In the ramp up to the final week of Ottawa’s municipal election race, some council candidates say they have had issues with campaign material being defaced, removed, or even stolen.
In a now viral video, taken in late September, Barrhaven-West candidate Taayo Simmonds accused fellow candidate David Hill of removing his campaign materials from a residential mailbox and replacing them with Hill’s own.
Hill later apologized for his actions, calling them a "lapse in judgement."
In the wake of that video, other candidates are speaking up about their own experiences.
Knoxdale-Merivale ward candidate Michael Wood posted a Twitter video Friday that appears to show a man removing a lawn sign supporting Wood from a property.
"It’s disheartening to me knowing the people that have supported me, the money that’s been spent, and seeing the signs ripped up," Wood said.
In Kanata South, Erin Coffin says she’s had election signs repeatedly removed from certain streets, and even had signs stolen from her volunteers.
"We’ve had a volunteer, my dad, have signs taken out of his car while he was out putting signs out for us," Coffin said.
Municipal experts say it's part of a trend of growing political division that is seeping through politics and is now prevalent at the municipal level.
"We’ll see if there’s a bit of a reset with the new term of council because over the past year and even three to four years there have been some deep divisions that have developed really since the last election," Jon Willing, a municipal affairs commentator said.
In September, Ottawa police said they had received 14 reports of mischief or theft of election signs.
Interfering with or damaging election signs is an offence under the criminal code and charges can include mischief to property.
Memphis authorities released video footage Friday showing Tyre Nichols being beaten by police officers who held the Black motorist down and repeatedly struck him with their fists, boots and batons as he screamed for his mother and pleaded, ''I'm just trying to go home.'
The head of the Canada Revenue Agency says it 'wouldn't be worth the effort' to fully review $15.5 billion in potentially ineligible pandemic wage benefit payments flagged by Canada's Auditor General.
Mike Davy always dreamed of going to a Toronto Maple Leafs game, and once it finally happened, he passed away the night after.
A review has been launched after police officers were recorded restraining a handcuffed Indigenous child on the floor of a Vancouver hospital – an incident the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs has denounced as "horrendous."
The World Health Organization will announce Monday whether it thinks COVID-19 still represents a global health emergency but Canada's top doctor says regardless of what the international body decides, Canada's response to the coronavirus will not change.
Canadian university professors are mostly older and increasingly more female compared to 50 years ago, a new report from Statistics Canada has found.
Hyundai cars in Canada don't have the same anti-theft issue compared to those in the United States, a company spokesperson says, following reports that two American auto insurers are refusing to write policies for older models.
The outrage, frustration, sadness and anger was evident around the NBA on Friday, the day that video was released showing how Nichols, a 29-year-old father, was killed by five Memphis police officers. Several teams released statements of support for the family, as did the National Basketball Players Association.
Video released publicly Friday shows the husband of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi struggling with his assailant for control of a hammer moments before he was struck in the head during a brutal attack in the couple's San Francisco home last year.
A jury has delivered a guilty verdict in the 2020 murder of a man from the Yarmouth, N.S., area.
In trying to prevent of a large tax increase, Halifax councillors face another problem. They have to find more than $13 million in savings -- that means cuts.
With three structure fires in three days, it's been a busy week for the Moncton Fire Department.
The TTC is adding dozens of staff across the system daily in an effort to increase safety as it grapples with recent violent attacks that have left many riders shaken.
Mike Davy always dreamed of going to a Toronto Maple Leafs game, and once it finally happened, he passed away the night after.
Toronto police have released images of a suspect wanted in connection with a stabbing at a TTC subway station in Etobicoke that left a teenage boy injured on Wednesday.
On Jan. 29, 2017, six men were killed and five others injured shortly after evening prayer at the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Centre. Montrealers gathered Friday to commemorate the victims and call for action amid a rise in hate crimes.
In an emotional and powerful speech at an International Holocaust Remembrance Day event in Ottawa, a survivor stressed the importance of remembering the millions of victims murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War and underscored the need to stand up against anti-semitism and hate.
The Francois Legault government announced the formation of an interdepartmental 'action group' on the French language to find ways to halt the 'decline' of the language in Quebec.
The manager of a Tim Hortons in North Bay was wrong to fire a long-term employee because of her physical limitations, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has ruled.
The body of a 29-year-old Sudbury nurse was recovered Wednesday night from a lake near Parry Sound after her snowmobile went through the ice, police say.
A survey on parking at city-owned lots throughout the city, as well as on-street parking downtown, began recently in the Sault.
Educators are hoping to write a new chapter in the story of ChatGPT, and it’s one that sees limits on the program’s ability to do school work for students.
Inflation has driven the cost to build London’s first rapid transit route over budget and threatens to increase the price tag for the two remaining routes.
In a few months, you won’t be able to drive through Kincardine’s downtown. It will be a several block long construction zone.
Several schools in southeast Manitoba were closed Friday after a round of threatening voicemails came in over the last week.
Manitoba's finance minister is stepping down to run for a seat in the House of Commons.
From a pandemic pause to a permanent practice, Grade 12 students in Manitoba are no longer having to take final exams.
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) shut down a section of a Perth County roadway Friday after they say a passerby discovered a body in the area overnight.
A Kitchener elementary school is responding to reports of a suspicious man who appeared to be watching or following students on two separate occasions.
Upward of five centimetres of snow fell in Calgary early Friday morning and officials said conditions were good, but the situation deteriorated later on Friday, leading to plenty of crashes and road closures.
The quiet streets of Coutts are a stark contrast to one year ago, when more than 100 vehicles blocked the highway in opposition to COVID-19 measures
Lethbridge police are looking for a missing 18-year-old woman.
The SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival is on the move.
Sixteen Scottish curlers and 16 Canadians squared off against each other Friday morning as part of the 2023 Strathcona Cup, a tournament taking place across Canada.
Universities around Canada are faced with a new look at an old problem. How do students use technology as a tool, and not as a resource to cheat?
The self-proclaimed spiritual leader accused of sexually assaulting four of his female followers between 2017 and 2020 made his first court appearance in Edmonton.
New details have emerged in an ongoing civil lawsuit against the City of Leduc as court documents detail allegations that women working as firefighters experienced systemic discrimination and sexual assault.
An Alberta government email review of whether Premier Danielle Smith’s office interfered with Crown prosecutors has taken a confusing turn, with duelling statements from two spokespeople on what was investigated.
A review has been launched after police officers were recorded restraining a handcuffed Indigenous child on the floor of a Vancouver hospital – an incident the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs has denounced as "horrendous."
B.C.’s public safety minister made the right call asking for more information before approving Surrey's policing plans, according to two city councillors.
The price of hosting the FIFA World Cup is rising in Vancouver, and the province is using a new tool to help cover the costs.
A Saskatchewan man who had his charges stayed based on pandemic delays in court will be headed back for trial, after a ruling from the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
Three downtown business organizations are advocating for the City of Regina to locate a new multi-purpose events centre and central library branch in the downtown core.
More medical professionals are on track to join Saskatchewan’s healthcare system, as the province’s action plan progresses.
