Woman who illegally ran for school trustee fined

A Calgary woman was following bad advice when she campaigned as trustee for the Calgary school board while ineligible, court heard Monday.

And while fining Nimra Amjad $1,000 under the Local Authorities Election Act, provincial judge Peter Barley also gave her credit for at least getting involved in politics.

Amjad pleaded guilty to a charge of filling out a nomination form for her candidacy when her lack of citizenship made her ineligible to run.

Defence counsel Rame Katrib said Amjad was told by her handlers that she could run for trustee as long as she gained her citizenship by the time the election rolled around. But under the act, a person has to be eligible to vote in order to seek nomination and non-citizens can’t do so.

Amjad was charged in January, following her failed bid to win the public board trustee seat for Wards 3 and 4 in the October 2017 municipal election.

She received 5,707 votes, the lowest of all candidates who ran for the trusteeship in Wards 3 and 4.

Katrib said Amjad was trying to get her citizenship expedited, but as the vote approached it was clear that wasn’t going to happen. Katrib added Amjad, 33, has since received her Canadian citizenship.

But he said outside court that doesn’t mean she’ll be pursuing office any time soon.