Prince Albert area Liberal party candidate Estelle Hjertaas has seen the majority of her campaign signs removed or destroyed in recent days. (Submitted Photo/Estelle Hjertaas)

By Rob Mahon

Stolen Damaged Signs

Local Liberal party candidate seeing damage, theft of campaign signs en masse

Sep 13, 2021 | 3:14 PM

Stealing or damaging campaign signs may be illegal, but it’s part of almost every election. This time, however, one candidate in the Prince Albert riding is seeing what appears to be a concentrated effort to remove her signs.

Estelle Hjertaas, the Liberal party candidate for the riding, has said her signs around the riding have been stolen or seriously vandalized. Some signs have been sliced in half, others have been run over by vehicles, and still others have simply vanished.

“Almost all of the large ones, which would be about 30-plus of them, are gone,” Hjertaas said. “I just had someone I know in Carrot River just tell me that the one in Carrot River…was stolen. Some are just going missing, other ones are straight up sliced in half.”

In past elections, Hjertaas has seen her signs stolen in smaller numbers, or get bent when people walking by punch or kick them. This time, however, the effort to remove her signs seems farther reaching and more deliberate. Sometimes, the signs don’t last more than a day before being removed or ruined.

“It’s very different from before,” Hjertaas said. “In the last election, some signs got damaged, but not like this. The volunteers, the people putting them up come back on the same route the next day and the signs are all gone.”

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Lawn signs, according to Hjertaas, don’t last more than 48 hours before getting stolen. In many cases, the signs are swiftly replaced with those of another party.

“It’s more frustrating because voters from across the riding have contacted me or called the office asking, ‘Why haven’t you put up any signs in my community?’” Hjertaas said. “And we have. And that’s the frustrating part. People want to see that their candidates are out. They want to see that the teams are there and that there is an active campaign.”

While Hjertaas has seen plenty of her signs removed or destroyed, she’s not the only candidate having this problem. Both Randy Hoback of the Conservatives and Joseph McCrea of the People’s Party of Canada reported having troubles with signs going missing or being damaged.

“It happens every election,” Hoback said. “It’s unfortunate. Some people just can’t help themselves, I guess. They either destroy the sign or take it, or a combination of both. We tend to see that every election.”

“We’re, seeing signs getting damaged and go missing throughout the riding,” McCrea said. “Also throughout other provinces and places, it’s a common issue this election.”

Hjertaas was quick to point out she didn’t blame any other candidates for the problems with her signs but she reminded people that damaging or stealing political signs is against the law. Hoback, meanwhile, had a simple message for those who might consider defacing these campaign signs.

“Show respect for the people that are willing to put their name forward and run for office,” he said. “They put a lot of work into it and those signs do cost money. It’s all usually volunteers that donate their time to put them up and put them in place.”

The federal election is set for September 20.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP