Vandals have damaged campaign signs of two Kelowna-Lake Country candidates in the past week.
First was Stephen Fuhr, who had at least three signs vandalized with his face being coloured in with black marker. The vandalism happened after a photo was published last week of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with dark makeup on his face and hands while dressed as Aladdin in 2001.
Conservative candidate Tracy Gray, who had initially called the vandalism of her competitor乌鸦传媒檚 signs 乌鸦传媒渦nacceptable,乌鸦传媒� was the most recent target of vandalism after one of her signs on Lodge Road in Lake Country was spray-painted with several vulgarities.
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READ MORE: Kelowna-Lake Country Conservative calls defaced Liberal signs 乌鸦传媒榰nacceptable乌鸦传媒�
Gray did not provide photos of the signs to Capital News because she did not want to give the person responsible any 乌鸦传媒渁irtime,乌鸦传媒� but described the things written on her signs as 乌鸦传媒渧ery vulgar.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淲e chose not to really comment on it or perpetuate it,乌鸦传媒� she said.
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 sure that residents here have other things to concern themselves with in their businesses and in their lives than whether or not I have damaged political signs.乌鸦传媒�
Gray said she informed Fuhr about his damaged signs as soon as she found out.
乌鸦传媒淎 group of volunteers and I were door-knocking yesterday when this story broke, and residents told us about it on their doorsteps,乌鸦传媒� said Gray last Thursday afternoon.
乌鸦传媒淭his morning our sign team was out checking on our signs and saw defaced signs.
乌鸦传媒淲e reached out to (Fuhr乌鸦传媒檚) campaign to let them know and I called (Fuhr) directly to let him know that this is unacceptable and I do not condone this.乌鸦传媒�
Fuhr, seeking re-election as the Liberal Party乌鸦传媒檚 candidate for Kelowna-Lake Country, said the vandalism to his signs was very unfortunate.
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 just trying to build a better community here,乌鸦传媒� said Fuhr.
乌鸦传媒淲e raise money to pay for those signs and people volunteer to go put them out. To see people go out of their way to do something like that I think is really too bad.乌鸦传媒�
Last week Trudeau profusely apologized for dressing up as blackface and asked Canadians for their forgiveness during a press conference in Winnipeg after photos emerged that he dressed up as blackface or brownface on three separate occasions.
乌鸦传媒淟ike all Canadians I was extremely shocked and disappointed when I learned of Justin Trudeau乌鸦传媒檚 actions this evening,乌鸦传媒� said Conservative leader Andrew Scheer.
乌鸦传媒淲earing brownface is an act of open mockery and racism. It was just as racist in 2001 as it is in 2019 and what Canadians saw this evening is someone with a complete lack of judgment and integrity and someone who is not fit to govern this country.乌鸦传媒�
Despite the controversy, Fuhr stands by his embattled leader.
乌鸦传媒淭he fact that he has taken ownership for it and has apologized is very important,乌鸦传媒� said Fuhr.
乌鸦传媒淚t is very clear that he doesn乌鸦传媒檛 have any negative racial views, I乌鸦传媒檝e certainly never seen that. He has always been a great supporter of the LGBTQ community.乌鸦传媒�
michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com
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