Manitoba candidate who forged 2 signatures, withdrew from race won't be penalized, report says

A candidate from last year's Manitoba provincial election has been discovered to have forged two signatures on her nomination form.

According to a report by elections commissioner Bill Bowles, Gabrielle Simard-Nadeau, who was running for the Green Party in the Steinbach constituency, faced challenges in gathering the 50 signatures needed to qualify as a candidate.

The report indicates that Simard-Nadeau consulted a friend who mentioned that two relatives would be willing to sign. Due to time constraints before the deadline, Simard-Nadeau forged their signatures.

Although she was approved as a candidate, Elections Manitoba announced the day before the election that she was withdrawing, without providing an explanation.

The commissioner's report describes Simard-Nadeau as an inexperienced candidate who fully acknowledged the forgery and accepted responsibility.

While the commissioner has the authority to recommend charges under the Elections Act, he has opted not to do so in this instance.

"There are several factors I have considered, none of which justify what Ms. Simard-Nadeau did, but which suggest that a prosecution is not necessary," Bowles stated in his report released this week.

"This was her first involvement in an election, and although she clearly understood that forging signatures was wrong, I believe she acted under pressure without fully grasping the seriousness of the offense."

Bowles also noted that Simard-Nadeau took responsibility for her actions and forged the names of two individuals she believed would have signed her nomination papers if time had allowed.

While no charges were filed, the commissioner and Simard-Nadeau reached a "compliance agreement," requiring her to read the relevant section of the Elections Act and a code of ethical conduct.

"I am satisfied that Ms. Simard-Nadeau truly regrets her actions and would not repeat the same mistake," Bowles wrote.

Janine Gibson, the leader of the Green Party of Manitoba, stated that she takes responsibility for the incident.

"Engaging inexperienced, sometimes overenthusiastic youth in our political process means that mistakes can occur. This is one such example," Gibson wrote in an email on Wednesday.

"Many of our youngest potential candidates did not understand the time and effort required to gather qualifying signatures and were unable to collect sufficient signatures within the timeframe of the 2023 election.

"One individual made a significant error out of desperation. As a party, we failed to provide the necessary support for this potential candidate to understand the rules and their critical importance for fairness in our democratic process."

A previous instance of forged signatures from the 2011 provincial election resulted in a $3,500 fine.

In that case, an official agent from the Liberal Party forged nomination signatures for two candidates and initially denied the allegations when confronted.