Teachable moments from the campaign trail

This year’s campaign has seen what appear to be a record number of candidates (and a few party operatives, too) fall victim to microscandals. And there are still more than five weeks until election day. Here’s a recap of (most, but not all) of the follies so far, sorted by party:

NDP

Morgan Wheeldon Candidate in Kings-Hants, N.S. Wrote a 2014 Facebook post in which he appeared to suggest Israel intended to “ethnically cleanse the region.” He protested that it was taken out of context and suggested he was subject to a “dirty smear,” but withdrew his name as a candidate. Shawn Dearn Director of communications Cursed Pope Benedict XVI and the Catholic Church in coarse terms on Twitter in 2013. Dearn apologized, saying the “offensive” tweets “do not reflect my views.” He remains in his role with the party.

LIBERAL

Joy Davies Candidate in South Surrey— White Rock, B.C. Made Facebook comments in 2013 suggesting pot smoking was entirely safe for pregnant women — and possibly even good for their unborn babies — and that the Canadian Cancer Society was an “outlet for big pharma.” She resigned as a candidate at the request of the party, suggesting her “personal opinion” should not distract Canadians from the Liberal party message.

Chris Brown Candidate in Peace River— Westlock, Alta. In a series of tweets from 2009, Brown made a series of graphically profane comments (including ones calling someone a “whore” and a “f---ing bitch”). He apologized, explaining that after the death of his partner he developed an alcohol dependency problem that led to a “complete lack of judgment.” The party accepted his explanation and he remains a candidate.

Ala Buzreba

Candidate in Calgary—Nose Hill Four-year-old tweets emerged in which Buzreba, then 17, called someone a “waste of sperm” and said “go blow your brains out,” among other strong things. She apologized unreservedly and stepped down as a candidate.

CONSERVATIVE

Jerry Bance Candidate in Scarborough— Rouge Park Was caught on a hidden camera for the CBC show Marketplace in 2012, covertly urinating into a coffee mug in a client’s kitchen when he was a dishwasher repair technician. After the footage resurfaced and #peegate became a meme on social media, he apologized, and was dropped as a candidate by the Conservative party. Tim Dutaud Candidate in Toronto-Danforth Dutaud, an actor, had recordings of prank phone calls posted to a pseudonymous YouTube page he ran, including one in which he simulated an orgasm and another in which he mimicked a developmentally disabled person. He was dropped as a candidate immediately after the videos were reported publicly.

Augustin Ali Kitoko

Candidate in Hochelaga, Que.

Had apparently been promoting the NDP on his Facebook page in the year leading up to the election, sharing photos from Leader Thomas Mulcair’s album. Was dropped as a Tory candidate.

Buddy Ford

Candidate in Repentigny, Que.

Was dismissed as a candidate after admitting he had been charged and pleaded guilty to possessing a small amount of marijuana in 2011.

Gilles Guibord Candidate in Rosemont— La Petite-Patrie, Que.

Posted controversial remarks about First Nations people and about “men’s authority over women,” among other topics, in the comments section of a Montreal newspaper in recent years. His candidacy was withdrawn.

Wiliam Moughrabi

Candidate in Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Que.

Made Facebook comments jokingly suggesting punching people in the face and making references to “the friend zone” as a reason for mistreatment of women by men. He deleted his Facebook page and apologized.

Sue MacDonell

Riding executive in Bay of Quinte, Ont.

Resigned over Facebook posts in which she referred to Cree beauty queen Ashley Callingbull as a “Liberal pet” and suggested First Nations Canadians should assimilate in order to “eradicate racism.”

Konstantin Toubis

Candidate in King-Vaughan

Shared a series of controversial Russian-language memes on Facebook. Says the posts do not reflect his values and that, as of Thursday, he had no intention of stepping down as a candidate.