Liberal MP George Chahal fined $500 for taking Tory election leaflet from front door

OTTAWA — MP George Chahal says he has paid a $500 fine after taking an opponent’s pamphlet from a front door and replacing it with his own during last year’s election. 

The Liberal MP for Calgary Skyview was captured on a doorbell camera removing the Conservative flyer while he was going door to door as a candidate. 

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

The commissioner investigated the incident after the footage emerged of the MP.

The Elections Canada Act prohibits people from impairing “the transmission to the public” of election advertising, and the commissioner is responsible for ensuring compliance with the act.

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

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 25, 2022. 

The Canadian Press