The campaign team for local Conservative candidate Larry Brock is apologizing for a recent post on social media.
The post showed what purported to be an official government document found in a jail “aimed at turning inmates against Conservatives” that was found to be fake. 
“Are the Liberals really trying to win votes from convicted criminals by attacking Conservative crime policies?” Brock wrote in his post on X on April 13. “This after a decade of Liberal soft-on-crime laws coddling criminals and unleashing chaos in our communities.” 
A statement sent on Monday by Phil Gillies, Brock’s campaign manager, maintains the document “came from a correctional officer” but admits it should have been checked out more rigorously before being shared on social media. 
“We should have verified it more thoroughly,” said the statement.  “We became concerned about the authenticity of the document, and we removed it from all our social media channels. We sincerely apologize for any confusion this has caused.” 
In a statement to CTV News, Corrections Services Canada said the document, which was made to look official and included Government of Canada letterhead, is not authentic.  
The statement said wardens were consulted about the document “allegedly found at an institution” but it wasn’t found. 
It said the picture posted on social media was not an official Government of Canada document and Corrections Service Canada doesn’t support circulating such documents under the Government of Canada wordmark. 
“Staff are aware of our obligations of impartiality and we have reminded inmate committees that if these types of documents are created and circulated, they will be immediately seized/removed,” reported CTV on April 17. 
The document posted by Brock, the candidate for Brantford-Brant South-Six Nations seeking a second term as MP, and other Conservative candidates, including Oakville East candidate Ron Chhinzer and Frank Caputo, who is running in Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola, includes a typo, with “preposal” written instead of “proposal.” It also talks about “selling guns” with an extra “s.” 
The document lists some of the Conservative Party’s proposals on crime, including the creation of a “3 Strike Law” that would give serious criminals minimum prison terms.  
But the document also talks about inmates in maximum security being required to wear orange jumpsuits and a requirement that TVs be “displaced,” which aren’t Conservative Party proposals. 
An investigation done by CBC News concluded the document was likely an edited version of a real government webpage about learning how to file taxes that may have been printed out of someone’s computer. 
Brock’s post was viewed several hundred thousand times and widely shared. One Brantford resident said the candidate should have addressed the issue sooner.
“Even if we give him the benefit of the doubt and say he didn’t know it was fake — the moment it was confirmed by Correctional Services that the letter wasn’t real, the responsible thing would have been to correct the record,” said the post. “Instead, he stayed silent. That silence isn’t neutral — it speaks volumes. It shows a lack of accountability, a willingness to let misinformation spread unchecked, and a failure to lead with integrity.” 

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