Days before the election, NDP candidate Shaila Kibria imagined she would be in the last stages of campaigning in her Mississauga-Erindale riding. She never thought she'd be the victim of what police are investigating as a hate crime.
This week, a local resident saw one of Kibria's flyers with the words, "Terrorist under the veil, Canadians do not trust this person," scribbled next to her picture.
Kibria, who wears a headscarf, said she was shocked such an incident occurred in her riding, where more than 40 per cent of residents belong to visible minorities.
"You'd think we have moved ahead as a society," said Kibria, who is running against Liberal Harinder Takhar, Progressive Conservative David Brown and Green candidate Richard Pietro. "But it worries me that there are people out there who are still seriously racist."
The incident was reported Thursday. "This is a hate crime, and we are taking it seriously," said Det. Heather Andrews of Peel police.
onlinenews@mississauga.net