TORONTO – A Liberal candidate in Brampton has filed a complaint with Elections Canada after volunteers for his Conservative rival were caught on camera vandalizing campaign signs.
Ramesh Sangha filed the complaint after one of his volunteers spied three men damaging signs promoting his own campaign and NDP hopeful Rosemary Keenan.
The men were wearing campaign jackets emblazoned with the name of Conservative MP Bal Gosal.
Holding a camera, the Liberal volunteer confronted the men, one of whom said, “I don’t care, I’m doing my job.”
The Liberal volunteer asks, “Breaking signs is your job?” and the man replied “Yes.”
“This is not how democracy works in Canada and certainly not in Brampton,” Sangha said in a statement. “I am calling on Bal Gosal to immediately apologize for and cease these dirty election tactics.”
The Liberals contacted police and sent a formal complaint to Elections Canada.
Gosal’s communications director issued a response condemning the volunteers’ actions.
“Our campaign respects the democratic process and does not condone vandalism,” Robert Lynch said, adding that the volunteers are no longer on the campaign team.
Update: a previous version of this article identifed Bal Gosal as the MP for Brampton Centre. Gosal was the MP for Bramalea—Gore—Malton, which was dissolved into four separate ridings. Gosal is the Conservative candidate in the re-established riding of Brampton Centre.
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