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Canada elections: Liberal MP George Chahal likely in trouble for violating rules
Tipped to become a member in Justin Trudeau’s new Cabinet, newly elected Liberal Party MP George Chahal from Canada’s Alberta province is in trouble for allegedly violating election rules.
Tipped to become a member in Justin Trudeau’s new Cabinet, newly elected Liberal Party MP Harnirjodh Chahal, better known as “George Chahal”, from Canada’s Alberta province is in trouble for allegedly violating election rules.
On election night, Liberal candidate George Chahal defeated incumbent Conservative MP Jag Sahota from Calgary-Skyview in Alberta and was immediately tipped for inclusion in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s next Cabinet.
The win is important for Liberals as Alberta (34 seats) has always been a Conservative Party bastion. In 2019 elections, Liberals were wiped out and failed to open an account. This year, Conservatives have won 30 seats out of 34, Liberals have won 1 and results are yet to be declared in remaining 3 seats.
So, a win for Liberals from Alberta is important to ensure a representation in the Cabinet which was not there in 2019.
However, the emergence of footage showing George Chahal removing election material of his opponent may well jeopardise that possibility. George Chahal bested his rival by approximately 3,300 votes with commentators singling him out as a serious candidate for entering the Cabinet.
However, constituent Glenn Pennett released security camera footage on Facebook that showed George Chahal personally removing Jag Sahota’s flyer from his doorstep and putting his own campaign material there. That could comprise a contravention of the Canada Elections Act, multiple news outlets reported.
Jag Sahota, meanwhile, according to the outlet CBC News, believes that “legal action” is warranted in this matter.
The Toronto Sun cited George Chahal’s spokesperson as saying the flyer was removed as it had the wrong polling station mentioned but that has been denied by both Jag Sahota’s campaign as well as Pennett himself. “We had our voting cards from Elections Canada and it was the same address on Sahota’s flyer. But he took it away,” Glenn Pennett told CBC News. “He should be charged because he’s destroying somebody else’s papers. If he’s going to be dishonest, he should resign.”
In fact, Pennett said the flyer George Chahal left behind contained the wrong address for his polling station, listing one 18km away.
If the matter is investigated, it will be done by the commissioner of Canada Elections.
George Chahal was elected to the Calgary City Council in 2017 and this is his debut in national politics. He has a master’s in environmental design from the University of Calgary, and he and his wife Aman, have three daughters.
