George Chahal fined $500 for flyer swapping incident

Calgary Skyview MP George Chahal says he has accepted and paid a $500 penalty from Elections Canada after he was caught removing a flyer from someone’s house and replacing it with one of his own during the fall federal election campaign.

An investigation was launched in September 2021 after doorbell cam footage appeared on social media that showed Chahal taking a competitor’s flyer.

WATCH: Calgary police are investigating after a video surfaced online showing George Chahal appearing to swap election flyers on someone’s doorstep. 

In a statement on Twitter Tuesday, the MP apologized for his mistake and said he had paid a $500 administrative penalty levied by the elections watchdog.

I have accepted and paid a $500 administrative penalty, as assessed by Elections Canada, for removing a flyer from a front door on September 19, 2021.

I want to again apologize and acknowledge my mistake.

— George Chahal (@ChahalGeorge) January 25, 2022

He says he is committed to putting the interests of his constituents first through his activities and interactions.

The elections commissioner investigated the incident after the footage emerged of the MP and after receiving multiple complaints.

In findings posted online, the commissioner concluded that an aggravating factor was that candidates who fail to abide by rules adopted by Parliament could “contribute to a loss of public confidence in the integrity of members of the political class.”

This risks increasing voter apathy, the commissioner said.

The commissioner added that the MP and his staff had co-operated fully with the investigation, which was a mitigating factor.

“The (penalty) was in the amount of $500 and is intended to address violations related to preventing or impairing the transmission of election advertising,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.

Related articles: 

• Police looking at new Calgary MP after video appears to show flyer swap on doorstep

• Calgary MP-elect under fire after doorbell cam footage circulates

• Defeated Tory candidate to ask court to quash result in Calgary Skyview

Conservative MP John Brassard, the ethics critic, called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to share whether he plans to discipline Chahal for his actions.

“Canadians need to trust those in power to follow the law,” Brassard said in a written statement sent by the Conservative party.

“There can’t be two sets of rules, one for Trudeau and his party, and one for the rest of us. Justin Trudeau must now tell Canadians what punishment there will be for Chahal or if this is just business as usual for a member of his caucus,” he said.

The Canada Elections Act prohibits people from preventing election advertising being communicated to the public. The commissioner is responsible for ensuring compliance with the act.

The elections commissioner’s office said it had issued the penalty to Chahal, and not Elections Canada, the body which ran the election, as stated in his tweet.

As one of only two Liberals elected in Alberta, Chahal was considered a possible cabinet contender. However, Trudeau ultimately only selected Edmonton MP Randy Boissonnault for cabinet, naming him tourism minister and associate minister of finance.

Chahal disclosed over the weekend that anti-vaccine protesters had gathered outside his house in Calgary waving placards while he was celebrating his wife’s birthday. The MP wrote on Twitter that the protesters were trying to “intimidate” him and his family.