Ottawa police are investigating after a hate symbol was found on a campaign sign belonging to Kitchissippi city council candidate Subhir Uppal. Uppal said police contacted him after discovering the defaced sign and told him an investigation had been launched, with the Ottawa Police Service’s Hate and Bias Crime Unit being notified. “I think there’s a line that’s crossed, and I think it was crossed with what happened with those signs,” Uppal said. Uppal, who is running for the Ward 15 seat, said the incident was “devastating” for his family. He said his wife was concerned about the incident escalating and that the couple had to explain what happened to their five-year-old son. Uppal said his parents, who immigrated to Canada about 50 years ago, were also deeply upset. Ottawa Police told CTV Ottawa they received a report on Oct. 5 regarding symbols drawn on an election sign, and another kicked over. The incident was at the intersection of Churchill Avenue North and Scott Street. The matter is being investigated by the Hate and Bias Crime Unit, the Ottawa police unit that investigates incidents believed to be motivated by hate or bias. Uppal said the incident will not deter him from continuing his campaign through election day on Oct. 26. The City of Ottawa also says interfering with or damaging an election sign is an offence under the Criminal Code and directs people who witness election sign tampering to contact police. Incumbent mayor Mark Sutcliffe says he was shocked to learn of this incident. “The fact that someone is willing to put their name forward is to be applauded, and you know, the idea that Subhir and his family, including his child, have to go through something so threatening and so disgusting and frankly, disturbing as this is really, really troubling to me,” Sutcliffe said. “I’m glad the police are investigating and I hope they follow up with whatever resources they have available, because this has no place in our community, no place whatsoever.” The campaign manager for a candidate running in the Gloucester Southgate ward, Ahmed Rashid says the candidate received an email “attacking him based on his race and religion.” Ahmed has reported the incident to police and to the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM). The Ottawa Police Service told CTV News Ottawa on Friday that the Hate Crime Unit was investigating an email sent to a candidate “which possibly contained hate-related content.” The NCCM confirms they have received an incident report. “It is always disturbing to see any kind of Islamophobic hate enter the course of campaign politics in Ottawa or any other city in Canada. Nonetheless, we are also no longer shocked that such anti-Muslim rhetoric and acts of intimidation continue to permeate various sectors of our country,” NCCM spokesperson Steven Zhou said. “It has been a summer where our organization has received literal daily reports of Islamophobic incidents across the country. We must not accept this as the new normal. Our community will not be intimidated. Canada now needs a National Strategy on Combatting Islamophobia to face this issue head on, from all angles.” The candidates running for Kitchissipi Ward are Uppal, Joanne Chianello, Brian Innes and Xavier Commerford. Police say there have been 14 incidents reported to police in relation to the ongoing election campaign, including 11 reports related to election signs “being removed, damaged or destroyed.”
