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Burnaby councillor robocalled by Heather Leung, ‘Conservative’ candidate

Burnaby city Coun. Pietro Calendino’s phone rang on Wednesday as he was busy going through his normal day’s work. When he answered, he realized it was a recorded message – often referred to as “robocall.
heather leung
Burnaby North-Seymour Conservative candidate Heather Leung was interviewed by the Burnaby NOW in 2011. Screengrab

Burnaby city Coun. Pietro Calendino’s phone rang on Wednesday as he was busy going through his normal day’s work.

When he answered, he realized it was a recorded message – often referred to as “robocall.”

The message said that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wasn’t to be trusted and that the carbon tax should be eliminated.

The messaged signed off by saying Calendino should support Heather Leung, the “Conservative candidate” for Burnaby North-Seymour.

That, of course, isn’t true. The Conservative Party of Canada fired Leung as its candidate after videos surfaced showing Leung making homophobic comments.

But Leung has continued to post campaign signs around Burnaby with the word Conservative emblazoned on them. Calendino told the NOW that what Leung was doing was “unethical.”

“I was shocked that I got a call from her saying that she’s the Conservative candidate,” Calendino said. “She’s completely unethical. She’s obsessed with status and power. She’s blinded by it.”

Burnaby school trustee Peter Cech has also confirmed that he received the same phone call on Wednesday.

Leung has said that she is running “independently” but her name will still appear on the ballot as a Conservative because she was fired after the registration deadline.