A London city councillor has made public a death threat she received related to the taxi licence debate.

Coun. Virginia Ridley says two copies of the same letter mailed to her back in May, one to her office and one to her home. She recalls the day when she was talking with one of her children's babysitters in the hallway and her son brought in the mail.

"When I opened [the letter] and read it, at first I started skimming it and then it hit me as to what I was reading," said Ridley.

"I had to excuse myself from the conversation and go and read the full letter. I was shocked because I had never got anything like this before."

The letter began innocuously, referencing a Community and Protective Services Committee meeting where the issue of taxi licences in the vehicle for hire bylaw was being debated.

The author of the letter criticized the idea of changing the ratio of taxi licences that are made available by the City of London to allow for more cabs on the street, a change Ridley supports. Three paragraphs into the letter, the author threatened Ridley's life.

"I hope that you change your mind about this, but if you decide to go ahead and ruin our lives you may as well prepare your grave too," the letter read.

"I swear to God that I will make sure that the bullet goes between your eyes and that you are dead, before I turn the gun to myself."

London, Ont. coun. Virginia Ridley was sent a death threat over a taxi licensing debate in May, 2018. (Submitted)

Ridley took the threat to the police, but they would not comment on a possible investigation.

"Unless there are criminal charges in relation to an investigation, we are unable to speak to ongoing matters," said Const. Sandasha Bough, media relations officer.

Taxi industry responds

London Taxi Association and four local taxi companies issued a statement Monday afternoon about the threatening letter.

"The letter in no way reflects the position or sentiment of the London Taxi industry," the statement reads. "[We] have made sure to conduct our interactions with the City of London staff and council members in a respectful, dignified and professional manner and will continue to do so."

Association spokesperson Roger Caranci said he reached out to Councillor Ridley to offer the industry's support in finding out who wrote the letter.

Robbed of feeling safe

"I never expected that I would receive something like this in any context, let alone in the context of public service and elected office," said Ridley.

"It's been rough. There was a number of sleepless nights at the beginning and we had to increase some security measures around our house for our own peace of mind."

Ridley had cameras installed around her home to live-stream video 24 hours a day. She says she's changed the way she moves around the city and is always aware of her surroundings.

"We've had to have conversations with our kids in very broad and general terms about safety, who's allowed at our house," said Ridley.

The councillor says she also had London police conduct a home safety audit and give her tools to facilitate conversations with family and friends about the new security measures they undertook.

Going public

After receiving the death threat, Ridley says she kept the letter to only a handful of trusted people.

"At that time, we were getting into the nominations for councillors and it was important to me that the information not really taint the role of a councillor and what some candidates may expect, and especially female candidates, I didn't want anyone to think that this was the norm, or have this conversation dominating the election period," she said.

Ridley said she didn't want to go public with the story until after a public meeting was held on the vehicle for hire bylaw. That meeting took place on Sept. 11.

"I recognize that there is a lot of emotion and personal issue here for people who own taxi plates," said Ridley.

"I'm trained to look at this issue from the broader perspective of the community, people who don't own taxi plates who are drivers, who are paying these fees to be able to drive. That's the lens that I'm looking at this through and I'm trying not to let this specific individual taint my view of the industry."

Ridley says she remains open to new evidence on the taxi issue, but affirmed that the threat on her life will not impact the way she votes on council.

The vehicle for hire bylaw will be discussed by full council on Tuesday, Sept. 18.