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EDITORIAL: Election battles need to stay civil

No place for childish behaviour like defacing and destroying signs
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Incumbent Courtenay Mayor Bob Wells found one of his election signs vandalized over the weekend. Photo supplied

It seems every election campaign, we see the same childish behaviours.

Taking potshots at your opponents is one thing, but when candidate signs are being vandalized, it goes far beyond the purpose of electing people to council who are willing to serve the community.

Support your chosen candidates, by all means. But don’t go destroying another’s property. It serves no useful purpose other than to get bad blood flowing.

We have little doubt that those responsible for repeated vandalism against certain candidates are not likely voters. We have confidence that people of voting age are more mature than that.

Rose-coloured glasses? Perhaps. But it’s harder for us to believe that the vandals have anything to do with one person’s campaign.

Incumbent Courtenay Mayor Bob Wells was the latest victim of senseless vandalism, when his face was blacked out on one of his signs. We know both his opponents and are certain neither Erik Eriksson nor Aaron Dowker would stoop to such levels.

Courtenay councillor Will Cole-Hamilton has had at least half a dozen of his signs vandalized, including a hand-painted one by one of his supporters.

“Never seen anything like this!” he said in a Facebook post.

Comox councillor Ken Grant has lost at least 10 signs - either damaged beyond repair, or stolen from the sites.

If you don’t like a candidate, feel free to ignore the sign. They’re only up for a few short weeks.

This defacing of signs with symbolism that defies description or just plain wrecking them because you don’t like the candidate and simply want to cause mischief has to stop.

People have the right to put up their signs in strategic places and lobby for the public vote. We can’t all agree on the right men or women to assume the job for various reasons. But vandalism is not only wrong, it’s a crime.

The time to let your feelings be known is Oct. 15.



Don Bodger

About the Author: Don Bodger

I've been a part of the newspaper industry since 1980 when I began on a part-time basis covering sports for the Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle.
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