Calgary-Centre election volunteers attacked while campaigning: candidate
Posted Sep 7, 2021 7:00 am.
Last Updated Sep 7, 2021 8:52 pm.
CALGARY – A Calgary-Centre candidate says two of her volunteers were physically assaulted in an apartment building while campaigning over the weekend.
Liberal candidate Sabrina Grover says her volunteers were slapped and spit on by someone.
She says attacking someone because they represent a political party that you don’t support is unacceptable.
“Destroying the signs of the only female candidate in the riding as fast as they’re put up is unacceptable,” she wrote on Instagram.
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“I do not have a solution to the small but intense displays of hatred we’ve been seeing. But we all must step up and do our part in whatever way we can.”
She says the majority of her interactions with people on the campaign trail have been healthy, but there has been a hateful minority.
“I’m a born and raised Calgarian. This is my home. This is not who we are.”
This incident coming on the same day that Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau had rocks thrown at him on the campaign trail.
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“This isn’t rhetoric, what we saw with our volunteers yesterday and with the Prime Minister, that’s physical violence. That’s not just words,” said Grover.
Calgary Police Chief Mark Neufeld says he has seen the tweets and reports and says Calgary police have reached out to ask people to report these incidents.
“Once you start getting to the point where you’re becoming obstructive, and I think there were some allegations of rock-throwing and that sort of thing, that’s actually crossing the line into criminal behaviour, and criminal assault with a weapon,” Neufeld said.
The type of behaviour, he says, police would investigate.
In the meantime, politicians of all stripes are denouncing the behaviour, from federal leaders to local candidates.
This is disgusting and I condemn these actions in the strongest terms possible. Political violence is never justified and our media must be free from intimidation, harassment, and violence. https://t.co/xF3TaWXSvI
— Erin O'Toole (@erinotoole) September 6, 2021
“At the end of the day, these are volunteers, one of our volunteers, it was his first campaign, and all they’re trying to do is build a better Canada,” Grover said. “And it’s completely unacceptable that this would happen to them.”
– With files from Cara Campbell
