George Chahal
George Chahal MP | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Calgary Skyview | |
Incumbent | |
Assumed office September 20, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Jag Sahota |
Calgary City Councillor | |
In office 2017–2021 | |
Preceded by | Ray Jones |
Succeeded by | Raj Dhaliwal |
Constituency | Ward 5 |
Personal details | |
Born | Calgary, Alberta, Canada | June 5, 1975
Nationality | Canadian |
Political party | Liberal |
Occupation | Politician |
Harnirjodh "George" Chahal[1] is a Canadian politician who is the Member of Parliament for Calgary Skyview.[2] He has served as the Councillor for Ward 5 on the Calgary City Council since 2017.[3][4][5]
Federal politics[]
On July 8, 2021, Chahal, who was originally slated to seek re-election to city council, announced that he was nominated to be the candidate for the Liberal Party in Calgary Skyview in the 2021 Canadian federal election.
On September 20, 2021, Chahal won the election, making him the only victorious Liberal candidate in Calgary (incumbent Conservative MPs won in the city's other nine ridings) and only the seventh Liberal ever to represent a Calgary riding in the party's history.[original research?]
Election flyer controversy[]
On September 24, 2021, the Calgary Police's Anti-Corruption Unit announced that they were investigating George Chahal over a doorbell camera video that appeared to show Chahal removing a flyer for his Conservative opponent, Jag Sahota, from a constituent's door on the eve of the election.[6]
Chahal's campaign said that he removed the flyer supposedly because it identified an incorrect polling location for the voter's area; however, the homeowner said that Chahal's flyer was the one with the incorrect information, and that Sahota's matched the official information given to them by Elections Canada.[7]
In January 2022, Chahal accepted and paid a $500 administrative monetary penalty assessed by the Commissioner of Canada Elections in the matter,[8] saying, "It’s just a late night on an election campaign. Call it a dumb mistake or brain fog—it really doesn’t matter why I did what I did. I think what matters is I did it. And I acknowledged it fully, openly, publicly."[9]
Electoral record[]
2021 Canadian federal election: Calgary Skyview | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
Liberal | George Chahal | 20,092 | 42.4 | +14.06 | ||||
Conservative | Jag Sahota | 17,111 | 36.1 | -16.39 | ||||
New Democratic | Gurinder Singh Gill | 7,690 | 16.2 | +1.28 | ||||
People's | Harry Dhillon | 1,720 | 3.6 | +2.41 | ||||
Green | Janna So | 432 | 0.9 | -0.68 | ||||
Independent | Lee Aquart | 184 | 0.4 | |||||
Marxist–Leninist | Daniel Blanchard | 111 | 0.2 | -0.06 | ||||
Centrist | Nadeem Rana | 93 | 0.2 | |||||
Total valid votes | 47,433 | |||||||
Total rejected ballots | 502 | |||||||
Turnout | 47,935 | 54.88 | -5.24 | |||||
Eligible voters | 87,347 | |||||||
Source: Elections Canada[10] |
References[]
- ^ Dippel, Scott (March 25, 2018). "Five Calgary city councillors talk about their real names". CBC News. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
- ^ "Harnirjodh Chahal". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ "George Chahal leaving Ward 5 race for federal Liberal nomination in Calgary Skyview". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ "Calgary city councillor will run federally for the Liberal Party". CBC News. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ Pearson, Heide (September 4, 2017). "Calgary election 2017: George Chahal wins Ward 5". Global News. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ^ "Calgary police anti-corruption unit to investigate incoming Liberal MP George Chahal". Calgary. 2021-09-24. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
- ^ McGarvey, Dan (September 23, 2021). "Voter, opponent shocked to see Calgary Liberal MP-elect replace election flyer on security video". CBC News. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
- ^ "Publication of AMPs: Key facts of violation". Commissioner of Canada Elections. January 28, 2022.
- ^ Smith, Madeline (January 25, 2022). "Calgary Skyview MP George Chahal pays $500 penalty for removing opponent's flyer". Calgary Herald.
- ^ "Election night results". Elections Canada. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
- Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta
- Liberal Party of Canada MPs
- 21st-century Canadian politicians
- Calgary city councillors
- Living people
- 1975 births
- Alberta politician stubs