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HALIFAX — Nova Scotia cabinet minister Kim Masland says she’s taking more precautions to ensure her safety after police arrested a man who tried to enter her Liverpool home through the back door.
RCMP confirmed a local man has been charged with trespassing by night and is expected to appear in court at a later date.
Masland said Friday she wasn’t at home when the man, dressed in a camouflage hoodie, showed up before midnight on Feb. 26. But she quickly became aware of his arrival when her home security system sent an alert and a video to her cellphone.
“It’s very scary to click on a picture and see someone trying to get into your home,” said Masland, the province’s natural resources minister.
“To see someone actually violating my safe place, my home, it was very upsetting. I was extremely upset. Actually, I panicked and I didn’t even know what to do.”
At the time, Masland was at her Halifax apartment, which is where she stays when the provincial legislature is in session. After she called 911, the man was arrested nearby.
She said it wasn’t the first time she has felt intimidated as a politician. Six months ago, she said she received a threatening email from someone saying they knew where she lived. And there’s been a few disturbing incidents at her constituency office.
“I grew up in the country in a little place called Caledonia, and we never locked our doors,” said Masland, who represents the district of Queens in southwestern Nova Scotia. “Where I live now, I never locked my door until about two years ago.”
Meanwhile, political tensions in Nova Scotia have been on the rise since the governing Progressive Conservatives tabled a budget last month that included $130 million in cuts to Indigenous and African Nova Scotian projects and arts, tourism and culture programs.
The proposed cuts sparked a public backlash that culminated in a series of boisterous protests outside the legislature. As well, Premier Tim Houston and some of his cabinet ministers were jeered and heckled at some public events.
As well, the Speaker of the house, Danielle Barkhouse, introduced temporary restrictions limiting public access to certain areas inside the legislature, citing growing safety concerns following a week of protest rallies.
“As most people know, the emotions are high here in the house,” Barkhouse said last week.
Earlier this week, the premier rolled back some of the cuts and apologized for making some wrong decisions.
Masland declined to speculate as to why the man had approached her home, but she said the incident and a threatening letter she received six months ago have prompted her to make changes to ensure her safety.
“I don’t go for walks at night by myself anymore,” she said, adding that many of her colleagues in politics have taken similar precautions. “I try to have someone with me wherever I go … When I go to an event, I enter the room cautiously.”
As well, she said she has noticed a downturn in civility during the pandemic, which has been aggravated by more recent international turmoil.
“We have just so much uncertainty and worry right across the world,” she said. “And social media is a great place for people to be able to write whatever they want to write and say whatever they want to say.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2026.
Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press
