PC sign defaced with swastika

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This article was published 02/10/2023 (597 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Springfield-Ritchot PC incumbent Ron Schuler said he’s never seen the level of anger while campaigning as he has this year.
And while he said he expects to encounter people who disagree with him, he will not tolerate the type of vandalism that occurred to one of his campaign signs on Saturday night.
A sign on the corner of Pembina Trail and Highway 305 in Ste Agathe was defaced with a crudely drawn swastika on Saturday night.
“I’ve never had this before,” the veteran MLA who has been an MLA since 1999 said.
In fact, Schuler said he’s been canvassing for campaigns across Canada and the U.S. for 42 years and has simply never encountered this kind of vandalism.
“The swastika is offensive to all of those who had family and loved ones suffer and perish under that symbol,” he said in a statement. “It is not appropriate to use it in any manner ever.”
On Monday, Schuler was on his way to cover up the damage, armed with a roll of duct tape.
He said over the years he has encountered vandalism to his signs with people changing his photo to make it look like there are teeth missing, or in one memorable instance, adding a handlebar moustache to his image.
He’s also had signs broken or lost.
But that was different according to Schuler.
“There was no malice,” he said. “It was vandalism.”
This year he’s also noticed a marked increase in anger expressed to canvassers who’ve had doors slammed in their faces or been subject to angry tirades.
Addressing that is important to him.
“How do we bring this level of anger down?” he asked.
Trevor Kirczenow, the Liberal candidate for Springfield-Ritchot, is no stranger to sign vandalism.
In the 2021 federal election as a candidate for Provencher he had signs stolen or vandalized on a daily basis. He also dealt with signs vandalized with homophobic slurs.
He described what happened to Schuler’s signs as “horrific” and “deeply disturbing”.
“I’m really sorry to hear about signs being defaced,” he said in response to The Carillon’s request for comment. “Defacing election signs is illegal and it’s damaging to our democracy when it happens.”
Kirczenow said he’s added stickers to his signs to emphasize his position on a couple of issues. The signs say “No Sio” and “No Space for Hate” with a pride flag on it.
“To my knowledge, none have been defaced,” he said. “There is one sign in Oakbank that has been kicked down a couple of times, but I met a kind supporter yesterday who was out there with his screwdriver and sledge hammer putting it back in when I came around to fix it.”
The Carillon also reached out to NDP candidate Tammy Ivanco who was unavailable for comment at this time.
Under the Criminal Code of Canada and the Canada Elections Act the theft of or tampering with political signs can warrant charges including mischief to property. Fines or jail time can result if found guilty.