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Here's whyShe wouldn't be the first woman to flee Canada to get away from a legally unrestrained attacker You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.A June 5 photo posted to the X account Lioness0817. A caption reads "Thank you Pierre Poilievre for taking the time to chat. I would have loved the opportunity to share in detail why I left Canada and how I believe it can be fixed. " Photo by X.comFirst Reading is a Canadian politics newsletter curated by the National Post’s own Tristin Hopper. To get an early version sent directly to your inbox, sign up here.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorAfter Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was questioned for describing an encounter with a Vancouverite who fled to Mexico for safety reasons, the woman has come forward and said she left Canada to get away from an attacker.“The only way to make myself feel safe was to remove myself and get as far away from the threat as possible,” said Terri Anne Welyki in an episode of The Elevate Report podcast published on Saturday.This newsletter from NP Comment tackles the topics you care about. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again“I feel safer here because the person that attacked me does not live here. That’s just basic common sense. I feel safer because I’m very far away…. It could have been Germany, it could have been Peru, it could have been the USA.”In a Vancouver press conference earlier this month, Welyki was mentioned anonymously by Poilievre in a reply to a question about public safety.“I met a lady at the airport the other day who told me that she moved from Vancouver to Mexico so that she would feel more safe,” he said.The statement was widely mocked online and its veracity questioned. One typical post came from Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, who wrote on social media: “Of all the things that did not happen, this one did not happen the most.”The anecdote was also raised in a later press conference when a reporter said he had spoken to World Cup fans in Vancouver who felt “pretty safe,” and that the “data shows that Mexico is far more unsafe than Vancouver.”In reply, Poilievre said that the airport encounter had indeed happened, and that “there are a lot of women who frankly feel very unsafe in Canada today.”He added, “and there are cases we’ve had of women testifying before parliamentary committees that they have left Canada because their partner, their violent partner, has been released from prison despite crime after crime after crime.”The comment was likely a reference to Cait Alexander, who testified in 2024 to the Status of Women Committee.Alexander, founder of the group End Violence Everywhere, was brutally beaten by an intimate partner who was freed on bail the next day.“All eight charges, five in the provincial and three in the federal, were stayed against my ex. I can’t say his name, because it will forever be known as ‘alleged’ abuse,” Alexander, who now lives full time in California, told the committee.Alexander added, “I can’t live in Canada anymore, because it’s not safe for me.”In her interview with The Elevate Report, where she was introduced facetiously as the “fake airport woman,” Welyki did not detail the nature of the incident that caused her to move to Mexico, but said that she would gladly return if she felt able.“I left the country for certain reasons and I’m upset about it. I love my country,” she said.“Do you think this would be my first choice? Or do you think I would rather be at home with my friends and family?”Welyki said her encounter with Poilievre had lasted no longer than a minute. After spotting the Conservative leader at Vancouver International Airport on June 5, Welyki said she blurted out ,“You’re my favourite Canadian,” before saying she had left Canada for Mexico for safety reasons.Thank you @PierrePoilievre for taking the time to chat. I would have loved the opportunity to share in detail why I left Canada and how I believe it can be fixed. I’m rooting for you…Make Canada, safe, prosperous and GREAT again. pic.twitter.com/FKgXrpF3Hz— Lioness (@lioness0817) June 5, 2026“I said I’d like to come home, and he said, in return, ‘We’re going to get you home,’” she said.Last week, Poilievre’s anecdote was also brought up with Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum. After a CBC reporter described Poilievre’s account of a woman leaving Canada for Mexico, Sheinbaum replied, “What you experience in Mexico, you don’t experience in the U.S. or Canada.”Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced his official plans for 24 Sussex Drive, the gutted and rat-infested official prime ministerial residence that has lain dormant since 2015.It’s not clear if he’s going to bulldoze or renovate it, but the design is going to be decided via a national architectural competition. And he’s going to attempt to pay for it via donations.A price tag hasn’t been set, although no single donor will be able to contribute more than 10 per cent of the total. And according to the Rideau Hall Foundation, the weekend already saw $100,000 in collected donations.The most immediate criticism of the donor plan is that it could transform the project into a carousel of influence-peddling, with major lobbyists attempting to curry favour with Carney by cutting cheques to what is effectively a legacy project.And if all of this sounds familiar, it’s possibly because it’s a scaled down version of something currently happening in the United States.U.S. President Donald Trump is currently overseeing the construction of a massive ballroom to complement the White House, the official residence of the U.S. presidency.And as with 24 Sussex, the cost is primarily being shouldered by private donations which have also been accused of functioning as backdoor influence payments. According to an analysis by the nonprofit Public Citizen, for instance, corporations who donated to the ballroom project have subsequently racked up a combined US$50 billion in federal contracts.Carney’s donor plan for 24 Sussex is also somewhat following a lead set in the 1970s by then prime minister Pierre Trudeau, although the elder Trudeau was much more opaque in his plan.In 1972, Trudeau requested that a pool house be built at the residence, declaring it a “biological necessity.” Wary of public scrutiny over the expenditure, Liberal Party organizers quietly arranged for the project to be completed with undisclosed private funds. It’s been two and half years since Toronto’s Yonge and Dundas Square was renamed to Sankofa Square. The name change was ostensibly because Scottish namesake Henry Dundas was pro-slavery, despite the fact that he was actually the opposite; an abolitionist. The word Sankofa, meanwhile, originates in an African kingdom that actually was an enthusiastic participant in the slave trade. Anyway, Brad Bradford, the main challenger to incumbent Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow in the October mayoral election, has a suggestion to fix all of this: Call the place Toronto Square.First Reading is a Canadian politics newsletter curated by the National Post’s own Tristin Hopper. To get an early version sent directly to your inbox, sign up here. Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.