NDP candidate for the recent 2021 Federal Election in Kenora, Janine Seymour, says she faced sexual abuse during her campaign in northwestern Ontario.
“The abuse that happened to me was during canvassing. I was groped. That’s sexual assault,” explained Seymour, in an interview with Q104 and KenoraOnline Monday morning.
“There’s no correct response. Everybody takes things differently based on their experience. For me, having survived significant trauma, I actively work hard not to place myself in situations like this. But it couldn’t be avoided. My preventative safety measures that I do as an Indigenous woman didn’t work. I was groped. And I didn’t have time to stop and process things. I really took a lot of time following the election to sit with this and other things that happened.”
Seymour says she didn’t contact the OPP at the time as she was still processing what had happened, and by being a local lawyer from Wauzhushk Onigum, she says following up on the incident with police may not have been the correct response.
“As a lawyer, I’ve seen firsthand that the justice system isn’t the place to resolve a lot of things. It doesn’t do anything for the person who had harmed, or the person who had harm happen to them. The whole process is not friendly to Indigenous people. For someone who has suffered this, there’s no right way. I’ve definitely had to undergo some healing and to process that.”
Overall, Seymour is hoping that sharing her experience can lead to larger discussions about the safety of electoral candidates both in-person and online.
“I think all candidates had to deal with forms of abuse during this campaign. I witnessed a lot of verbal abuse online to other candidates. I’m not trying to undermine any of the abuse other candidates suffered. But I definitely support conversations like this. For healing, for reconciliation, we need dialogue. This is not acceptable, and what can we do better to make sure there are safe spaces for everybody.”
“I don’t think this is isolated at all,” adds Seymour. “I sincerely hope that me sharing what happened is a springboard for change. I don’t think this is gender-specific. It can happen to males as well. I encourage any of them to come forward as well.”
Seymour put up a strong campaign that brought NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to the riding twice to see the issues people face on a daily basis firsthand, and the change Seymour says is needed.
The final tally from Election Night put Seymour at a total of 7,499 votes, only 2,817 votes behind incumbent MP and winner Eric Melillo of the Progressive Conservatives, who finished the election with 10,316 votes.
Outside of her political aspirations, Seymour has also served as a board member of the Sunset Country Family Health Team and Waasegiizhig Nanaandawe’iyewigamig, is a founding board member of Ahze-mino-gahbewewin/Reconciliation Kenora, and as worked as a political advisor for Ogichidaa Francis Kavanaugh, the Grand Chief of Treaty #3.