Finally, a positive Alberta election story during one of the most divisive campaigns in the province’s history.
After a video posted Thursday showed a Calgary landlord named Steve ripping down an election sign on his lawn, Steve apologized to Gar Gar, the Alberta Party candidate for Calgary-East, over an hour-long coffee.
“He came out and said simply that he just had a bad day and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Gar said Saturday.
The discussion quickly turned to how they could work together to improve the community.
“We are here to build a community, not to break it down,” Gar said. “I think it’s about meeting in the middle. I think it’s not about judgement.”
Gar said the open conversation they had was about bridging communication channels.
“I also gave him an opportunity to ask him as a constituent, ‘What would you like me to work on?’ So it turned from a bad situation to a good situation — it’s about giving a person an opportunity,” he said.
Gar appreciates that Steve was accountable for his actions.
While Section 135.5(1) of Alberta’s Election Act says landlords cannot ban election signs from rented property, the size and type of signs can be regulated by landlords.
Comments