Incumbent Conservative MP candidate John Weston and Conservative Party opponent Fez McLeod both say they feel targeted by sign vandalism and theft on the Sunshine Coast this election.
Weston said more than 30 per cent of the signs his campaign crew has set up on the Coast since the start of the election have been defaced, destroyed or removed.
Some signs have had the incumbent MP’s face cut out of them, while others have been defaced by drawings of moustaches and beards on Weston’s picture.
Several of Weston’s lawn signs have disappeared altogether, according to supporters who were gathered at Weston’s campaign office last week.
McLeod, a Sunshine Coast resident and former Canadian soldier, said he erected 12 large homemade “Stop Harper” signs on the Coast that have gone missing as well in the past week.
McLeod said one of the reasons he started the anti-Conservative sign campaign was because he doesn’t feel Prime Minister Stephen Harper has done enough to help veterans in Canada.
“I see many problems within Canada caused from the last 10 years of Harper’s reign and I want to fight against the Conservatives in my own way,” he said.
McLeod said he was particularly upset to find all of his signs taken down, some within hours of being placed along the highway. “Not taken down and thrown in the bush, but taken down and driven away so I can’t reuse them.”
Weston said his group has had nothing to do with the sign removal.
“We deplore the act of interfering with democracy,” he said, adding that he has been “very troubled” by the sign vandalism and theft he’s seen in this election on two levels.
“It’s an affront to our democracy because it suggests to people somehow you’re not able to freely express yourself and that is a real step back in our encouragement of an opportunity to disagree agreeably in this great country of ours. Also, vandalism is a criminal offence,” Weston said.
According to Sunshine Coast RCMP Const. Harrison Mohr, “Defacing or removing an election sign is illegal, and carries a punishment of up to six months in jail, a $5,000 fine, or both.
“Anyone caught tampering with signs could also potentially face a criminal charge of mischief,” Mohr said, encouraging the public to call 9-1-1 if they see an act of vandalism in progress.
Weston said he recently caught a man drawing a moustache on one of his campaign signs but after seeing the man’s remorse, Weston decided to let him off with a warning, asking him to repair the sign. He decided not to report the incident to police.
“Now to his credit he called and left a voice message on the answering machine at the campaign office and he apologized again and left his number and I called him back,” Weston said, noting he felt the man had learned his lesson.
Other local candidates said they have not experienced the level of sign vandalism and theft reported by the Conservatives on the Sunshine Coast.
Representatives from Pam Goldsmith-Jones’ Liberal team said they have experienced some sign vandalism (mostly the cutting out of Goldsmith-Jones’ face) but that vandalism rates aren’t any higher than has been seen in other elections.
The NDP reported some sign destruction at the beginning of the campaign but have not seen much since, and the Green Party told Coast Reporter that none of their signs had been stolen or defaced on the Coast.
