A candidate for council in Central Saanich is speaking out against people illegally removing or defacing campaign signs.
Niall Paltiel, who is seeking a second term in the Oct. 20 election, said vandals spray-painted about eight of his signs in the Tanner Ridge area last week. Then, after he replaced the signs, a number of them were stolen.
Paltiel reported the incident to Central Saanich police, but also wanted to remind the public that damaging or stealing signs is a criminal offence.
“And while it might be fun or seem like a simple thing just to vandalize an election sign, these are not big-budget campaigns that we’re running,” he said.
“It’s usually small, grassroots, local community members that are donating … We don’t have tons of money to replace these signs.”
Paltiel joins a growing list of politicians voicing concerns about sign tampering during the municipal election campaign.
Victoria city council candidates have signed a joint statement asking people to obey the law and respect those running for office by refraining from damaging or removing lawn signs. Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps initiated the move after learning that about 200 of her signs had gone missing in what appeared to be a targeted attack.
Nanaimo RCMP spokesman Const. Gary O’Brien said the detachment has yet to receive any reports of damaged or missing campaign signs in that city. “But we fully expect to have a handful in the upcoming days,” he said, adding that it’s a common complaint during election campaigns.
O’Brien said police have a number of options for handling incidents, depending on their seriousness.
“We always have discretion in any call we deal with,” he said. “We can go with [a] mischief [charge] under the criminal code if we find that it’s absolutely malicious and they were targeting individuals involved in a campaign.
“If it’s a one-off, we may just say: ‘No, we’re going to go with a warning. Don’t do it again. It’s documented.’ And then next time we may come down harder on the individual.”
Kevin Murdoch, who is running for mayor in Oak Bay, said he’s lost about 15 to 20 signs this fall to what he believes are “random acts of vandalism.”
And while it’s not a major issue for him, Murdoch said the damage and waste are a frustrating part of running for office.
“All of my signs are in front of people’s houses that want to show their support,” he said.
“So when you take that away, you’re taking away their ability to say that. I can’t replace them because the spending limits limit how many I can make. So if they’re gone, they’re gone.
“They’re all paid for by small individual donations. There’s no corporate or union donations here. It’s somewhat frustrating where people cheerfully give their money to see it lost.”
Murdoch said he’s no fan of campaign signs on public land.
“But I think the signs in front of people’s homes are pretty important for our democracy at this level, because it’s one of the few ways that people can actually express their support.”
Paltiel said he understands that not everyone will be happy with council decisions. But he said municipal politicians are more accessible than most and that there’s a better way to voice concerns than resorting to criminal acts.
“You can come to any of our meetings,” he said. “You can stop us in the grocery store or anywhere else and have a conversation about issues that matter to you and we’ll always be happy to field calls or questions.
“I think our community’s way better off if we can have informed discussions about our differences as opposed to resorting to illegal activity and vandalism.”
