Article content continued

The Progressive Conservative MLA, running for re-election in Calgary-Acadia, doesn’t seem especially bothered by the joke. When asked on Twitter whether he intends to “embrace the Jonathan Penis movement,” Denis quipped that it was a “long shot” and that it was a “hard topic” to discuss.

“All kidding aside, I got a great laugh out of it!” he said.

Denis is not the first Alberta politician to have his campaign signs altered for comedic effect. In 2010, Calgary city council candidate Richard Pootmans had his signs changed to read “HARD POO MAN.”

Pootmans won his council seat, with the Calgary Herald suggesting the signs helped the first-time candidate more than they hurt him. You “can’t discount the unusual bump he got thanks to the shadowy punks who crossed out part of his name on his boulevard signs,” the Herald’s civic affairs writer Jason Markusoff wrote.

Will Denis benefit from a similar bump? Time will tell.

The Alberta provincial election takes place May 5.