Heather Wright/The Independent

Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong MP Marilyn Gladu is keeping a lower profile after facing death threats and vandalism since becoming a member of the Liberal government.

The long-time Conservative MP was welcomed into the Liberal fold April 8. While the Carney government had been wooing MPs, hoping to secure a majority government at the time, virtually no one expected Gladu, who had been very partisan and socially conservative, to cross the floor.

The move sparked a backlash in her riding. Almost immediately, people began protesting at her office, posting signs there calling on her to resign. A former Peoples’ Party of Canada candidate, Brian Everaert, has been in front of Gladu’s Finch Ave constituency office a number of times, protesting and live streaming his concerns.

And Turning Point Canada, an ultra conservative group with roots in the US, is planning a legal fight calling the MPs move to the Liberals “a premeditated fraud against 40,597 voters, hundreds of volunteers and dozens of voters who funded her Conservative campaign less than one year ago.”

Recently, The Toronto Star ventured into Sarnia-Lambton to measure the discontent of the voters. One of the concerns raised was access to Gladu’s office to solve federal issues.

Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley has also weighed in saying : “My sense is that Marilyn Gladu hasn’t been seen at events in the riding since she crossed the floor,” adding “I know there is a lot of anger out there. We’ll see if she participates in the Canada Day parade because that’s usually a given.”

Gladu has stepped back from public appearances. She was to be the featured speaker at a Sarnia-Lambton Chamber of Commerce event scheduled for the day she crossed the floor.

The talk was rescheduled for May 20 but has since been postponed again with tickets being refunded. Gladu hopes to reschedule it for the fall.

Gladu tells The Independent; “There’s a high level of security threat to me, personally. So, when I do go places, I have to have an armed security detail, so that will just tell you the level of threat.”

Gladu faced threats long before becoming a member of the Liberal government, but the hostility now is at a whole new level.

“Our office has been vandalized multiple times and my staff have been intimidated and harassed.

“I take my advice from the House of Common security and they monitor it and when they see a threat level, then they provide both the advice and the support needed and I think that that is out of an abundance of caution,” Gladu said.

She adds “it wasn’t uncommon with the other floor crosses to see similar things. But I would say that previously, I also experienced threats.”

For the last 20 days, Gladu’s constituency office has not been open to walk in traffic. A sign on the door offers a phone number to make an appointment.

“We are addressing the work of the riding,” Gladu says. “If people want to call the number …basically, they will call people right back and they will take care of their issues if they can virtually.”

The MP says the office will again be open to walk-ins soon.

“We’ve just had security fortifications done to the office that were completed on Monday, so you will see the office fully open again.”

As for the criticism she has not been seen at local events, Gladu says she has deliberately stayed away.

“Sometimes it’s more disruptive for the event if there’s going to be a protest or if people feel unsafe,” the MP tells The Independent.

“I think people will eventually come to realize that there is going to be a benefit (to the MP joining government) to the community here and a benefit to the country.

“And I think that people need to disagree and be angry, but not be violent, not make death threats, not vandalize the office. And I think anyone could appreciate why you might not want to be at as many public events.”

Gladu says she is still attending some virtual and private events “where I can be sure that I will add to the events and not distract from the events.”

And she says she is “strongly representing” her riding in Ottawa.

“I have an even better opportunity to speak with ministers of various files about the things that we would like to see in Sarnia-Lambton,” the MP said.

The harassment Gladu faces is not uncommon. The CBC reports harassment of MPs, in general, has spiked by nearly 800 per cent from 2019 to 2024. Eight-six per cent of the online comments female MPs get had some form of harassment, according to a 2025 study.

• with files from Cathy Dobson