Jerry Bance, Conservative candidate for the Scarborough-Rouge Park riding in Toronto, is seen here emptying out a customer’s coffee mug, into which he reportedly urinated, in this still image from a video broadcast of CBC’s Marketplace which aired on March 2, 2012. Bance issued a statement apologizing for his behaviour. (CBC Marketplace, The Canadian Press)
Update: TORONTO — A man who was reportedly caught on camera urinating into a coffee cup while working as an appliance repairman is no longer a candidate with the Conservative Party. A party spokeswoman says Jerry Bance will not be running in the east Toronto riding of Scarborough Rouge Park.
TORONTO — A Toronto Conservative candidate is expressing regret after a media report that he was once caught on video urinating in a coffee cup while working as an appliance repairman.
The CBC reported Sunday night that its show Marketplace used hidden cameras in 2012 to record Jerry Bance doing the act and pouring the contents down the sink — he was reportedly on a service call.
The CBC says Bance, who is running in the east Toronto riding of Scarborough Rouge Park, runs an appliance repair company.
The broadcaster aired the Marketplace video Sunday night — the show had set up the hidden cameras in 2012 as part of a story into home-repair companies.
The CBC says after Bance pours the urine down the sink, he rinses out the cup, all while the homeowner was in the next room.
A statement from Bance released by the Conservative campaign says he “deeply regrets” his actions on that day.
“I take great pride in my work and the footage from that day does not reflect who I am as a professional or a person,” Bance said in the emailed statement.
Response to the story on social media sites was nearly instantaneous. The hashtag “peegate” was soon trending on Twitter, as the twittersphere buzzed with disparaging jokes, comments and bad puns targeting Bance, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party.
The original Marketplace show only named Bance as “Jerry” — it did not mention that he had been a Conservative candidate in two previous elections in 2006 and 2008.
