Sask. Party stands by claim that gunfire damaged campaign office

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Despite a new report that contradicts claims made during the provincial election, the Saskatchewan Party stands by its previous statements that someone shot at a Regina campaign office and caused “two bullet holes.”

Through a freedom of information request, CBC Saskatchewan reported that the police officer who was first at the scene did not indicate that two small holes through the outer pane of a double-paned window appeared to be caused by bullets.

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The campaign office in question belonged to Sask. Party candidate Rahul Singh (Regina Northeast).

A CBC story quoted the officer as stating “at no point I said the holes were made by a firearm” in a report filed on Oct. 29.

The incident was first reported on Oct. 21, when the officer was nearby responding to an unrelated matter. Regina police later said no officer was at the scene until Oct. 22, but they subsequently walked that back, saying the officer’s encounter was not recorded or logged.

On Oct. 22, before police started an investigation, Premier Scott Moe spoke about the incident at a campaign stop, calling the damage “an attack” and comparing it to political violence in the United States.

“This is unprecedented for our province,” he said. “We’ve seen this in the U.S. presidential campaign, but not in a provincial Saskatchewan election.”

Responding to a request for comment in light of the new report, the Saskatchewan Party said “We have no further comment. We stand by the comments made at the time.”

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Postmedia sought further clarification about which specific comments the Sask. Party was referring to, but no answer was offered by publication deadline.

“This is ridiculous. The premier lied, got caught and, instead of owning that, is now accusing the police of lying,” said Nicole Sarauer, the NDP Opposition’s shadow minister of corrections, public safety and policing, in a press release on Friday.

“The so-called gunshots didn’t even break through the second pane of glass. I’d trust police officers to make that call, not the Sask. Party.”

The NDP’s statement called on the Sask. Party government to publicly apologize to the people of Saskatchewan and the Regina police.

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