While the apparent attempt to assassinate former U.S. President Donald Trump raises another troubling debate about the climate of political violence in the United States, Canadian politicians are also dealing with a high level of risk.

Four U.S. Presidents have been assassinated while in office: Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John Kennedy. Theodore Roosevelt was shot while giving a speech in 1912 but survived. At that time, he was a former president running to regain his position.

No Canadian Prime Minister has ever been assassinated, and incidents of political violence are relatively rare in Canada.

However, the security climate for politicians in this country has deteriorated significantly over the past few years. The RCMP has discussed what it calls the increasing number of threats directed at elected officials.

Some parliamentarians were given panic buttons in 2022 in response to threats. Several female politicians have resigned in recent months due to a severe level of harassment and intimidation.

Canada has not escaped political violence entirely, and here are some of the most notable acts of violence directed against politicians in the history of this country:

1868: Assassination of Thomas D'Arcy McGee

McGee, the father of Canadian Confederation, was killed in Ottawa in 1868. Police arrested Patrick James Whelan, a tailor who was sympathetic to the Fenians, a group of Irish extremists hoping to weaken the United Kingdom through attacks on its colonies in North America. Whelan insisted he was innocent, but after a complex and controversial trial, he was convicted and sentenced to death.

1880: Shooting of George Brown

George Brown, a journalist and politician, is considered a father of Confederation for his active role in pushing for national unity in the 1850s and 1860s. He founded The Globe, an influential Toronto newspaper that later merged with The Mail and Empire to form The Globe and Mail.

Brown was in his newspaper office on March 25, 1880, when he was approached by a disgruntled former employee who shot him in the leg during a struggle. The wound became infected and led to Brown's death on May 9. Brown was a Senator at the time of his death.

1966: Failed bombing of the House of Commons

In a close call, a suspected assassination attempt on some members of Parliament was thwarted simply because the bomb exploded too early. In May 1966, Paul Joseph Chartier entered the House of Commons carrying a bomb made from 10 sticks of dynamite. He went to the bathroom to light the fuse and then emerged to carry the bomb to the hallway of the House. However, the bomb exploded early, killing the man himself.

1970: Murder of Pierre Laporte

The kidnapping and murder of Pierre Laporte - which hastened what became known as the October Crisis in 1970 - ultimately led to the first peacetime use of the War Measures Act, enacted by then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Laporte, who was Quebec's Deputy Premier at the time, was kidnapped by the separatist Front de libération du Québec. Laporte was eventually killed by his captors. The British diplomat James Cross, who was also kidnapped days before Laporte's release, was released safely after negotiations.

1984: Attack on the National Assembly in Quebec

A military sergeant entered the National Assembly in Quebec on May 8, 1984, and opened fire, resulting in the deaths of three people and many others injured. Although he claimed to want to "destroy" the Quebec party government, he managed to convince armed council sergeant René Galbert, Denis Lortie, over five hours to surrender to police.

2012: Assassination attempt on Pauline Marois

On the election victory night in September 2012 that made her Quebec's Premier, Pauline Marois was targeted by Richard Henry Bain, who aimed to attack her and other supporters of the separatist Quebec party. Bain ended up killing one person and injuring another, although Marois herself was unharmed.

2014: Attack on Parliament

The 2014 attack on Parliament began just steps away from the legislature at the National War Memorial, when Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot and killed Corporal Nathan Cirillo, who was serving as a ceremonial guard at the memorial. The attacker then ran to Parliament, entered the Centre Block, and injured a police officer before engaging in a gunfight with others. Both the ruling Conservative party and the opposition New Democratic Party were holding party meetings at the time. The man was ultimately shot and killed by RCMP officers and House of Commons Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers.

2020: Arrest at Rideau Hall

On July 2, 2020, a man from Manitoba stormed the doors of Rideau Hall and sought to confront Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with firearms. Cory Huron crashed his pickup truck through the gates of Rideau Hall, where both the Governor General and the Prime Minister reside, and approached on foot with three loaded firearms and a knife before entering into a 90-minute standoff with RCMP officers.

Huron told officers he was there to arrest Trudeau and was angry over the restrictions due to the coronavirus and recent gun law amendments. He pleaded guilty to eight charges and in March 2021 was sentenced to six years in prison.

More than a year before Huron's arrest, a former senior civil servant in Canada made headlines when he spoke to a committee of the House of Commons about what he called the escalating political controversy and the threat it posed to individuals running for political office.

Michael Wernick, then Clerk of the Privy Council of Canada, stated there is a "certain innocence" in Canada when it comes to political violence.

Wernick told the committee, "I am concerned about the rising wave of incitement to violence when people use terms like 'treason' and 'traitor' in open discourse." "These are words that lead to assassination. I am concerned that someone might be shot in this country, this year, during the political campaign."