Calgary liberal candidate frustrated after campaign signs destroyed, stolen

With the Canadian election just around the corner, a Calgary candidate is speaking out after her campaign signs were destroyed and stolen.

Shahnaz Munir, a Liberal running for Calgary-Crowfoot, says 24 large and 150 small signs have been stolen or vandalized since they went up.

Recently, none of the six signs put up by volunteers on Friday night are still there.

“Every day in the evening, we put up the signs, and you can see that the other parties’ signs are fine. They focus on only my signs… if you see from here to there, all other parties’ signs are there, but none of my signs are there,” she told CityNews.

Munir says that, going forward, she hopes to be treated fairly.

“This is not a good thing. It’s not respectful. Everyone deserves respect. They can come out and speak to me, or they can speak on social media. They can convey their message, but this is just not good,” she said.

“During the election, everyone should be respected. No vandalism, please.”

Munir says she has filed a police report, contacted Elections Canada, and will continue to replace the signs with her team until election night on Monday.

Recently, Mounties launched an investigation after election signs of former Lethbridge mayor and Liberal candidate Chris Spearman were spray-painted with hate symbols and profanity.

He shared the photos on his social media campaign page.

“It’s upsetting–not just for me, but for what it says about the tone of our politics,” he said on social media.

Back in 2021, then Calgary mayoral candidate Grace Yan had her signs stolen, destroyed, and defaced with racial slurs, and had her car broken into and campaign supplies stolen. She said she was the target of racist and sexist abuse.

That same year, Mayor Jyoti Gondek had signs stolen and faced intimidation during her campaign.

During the 2019 campaign, UCP candidate Jasraj Singh Hallan says dozens of street and lawn signs were torn apart and stolen.

It’s also not legal.

Vandalizing election signs is considered mischief under or over $5,000, which is the willful destruction or damage of property.

In the meantime, signs can remain for 14 consecutive days before being removed, and candidates have 72 hours to remove them once polls close, regardless of how long they have been there, according to the City of Calgary.

Canadians head to the polls on April 28.