Barbara Bal, the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for Nepean, is accusing Liberal supporters of stealing and vandalizing her campaign signs in a bid to undermine her run against Liberal Leader Mark Carney in the Ottawa-area riding.
Vandalizing or stealing campaign signs is a crime under the Criminal Code of Canada. The act of stealing campaign signs can be classified as theft under Section 322(1) of the Criminal Code, which states that a person commits theft when they fraudulently and without colour of right take anything with the intent to deprive the owner of it.
Since campaign signs are the property of the candidate or their campaign team, stealing them would meet this definition. Theft under $5,000, which would typically apply to campaign signs, can carry a maximum penalty of two years in prison if prosecuted as an indictable offence, or up to six months if handled as a summary conviction.
In a statement posted on X, Bal said hundreds of her signs have been torn down, dumped in the garbage, or replaced with Carney’s signs using her campaign’s own wooden stakes. She called the actions “unacceptable, and unethical,” arguing they represent “a deliberate attempt to silence a voice and disrupt the democratic process.”
“No matter how many times they take my signs down, my hardworking team will always put them back up,” Bal wrote. “This is the reality of a Conservative woman working hard for her community.”
Bal urged residents not to confront anyone caught in the act, instead asking them to safely document incidents with photos or video. She said her campaign has already received multiple statements and footage from concerned voters and has filed a report with Ottawa Police.
“Nepean deserves better,” she added.
Carney, the former Bank of Canada governor, is seeking his first elected office in the riding as part of the April 28 federal election.
Bal, a former reservist with the Royal Canadian Artillery and a public safety professional, has been campaigning in Nepean since her nomination in August 2023. The riding has been a Liberal stronghold since 2015, previously held by MP Chandra Arya, whose candidacy was revoked by the party earlier this year.
