Candidates wearing city-branded clothing on the campaign trial? Here's what the rules say

Andrew Lupton · CBC News

· Posted: Aug 21, 2026 11:37 AM EDT | Last Updated: August 21

A city council candidate, who is also a city employee, is facing questions about why he wore City-of-London-branded clothing while door-knocking, in an apparent contravention of a city bylaw.

Sam Hajar, who works in the city's planning department, is also running for a council seat in Ward 7.

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As required under the Municipal Act, he took an unpaid leave of absence from his city job for the duration of his campaign.

In a post to his Instagram account on Thursday, Hajar appears at the front doorstep of a house — campaign pamphlets in hand — while wearing a black shirt and hat which both feature the city of London's familiar tree logo.

"Another great day out in Ward 7!" the post reads. "Enjoyed going door to door, meeting residents and having conversations about our community."

In a similar Instagram post on Monday, Hajar is at a different doorstep, wearing a city of London logo hat and a shirt with the city's bicentennial logo.

A city bylaw, which you can read here, covers the use of city resources for election purposes. Its intention is to "preserve the integrity in the elections process" and to satisfy the city's legal responsibility "that no candidate ... is provided with an unfair advantage."

Section 4.2 of the bylaw says "city resources should not be used by a candidate."

Those resources include city staff time, print room supplies, computers, but also "registered trademarks held by the City of London and the City of London Coat of Arms (e.g. City of London Logo)."

Clerk's office issues statement

In a statement to CBC News, the clerk's office confirmed the city's elections office was notified about Hajar's posts on Thursday.

In an interview with CBC News, Hajar said the hats and shirt he's wearing in the Instagram photos were not issued by the city for his job. Instead, he said he bought them at a store at city hall which he said sells city-branded items, including clothing. However, the statement from the clerk's office said, "City of London branded clothing is only sold to City of London employees."

The statement also said city-branded golf shirts were discontinued in 2023.

"I don't think there really is a grey area here," said Hajar. "When I knock on the door I make it clear that I'm a candidate in Ward 7. There's not confusion. I don't show my city ID or anything like that."

The clothing he's worn while campaigning isn't the same as those issued by the city to wear while doing his job, Hajar said. His job includes interpreting bylaws and sometimes visiting residences to investigate complaints.

"They don't say my department on them," he said. "I don't see any issue with wearing a hat or shirt that has a city logo on it. I don't always wear them."

Hajar said he may stop wearing the city-branded clothing while campaigning.

"If it's going to cause confusion for the residents of London, I could stop wearing them. Now that it's been brought to my attention, I might just stop wearing the hat and city logo shirt if that's become an issue," he said.

Could confuse voters, opponent says

Dan Meinen is also a city employee running as a candidate in Ward 7. He won't be filing a complaint about Hajar's post, he said.

However, the rules are in place to ensure it's clear to voters the person they're speaking with at the doorstep is a candidate out canvassing, not a city employee on official business., Meinen said.

"The main issue with wearing city-issued apparel on the campaign trail is that it makes you look like a official employee," said Meinen, a city building inspector who has also taken an unpaid leave for the duration of his campaign.

"Wearing it during campaigning kind of undermines all City of London employees who wear that uniform," he said. "It makes the candidate look more official and election canvassing is not official city business. It can create confusion."

Meinen said the shirts he was issued to wear while conducting building inspections are similar in appearance to the one Hajar is wearing in his post.

As for potential penalties, the city's statement says they don't comment on "potential penalties in specific cases."

Any penalties would full under Ontario's Municipal Elections Act, which lays out a broad range of penalties for offences, including fines. The city's statement says the application of any official penalties would be determined by the courts.

Friday at 2 p.m. is the deadline for candidates to file their nomination papers for mayoral, city council and school board races. Ontario voters cast their ballots in municipal election races on Oct. 26.