Calgary mayoral candidate plagued by online threats, office vandalism after council remarks

A Calgary city councillor says his office has been vandalized following remarks he made in council.

Jeff Davison — who represents Ward 6 but is running to be Calgary's next mayor — said in council this week that his six-year-old daughter's kidney surgery has been cancelled after the Alberta Children's Hospital stopped 75 per cent of surgeries to deal with the influx of sick COVID-19 patients in the province.

Davison said that businesses wanted a mandated vaccine passport like the one introduced by the city Wednesday.

"For anyone who thinks that this is a joke, that we should continue to not think about the outcomes, that our hospital system can handle it, wake up," he said.

"We are letting false narratives and misinformation fly like it is the gospel. I'm done with it."

He said Friday that his campaign office was vandalized with spray paint, and some of his signs were cut up.

"It's the usual election stuff, but I believe it's amplified by some of the concerns in and around COVID-19," he said.

He says he's also received online hate, some of which he says border on threats.

This isn't the first time during the city's municipal election that signs have been vandalized or gone missing. More than 160 signs for online events organized by Jyoti Gondek's mayoral campaign disappeared from streets in Wards 13 and 14 in June.

Davison says moving forward he will have increased security cameras, and he has reported the vandalism to Calgary police.