A candidate in last year’s provincial election is speaking out after experiencing first-hand the increasingly polarized nature of politics.

Jeff Young took to Facebook last week following Tourism Minister Andrea Barbour’s emotional statement in the House of Assembly about the harassment and cruelty she’s experienced since getting elected.

Young ran against PC Leader – and now Premier – Tony Wakeham. He says the “environment we’re seeing now didn’t just appear overnight; it was cultivated.”

He told VOCM Open Line with guest host Darrin Bent he was shocked at the level of abuse he endured during the election campaign.

”It’s severe, ” says Young. “You know, you’re going to pick up your drugs at the drug store and there are people screaming at you, there are people waiting outside in their cars to scream at you, or to follow you.”

“You receive more middle fingers than you can count. For instance, I went to the local arena with my son to play hockey and I was cornered into one of the porches. I wouldn’t say a conversation was being had, because I was being screamed at more. It comes to the point you don’t even want to go get your groceries because you know you’re going to be screamed at, you’re going to be called every name under the sun.”