HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool trustee candidate who said she'd received racist threats charged for 'false statements' - Metro Calgary - 01/30/2018 - Metro Calgary - 01/30/20181/31/2018 School trustee candidate who said she'd received racist threats charged for'false statements'
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Police have charged Nimra Amjad in connection with claims made on her election documents
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By: Irturodliie FIhoirinias Metro, Published on 1"ue Nein 30 2018
Calgary police say a Calgary Board of Education (CBE) candidate who said she'd been
threatened during last fall's municipal election campaign has been charged in relation to a "false
statement" on her paperwork.
Nimra Amjad, 32, has been charged with signing a candidate's acceptance form that contains a
false statement, and making a false statement for a purpose related to an election.
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Amjad made headlines during last summer's campaign when she complained to police and the
media about online threats she was receiving. She alleged the threats contained racial slurs.
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1/31/2018 School trustee candidate who said she'd received racist threats charged for'false statements'
Police launched an investigation, but days before the election results were counted in October
she dropped her complaint.
During the Oct. 16 election she came last out of four candidates in the race for the trustee seat
for wards 3 and 4.
Now, police believe she shouldn't have been able to run at all.
Detective Jeff MacQueen with Calgary Police Service's anti -corruption unit said the charges
relate to Amjad's nationality and her eligibility to vote and run in the election.
"Following (an) investigation and the evidence we've collected, it does not appear she is a
Canadian citizen," said MacQueen.
The charges have not yet been proven in court. She is set to appear in court on Feb. 13.
The maximum potential penalty for the charges is a $10,000 fine and 6 months in jail.
MacQueen said the investigation started when the received a tip at the end of October that
Amjad may not have been eligible to run.
Because of the complexity of the case, the anti -corruption unit was asked to investigate.
"Elections investigations are quite rare, actually," said MacQueen. "Because they're so rare,
that's what took so long to investigate this."
Metro reached out to Amjad for comment but did not receive a response.
Laura Hack, who came second in the election with just 632 votes behind winner Althea Adams,
said she would like to see a byelection called because of the potential for vote splitting.
Both Hack and the other candidate, Kim Tyers, could have potentially defeated Adams if Majad's
votes were redistributed.
However Laura Kenedy, the City of Calgary's returning officer, said legally people only have six
weeks after the election to contest it.
"The six weeks has passed and the results are officials — there will be no byelection," said
Kennedy.
Kennedy also said that Elections Calagry had no requirement to check the eligibility of
candidates, nor can they compel them to show certain documentation.
Instead, the onus is on the candidate who is swearing that the information they've provided is
correct and meets the requirements.
- with files from Helen Pike
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