The Liberal candidate running in the Burnaby-Edmonds riding is pleading with the folks vandalizing his signs to stop.
Garrison Duke tells the NOW someone’s been damaging his signs daily, usually on Sunday nights, along Imperial Street, Gilley Avenue, Rumble Street and Nelson Avenue.
“It is something that is over the top,” he said. “We’re told it happens more in our riding than anywhere else. ... It’s strategic.”
Duke added the vandalism sets a bad example for young voters.
Volunteers with Duke’s campaign have found signs thrown in corners and on top of garbage bins, all twisted and bent.
“I know where my signs are, and I drive the riding as I do my door knocking, and I can easily replace them and I see what’s happening, but it’s really disheartening for my volunteers,” said the MLA hopeful.
Duke has raised the issue with Elections B.C. and said his team is “in the process of doing something formal.”
“If it continues, I can’t have that stuff going on forever, and it’s not the focus of our campaign either,” he said.
Duke suspects the culprits are from the NDP camp. One of his supporters reportedly spotted someone, who was wearing an NDP pin, tearing down a sign.
Amber Keane, Raj Chouhan’s campaign manager, denied any involvement in the vandalism and said New Democrats would never condone destruction of signs.
She said a few of Chouhan’s posters have been targeted as well, at least once a day, but “it’s pretty typical in an election.”
“This is Raj’s fourth term and he’s always run a respectful campaign,” Keane said.
Meanwhile, Green candidate Valentine Wu denied any wrongdoing as well and told the NOW nine of his 10 signs alongside Kingsway were damaged on Tuesday night.
“It’s sad,” he said. “Normally, I put the signs (away) at night. This time I forgot, and now it happened.”
