MLA raises workplace safety concerns after assistant assaulted at constituency office

Liberal MLA Brendan Maguire says it’s time for constituency budgets to be increased so there’s enough money to hire two people to work in each office following an attack on his constituency assistant on Thursday.

“Nobody wants to say yes to an increase in our budget because it may look politically bad,” Maguire told CBC News.

“But you know what looks worse? When a woman in her mid-60s, who’s about to retire, gets assaulted doing the right thing.”

Maguire was at a meeting in his Halifax Atlantic constituency at the time of the assault.

He said a man who he and his assistant are familiar with and have helped in the past came into the office on Herring Cove Road on Thursday and started yelling at the assistant. He then ran at her and grabbed her by the throat.

“He pinned her up against the wall, he started choking her and then he brought his arm back as if he was going to hit her,” said Maguire.

Although the assistant normally works alone, a teenage student was also there on Thursday. Hearing the commotion, the student ran from another room and started yelling at the man to let the assistant go and threatened to call the police.

Maguire said the man let his assistant go and lunged at the student. The assistant then got between the man and the student and the two fled to a back office where they locked themselves in while the man proceeded to smash furniture, computers, artwork and other items before leaving.

“He just went on a complete rampage,” said Maguire.

Police have been notified.

An unsafe work environment

What happened Thursday illustrates how unsafe the working environment in most MLA offices is, said Maguire. He said most assistants are women, many of them older, and they are usually working alone while meeting with members of the public who are often looking for help in the midst of challenging situations.

Those assistants should not be asked to deal with those situations alone, said Maguire. He said security measures, such as locked doors, are not enough.

That wouldn’t have helped on Thursday, for instance, because the person who assaulted his assistant was a regular visitor to the office and would have been let in.

“We’ve helped him out,” said Maguire.

“He would have been welcomed into the office. The only thing that stopped the assault from going from bad to really bad was the fact that there was a student in the office who was there to prevent it.”

Having two people work in MLA offices means the work of a constituency assistant, which has become increasingly complex and demanding in the 10 years since he was elected, could be spread out, said Maguire. It would also mean there would be an extra person on site in case something went wrong, as it did Thursday.

Maguire is calling on the members of the legislature’s management commission to convene a meeting to deal with the issue of constituency budgets and ensure MLAs have enough money to fulfil their duties and be able to hire two people.

“The reason why the resources in our offices are not being increased isn’t because we don’t need them, it’s because of partisan purposes,” he said. “It’s cowardice.”