N.S. municipal officials call for government action to stop harassment

The fear is real. Municipal politicians across the province say they're experiencing more abuse from members of the public, especially online. Some asked their provincial counterparts for answers at the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities fall conference on how different levels of government can work together to protect elected officials. The answer left some wanting more. There's no way to stop it. Social media is a platform now. You know, I mean, it used to be good for getting information out. Now it's good for getting bad information out. I respectfully disagree. David Mitchell is the mayor of Bridgewater and the president of the Federation of Municipalities. He says he's heard from elected officials across Nova Scotia and Canada who are leaving politics because of the abuse they experience. He calls it an epidemic. People saying... I didn't know I was going to be exposed to this. I'm not re-offering for my family's sake and for my sake. And so for citizens who are like, I want more accountability from government, I want more transparency for elected officials, the impact of this is you may not have an elected official. When it comes to social media, Mitchell says government can do something. He points to Quebec, where the province introduced fines for people who harass or intimidate elected officials on social media. Mitchell says the Nova Scotia government should be calling on Ottawa to use their resources. We're not really dealing with this online, these incidents, the same way we would deal with physical. So if someone comes up to you and is threatening and very aggressive, well then that's pretty obvious. But we've taken a step back as a society and said, well, if it's online, it must be okay. But especially for municipal officials, a lot of this is coming from people in our community. Mitchell says federal politicians will be at the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities Spring Conference next year and he encourages elected officials to tell them about the harassment they face. Josh Hoffman, CBC News, Halifax.