A surveillance camera at a home in Silver Springs captured separate visits from UCP and NDP canvassers minutes apart, but questions have surfaced regarding the NDP volunteer’s doorstep actions.

In the videos, a woman campaigning on behalf of the United Conservative Party visited the home in the northwest neighbourhood in early August. After no one answered the door, she left a brochure in the mailbox and walked away.

Several minutes later, a male canvassing for the Alberta New Democrats approached the same home and the camera recorded him removing an item from the home’s mailbox that appeared to be the UCP pamphlet. The visitor proceeded to leave an NDP information card in its place.

The video recordings were posted to Facebook where they have been shared more than 4,000 times.

Jason Kenney took to Twitter after the recordings surfaced. The UCP leader pointed out that the actions of volunteers do not necessarily reflect a party’s directive and the onus was on the NDP to address the situation.

Recognize that rogue volunteer(s) might do something foolish that party leadership doesn’t endorse. Expect our opponents to address with their people. We would certainly do so if situation was reversed. Democracy is stronger when candidates are free to make their case to voters. https://t.co/01SoSg2shG — Jason Kenney (@jkenney) August 20, 2018

Roari Richardson, provincial secretary for Alberta’s New Democrats, issued the following statement to CTV Calgary on August 22 regarding the surveillance recordings.

“As New Democrats, we believe that every candidate – from every party – should be free to exchange their ideas with voters. Clearly, the actions shown in this video run counter to that fundamental belief,” said Richardson in the statement. We have addressed the matter with this particular volunteer and will be taking steps to ensure all our supporters understand that this is not behaviour we condone in any way.”