NORTH VANCOUVER – An explosive device damaged the front door of British Columbia Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma’s office on Friday morning, police said, and they’re investigating whether the “jarring incident” was linked to an earlier blast nearby.
Cpl. Mansoor Sahak with North Vancouver RCMP said the 4:15 a.m. blast at Ma’s office breached the door and damaged the door frame.
He said the blast was “indicative of an explosive device detonation” and that motive was unclear. No one was injured.
“I don’t know if it’s politically motivated. We’re not calling it that, but we’re investigating all possible avenues at this point,” Sahak told a news briefing.
Scorch marks were visible on the door at the office where there was a heavy police presence Friday afternoon.
Sahak said a previous explosion had been heard in the nearby 100 block of West 1st Avenue at 2:45 a.m. and police were looking into whether the blasts were connected.
But no residue of the earlier explosion was found and Sahak said it wasn’t known “if it was an explosive device or a firecracker or anything.”
Premier David Eby said police told him an explosive device had been “deliberately set” at Ma’s office.
He said the incident was “profoundly concerning” and struck at the heart of how elected officials performed their duties.
“I am deeply concerned about trend lines, which basically mean an increasing separation of elected officials from the people they’re meant to serve, which doesn’t benefit anybody at all,” Eby told an unrelated news conference.
Sahak said police were seeking witnesses who were in North Vancouver near West Esplanade Avenue or who may have captured dashcam or CCTV footage from 2:30 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. on Friday.
Ma said in a statement that all meetings and appointments at the office had been cancelled for the day.
“Thankfully, nobody was injured, but incidents like this can be quite frightening,” she wrote.
Ma didn’t describe the incident and said that due to the active police investigation, she would not be able to provide more details about what happened, although she wanted to thank the officers who responded.
“I appreciate the concern expressed by community members and am grateful to serve such a caring and compassionate community,” she said.
The interim leader of the federal NDP, Don Davies, said without offering details that the incident was a “blatant act of terror.”
Davies said on the social media platform X that he was “deeply alarmed” by the incident.
“This blatant act of terror is an affront to democracy and has no place in our nation. We are grateful no one was hurt and hope those responsible are apprehended as soon as possible,” Davies wrote.
B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad said on social media that all members of the legislature “must stand with NDP MLA Bowinn Ma and her constituency office staff.”
“The idea that someone would set off a device to damage or somehow threaten an MLA’s (constituency) office is deeply concerning,” he said.
— With files from Brieanna Charlebois and Chuck Chiang in Vancouver
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2025.
