Cambridge candidate says he's lost hundreds of election signs, calls it 'voter suppression'

Bryan May says his campaign signs are being stolen or vandalized at a rate he's never seen before.

The Liberal incumbent in Cambridge, May has run in every election since 2011. This time around, he says hundreds of his signs have been damaged or taken, costing the campaign thousands of dollars.

"We have very dedicated volunteers who get out and put out signs and to see their frustration when the very next day, the signs that they put out are missing or damaged." May told CBC News.

"And I'm not pointing fingers directly at any particular campaign. I'm certainly hopeful it's not the campaigns and I don't think it's a large swath of constituents, but it is voter suppression. It is intimidation."

He said damage ranges from someone slicing signs in half to spray painting slogans and hateful messages on the signs.

He says every election, campaign signs become a target, but "this is different."

"This is incredibly ramped up and getting to the point where we're putting signs out in the evening and by morning they're gone," he said.

Const. Brad Hickey, a public information officer with the Waterloo Regional Police Service, confirmed officers are investigating an attempted theft and damage to election signs in Cambridge.

"Police would like to remind the public that mischief under $5,000 may apply when someone damages, destroys, or defaces an election sign. Theft under $5,000 may apply when someone steals an election sign, as they are considered personal property under the Criminal Code," Hickey said in an email to CBC News.

"Waterloo regional police encourage members of the public to report any suspicious activity involving election signs at the time of the incident."

Other campaigns seeing damage, thefts

CBC K-W reached out to every campaign in Waterloo region and Guelph to ask if they're also experiencing vandalism or stolen signs.

David de Weerdt, the campaign manager for Guelph Green candidate Anne-Marie Zajdlik, says they've seen "many acts of vandalism" to their signs. Steve Dyck, a volunteer with the campaign, says he's gone out to put new signs out only to have other signs knocked down while he's still in the area.

Dyck says he spoke to a teen who it appeared had knocked over the sign on purpose.

"I explained that he needed put the sign back up," Dyck said in an email. "I spoke with the youth explaining that I would file a complaint if they did not help put the sign back up."

Guelph Liberal candidate Dominique O'Rourke's campaign sent an email saying they're aware of an escalation of signs being damaged or removed in the city.

"All Canadians have the freedom to show their support for any candidate. Attempts by some to remove or vandalize campaign signs will not deter our campaign. We are aware of some instances where residents have video footage and have reported stolen signs to the police," the email from the campaign said, adding people who have had signs stolen can reach out to get a replacement.

No Conservative campaigns responded to the request for comment, but Bob Coole, campaign manager for Conservative candidate Gurvir Khaira, told the news website Guelph Today that their campaign signs are getting damaged, either by someone kicking or hitting them, or in other ways.

"Some of the signs are still good, but the big signs, the ink signs, they've been pouring a liquid on it and it's taking the paint right off of them," Coole told the website.

Signs seized under Guelph bylaw

In Guelph, some of the missing signs may be because the campaigns have contravened the city's sign bylaw.

Kyle Hayward, a communications officer for the city, said approximately 100 complaints had been filed as of April 15 about signs being placed in locations where they shouldn't be.

That resulted in 191 federal election signs being seized, or removed, by city workers for being in violation of the bylaw.

Cambridge bylaw also had one report of a stolen or damaged election sign. Kitchener and Waterloo did not have any reports.

Scott Tracey, the spokesperson for police in Guelph, said they've had one report of stolen and vandalized signs.

"A resident of Forest Hill Drive, which is in the Old University neighborhood, reported that a sign was stolen from his lawn and there were three young males involved in that. And the complainant advised that they also knocked over another sign belonging to the same party just around the corner," Tracey said.

He noted campaign signs "are no different than any other private property" and people can be charged with removing them or damaging them.

Tracey added anyone who witnesses signs being stolen or damaged to report it to police.

"It can be difficult because, of course, we all see people out putting up signs, taking down signs, moving signs on behalf of campaigns. So it can be difficult to know whether the person is doing so legitimately or not," Tracey said.

"If they're damaging signs, they're breaking them or something of that nature, then certainly we would want to be made aware of that because that certainly is mischief."

Volunteers told to 'be respectful,' NDP candidate says

Rosalind Horne, the communications director for Kitchener Centre Green candidate Mike Morrice, said they've put out more than 2,000 signs and about 10 have gone "missing" although it's unclear why. They haven't had any reports of deliberate damage.

Waterloo NDP candidate Héline Chow says she's only had wind damage to her signs, but she denounced any act to steal or vandalize anyone's signs.

"Sorry to hear other campaigns are struggling with this issue though. I think I speak for all the candidates when I say we would only like to win fair and square not with any tampering of each other's materials and signs," Chow said in an email to CBC News.

"When we train our volunteers, we tell them explicitly to be respectful of other campaign's materials and to make sure they are not moved or damaged in any way."

May says when people have signs stolen off their lawns, he gets one of two responses.

One is that the people ask him not to replace the sign, because they're worried about people coming onto their property.

The other is that people tell his volunteers to replace it as soon as they can.

But ultimately, May wishes people who may take or damage a sign because they don't agree with him would be up for a conversation with him instead.

"Criticism is something that comes with the territory. People's opinions matter … I listen to the questions that people have about not just what we've done in the past, but what are we going to do moving forward," he said.

"The individuals that are doing this have one goal and that is to make my name less prevalent in the community so that people, maybe, in their brains think, 'Oh, I'm going to vote for the person who has the most signs.' I can't explain it. I don't understand the mentality."

Voters go to the polls on April 28.