On Friday, Calgary Police confirmed that their anti-corruption units are now investigating Liberal MP George Chahal after video caught him removing his opponent’s election material from a Conservative voter’s property.
“We can confirm that the incident has been reported, and we will begin an investigation,” said Calgary Police spokesperson Tanja McMorris to Bryan Passifiume, adding that the service’s anti-corruption unit is handling the matter.
Video captured by homeowner Glenn Pennet shows Chahal approaching the house in northeast Calgary, checking the mailbox, seeing that a Conservative poster was taped to the voter’s door, allegedly removing said poster before replacing it with his material and walking away.
Pennett spoke with The Counter Signal on Wednesday night and confirmed that he was filing a police report.
“And that’s him,” Pennett said, referring to the video of Chahal. “And that’s the sheet from Jag. And then he’s putting this [Liberal flyer] under my [door].”
Pennett also says that the only reason he can think of that Chahal targeted his house was that he is not a Liberal supporter, having voted Conservative ever since he had the opportunity and supporting Jag Sahota in the last election.
The Counter Signal also spoke with many of Pennett’s neighbours who say that they never received Sahota’s campaign literature, despite proudly hosting her sign on their lawns.
Whether Chahal removed their campaign literature, too, is currently unknown but not unlikely.
Having been forced to respond due to the overwhelming evidence, Chahal’s campaign admitted that Chahal took the flyer and replaced it with his own but said that he did this because his opponent’s flyer contained misinformation.
“While dropping off polling info flyers prior to polls opening on Election Day, George removed a piece of campaign literature that identified an incorrect polling location for the person residing at the address,” wrote campaign manager Randall Zalazar.
“All through Election Day, campaign volunteers found incorrectly labelled materials across the eastern side of the riding. Our campaign contacted Elections Canada and advised them of the issue.”
However, the video tells a different story. Indeed, Chahal barely looks at his opponent’s campaign literature before replacing it with his own.
Sahota, who spoke with the Sun on Wednesday, says she is “shocked” and “disappointed” with the video.
“If you watch the video, he made no attempt to look at the pamphlet,” she said.
Moreover, during our interview, Pennett showed The Counter Signal the new election material, directing Pennett to vote at Saint Clare Elementary School — the wrong location given his address.
“And actually, that isn’t even a voting station,” continued Pennett. “People have emailed me and told me that it isn’t a voting station.”
“[Jag’s poster] just reminded me to go to vote, reminded me to vote, and where to vote, which is a Catholic school just around the corner from here,” explained Pennett.
“And this here — if you look at that — Coventry is 9.6 kilometres North of me. And, then, that’s not even a polling station.”
The Counter Signal investigated this issue and found that, indeed, Pennett’s polling station is at a different school just around the corner.
Following our interview with Pennett, The Counter Signal reached out to the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections (CCE) to see if they were aware of the issue.
“In keeping with the confidentiality provisions of the Act, the CCE generally does not confirm whether it has received a complaint or has initiated an investigation into a particular issue,” said a senior communications advisor for the Office.
“That said, I can tell you that the Act contains a prohibition on “impairing or preventing the transmission of election advertising” — which would include, but is not limited to, defacing or removing election signs or other advertisements.”
According to the Office of the CCE, “… every person who is guilty of this offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than six months, or to both.”
Under Section 325 (1) of the Canada Elections Act, it is illegal to “… prevent or impair the transmission to the public of an election advertising message without the consent of a person with authority to authorize its transmission.”
How this will affect the election outcome in the Calgary Skyview riding is still unknown.
As it stands, Chahal is the only Liberal MP elected in Calgary and the only MP being investigated by police.
