Police are looking for two “persons of interest” in their investigation into the explosion that damaged B.C. cabinet minister Bowinn Ma’s constituency office in North Vancouver’s Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood late last month.
In an update on the case Tuesday afternoon, Const. Mansoor Sahak told reporters the explosion that damaged the door to Ma’s office was caused by “an unsophisticated, homemade device,” possibly multiple bear bangers or fireworks taped together to increase their capacity for damage.
The two people police are seeking are a white man with short, balding hair and a stocky build, and a white man with a slender build who was wearing a long, blond wig.
They were captured on surveillance video around the time of the explosion.
“We’re urging the public to review these images and contact police if they recognize the suspects,” Sahak said. “The public plays a very important role in this investigation, and sometimes even a small tip can be the final piece of the puzzle.”
Sahak said investigators are still working to determine the motive for the crime, and cannot say whether it was “politically motivated.”
“We’re not sure at this point,” he said. “There’s just not information to point to that direction. At any point, it could change, as the investigation unfolds.”
Earlier explosion linked
Police were first called to the Lower Lonsdale area around 2:45 a.m. on June 27 after a caller reported “a loud bang” in the 100 block of West First Avenue.
Responding officers did not find any evidence of the source of the noise, but police were called back to the area – this time on West Esplanade, about a block away from the initial call – for reports of an explosion around 4:15 a.m.
This time, responding officers found evidence “indicative of an explosive device detonation.”
Initially, police said they were working to confirm whether the two calls were related. In his update Tuesday, Sahak said they were.
“They are linked,” he said. “We do have information that a street sign was targeted in that earlier explosion.”
Asked what charges the suspects could face, Sahak said police are currently investigating the matter as a case of mischief.
“There could potentially be additional charges, should we get more information, but at this stage in the investigation, we’re investigating the offence – the criminal offence – of mischief,” he said.
No reported similar incidents
The North Vancouver RCMP Serious Crime Unit is leading the investigation, according to Sahak, who said police are not aware of any similar incidents at other politicians’ offices around the province.
Ma has been the NDP MLA for North Vancouver–Lonsdale since 2017. She currently serves as the government’s minister of infrastructure.
Though police say they have not found any evidence that she was targeted or that politics played a role in the incident, Ma and others have lamented the chilling effect such attacks can have on democracy and public participation.
Over the weekend, Ma told The Canadian Press she worried that the blast would feed into a feeling among elected officials and the public that politicians are being more “frequently targeted.”
“I worry that will drive elected officials further away from these kinds of open approaches, and that’s not a criticism of elected officials,” she said. “I mean, they’ve got to do what they need to do to keep themselves and their staff safe, but we also lose out as a democratic society when that happens.”
On the day of the explosion, Premier David Eby told reporters the incident strikes “at the heart of the job” that elected officials are asked to do – namely, be available and responsive to their constituents.
“On that level, alone, this is a very troubling incident,” Eby said at the time.
With files from The Canadian Press
