Jewish candidate unbowed by antisemitic election sign vandalism in Winnipeg
A Jewish Conservative candidate in Winnipeg said he won’t be intimidated after several of his election signs were defaced in what he considers a targeted antisemitic crime.
Seven or eight of Winnipeg West incumbent Marty Morantz’s signs on private property — some belonging to Jewish constituents — and two bus bench placards in the Tuxedo neighbourhood were vandalized with graffiti conveying hateful and offensive messages. One of the signs was within blocks of the Asper Jewish Community Campus.
“Traitor” was painted in black across his name and “men” over Conservative to create “Con men.” They also create a slur for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Larger signs showing Morantz’ face were marred with black hair and a moustache reminiscent of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
The Winnipeg Police Service has already opened an investigation into the incidents that are believed to have occurred on Sunday evening, but has not explicitly labelled it as a hate crime.
“The riding is massive,” Morantz told the National Post. “This didn’t happen in the parts of the riding where there’s no substantive Jewish community. This happened in the part of the riding where a large portion of the Winnipeg Jewish community lives.
“It was clearly an attempt to attack and intimidate the Jewish community, and I won’t be intimidated by people who traffic in hate.”
He explains that “traitor” is meant to imply that Jewish people are somehow not loyal to Canada.
“Traitor” has also been used on other federal candidates’ signs this election, including NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and the Liberals’ Brian May.
Refusing to be “rattled” by the indecency, Morantz has continued to show up on doorsteps in the neighbourhood — one where he also resides — and said people have expressed to him how upsetting the news was.
All the signs have since been replaced.
Morantz said he and Melissa Lantsman, the only other Jewish Conservative MP, have been fighting back against a rising tide of antisemitism in Canada since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the vandalism during a federal election campaign is the latest example of it manifesting in Canadian neighbourhoods.
“Historically, when antisemitism was on the rise, it was really the canary in the coal mine for society’s breakdown,” Morantz said.
Of the 1,284 incidents of hate crimes related to religion reported to police in 2023, 900 involved Jewish people, per Statistics Canada . Meanwhile, A Toronto Police Service report on hate crimes for 2023 shows 36 per cent were labelled “anti-Jewish” and that they were most frequently the victims of mischief to property occurrences.
“Silence is complicity when it comes to these kinds of things,” said Morantz.
“We just have to speak out against it. We have to stand up for the community and not be intimidated.”
Liberal opponent Doug Eyolfson denounced the crime in a statement , saying antisemitism “has no place in Canada, full stop.”
“This cannot be how we conduct ourselves when we disagree with a candidate’s platform,” he wrote.
“There is no room for hate in politics, I know Winnipeg West is better than this.”
Meanwhile in the Quebec riding of Mount Royal, Conservative candidate Neil Oberman took matters into his own hands when both he and his Liberal opponent’s signs were vandalized.
In a video posted to X , Oberman, standing next to a pole where his and incumbent Anthony Housefather’s signs are attached, holds a spray bottle and calls it “all-purpose hate cleaner.”
He’s not there to remove the Liberal sign, he says, but to “strengthen democracy” for both parties.
“Sometimes it takes a lot to get hate off, but we’re working on it,” he says as he sprays and scrubs his own placard, which is spray-painted with the words “PRO BABY KILLERS” and “IDF.”
He does the same for Housefather’s sign, which is plastered with “PRO-GENOCIDE.”
This hate will take more cleaning. Stay tuned we will be back!!
— Neil G. Oberman (@NeilOberman) April 19, 2025
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Cette haine demandera plus de nettoyage. Restez à l’écoute, nous serons de retour!! pic.twitter.com/BOytzwx8JX
“Here’s a message to all my friends: it doesn’t matter what hate tries to do. Hate will not be successful as long as we stand up and we’re heard. Today, we’re being heard,” Oberman says.
A spokesperson for Winnipeg police told National Post in an email that “taking or damaging election signs” is against the law and can lead to charges such as property damage or theft.
When sentencing convicted parties, police said the court “may also take into account things like whether the act was motivated by hate.”
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