Editorial — Political leaders deserve protection, don’t they?

MONDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — If any ordinary person’s home had been broken into on the weekend — and, no doubt, thousands of them were — it wouldn’t have been cause for more than a few words, if that, in most newspapers across the country.

But when the leader of a major Canadian political party experiences it, that’s a different story.

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau wasn’t home in Ottawa on Saturday morning (he was in Winnipeg before travelling to Montreal for Gay Pride festivities) when the break-in occurred, but his wife Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau and their three children were in the home asleep. Nothing was taken but a note described as “threatening” was left.

Public reaction has been rather fascinating. Comments in the blogosphere and Twittersphere are ranging from sympathetic to insulting. There has, of course, been the expected response that having one’s home broken into is a frightening experience that makes you feel violated. There are also suggestions that this is an example of how Canadian society is falling apart.

There have been political nuances as well. Some feel the Trudeau family deserves full-time security, even though Justin Trudeau is neither the prime minister nor the leader of the opposition. Yet others adamantly believe politicians don’t deserve any more protection than everyday Canadians, and anyone who wants to go into politics can’t expect special treatment.

That’s an interesting issue. Only Prime Minister Stephen Harper has a full-time security detail. Trudeau doesn’t, and neither does Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair.

The incident is a reminder that politics is a tough game and that politicians have to be extra careful about such things. Surely, though, whatever the political party, our national political leaders deserve extra security. Don’t they?