Mississauga MP’s office targeted by arsonist: police

Police believe a fire that destroyed the constituency office of Mississauga East-Cooksville MP Peter Fonseca early yesterday morning (Feb. 22) was deliberately set and specifically targeted the local politician.

The Peel Regional Police 12 Division Criminal Investigation Bureau and Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office are probing the “suspicious” blaze, which broke out inside the Burnhamthorpe Rd. E./Tomken Rd. commercial plaza at 4:19 a.m.

Mississauga firefighters extinguished the blaze, but not before the constituency office was destroyed and two adjacent businesses had suffered extensive damage.

There were no injuries.

“This incident is deemed suspicious and believed to be targeted,” Peel police said in a news release today (Feb. 23). “Investigators are working with the Fire Marshal’s office to determine the fire’s cause and circumstances.”

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Investigators are also seeking help from the public, and ask anyone with information to call police at 905-453-2121, ext. 1233 or Peel Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

At today’s (Feb. 23) meeting of Mississauga general committee, Ward 3 Councillor Chris Fonseca, who’s married to the Mississauga East-Cooksville MP, described the deliberately set fire as a “senseless act.”

She went on to say that video footage shows that the doors to her husband’s constituency office “were literally smashed open” prior to the fire being set.

“It is very disconcerting and very sad when a community constituency office…is destroyed in this way,” Chris Fonseca said, adding two adjacent businesses in the plaza were also extensively damaged.

“Luckily, this happened in the early morning hours and nobody was physically hurt,” she continued.

Councillor Fonseca noted that while there were no physical injuries, the incident has shaken those who work in the office and many residents in the community as well.

She added that her husband is seeking support from the federal government to help the impacted businesses in the commercial plaza rebuild.

Police aren’t saying at this point why they believe the MP’s office was targeted.

However, the fire was reported just hours after Fonseca, a third-term Liberal MP, voted with his party to approve extraordinary, time-limited measures in the Emergencies Act.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the law on Feb. 14 in a bid to end the trucker blockades in Ottawa and at several border crossings.