have an adult conversation in Canada before someone in political office gets hurt, or, God forbid, something worse happens.” — Also this week: The RCMP charged two Calgary men with uttering death threats against Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU. One of the men charged, a YouTuber who also allegedly threatened to kill CHRYSTIA FREELAND and JAGMEET SINGH, is scheduled to appear in court today in Edmonton. — Scapegoating as political sport: “I talked to one of my Conservative friends, asking if she gets it the same way and she said, ‘No, but we're not in government,’” said Damoff. “Regardless of what party is in government, I think you become a lightning rod.” — Speaking of lightning rod: The prime minister was interrupted on his vacation this week by a right-wing media personality who managed to track him down to Tofino, despite Trudeau’s public itineraries becoming increasingly vague — this week only stating he’s in British Columbia. — Unconventional access: The reporter flew to B.C. and took a seaplane to travel to a remote beach to doorstep Trudeau out enjoying the water with his family. A video clip posted on social media showed Trudeau eventually waving off his security detail to do a brief, unplanned interview at close quarters that’s attracted controversy online. — Risky business: “The days of allowing people being protected to overrule security should be over,” said CALVIN LAWRENCE, a retired RCMP officer who worked protective detail for the late BRIAN MULRONEY and other VIPs, after viewing the video of the interaction. “It’s not something that the protectee should decide on, unless it’s pre-arranged and the person was pre-vetted to do that, especially in this day and age,” he told Playbook, saying it’s not safe for an unknown person to get so close to the PM before security can check them out. He pointed to a long history of VIPs endangering themselves by trying to be more open with people. Lawrence said it’s hard for security officers to say no to a PM. “You have to weigh the fact of whether it could have been a ruse to get close to him to do something to embarrass him or to hurt him, or whether it was legitimate. That decision should not be overruled by the prime minister.” — But, but, but: MICHAEL PETRILLI of Cancom Security, another former RCMP who did protective detail for PAUL MARTIN and JEAN CHRÉTIEN, but who did not see the video, said it’s ultimately the PM’s call on who they speak with and when. “Often enough, he’s in close contact with the public and if he chooses to speak to them or not that’s his call, and security will mechanize that decision,” he said. It’s also hard to keep the PM’s location a secret for long. People are bound to approach him. And this particular one likes to be seen interacting with the public. “If [the person’s] language is appropriate and non-threatening and there’s no indication of a threat, just a person who wants to see the prime minister and he wants access and they give him access, then so be it,” Petrilli said. | 
