Vaughan
October 09, 2008 11:46 AM
Authors of campaign signs anonymous
By: Keely Grasser
The signs may say “Maurizio, where are you?” but for some, the question is “Who are you?”
Who is behind the campaign-style signs demanding Liberal incumbent Maurizio Bevilacqua’s whereabouts, that is.
The mysterious signs popped up this week around Vaughan alongside regular campaign signs. The rogue signs were planted by a group calling itself the Vaughan Democratic Alliance.
The group says it put up about 200 signs and asks Mr. Bevilacqua to comment on his whereabouts in regards to Vaughan’s hospital, dealing with youth crime, helping seniors, community events and on free speech.
They also questioned where Mr. Bevilacqua is when there is no election.
That information is from an e-mailed statement from the group that included no contact information, save for a Hotmail account, and no identification of its members, other than calling itself a “group of concerned citizens”.
A request for further information about them and their plans was not answered.
Mr. Bevilacqua said the signs are “pathetic”, “asking a silly question” and seem to be “the work of children who are political amateurs”.
Mr. Bevilacqua questioned why the group isn’t forthcoming about who is behind it.
“What’s this hide and seek?” he asked.
York Regional Police are now looking into the origins of the signs, Const. Marina Orlovski said.
This comes after Conservative candidate Richard Lorello said his volunteers noticed that someone in a van was tampering with his signs early Monday and called the police.
Const. Orlovski said police responded at 1 a.m. Monday.
They found the van in the Islington Ave./Hwy. 7 area, she said. In it were 38 of the alliance’s signs.
The man in the van, she said, “was advised by his Liberal campaign co-ordinator that there had been signs placed beside Liberal signs that were defaming the candidate”.
Mr. Bevilacqua said he didn’t order the removal of the signs.
No charges were laid against the man, Const. Orlovski said.
However, she added that the content and context of the signs will be investigated.
She said there may be defamation or libel issues with the signs, depending on what’s behind them and what Mr. Bevilacqua says about them.
In their release, the alliance commented that “Bevilacqua supporters are thwarting our constitutional and democratic rights of free speech”, noting that their signs are being “stolen”.
Mr. Lorello released a statement Monday night saying he had no connection with the Vaughan Democratic Alliance.
He added that he thinks “voters should be able to freely question Liberal incumbent Maurizio Bevilacqua on his past record and on issues of concern to Vaughan residents without having to resort to putting up signs asking why he’s avoiding the public”.
Mr Bevilacqua said he doesn’t condone any activities like this sign business.
“I don’t win elections by putting people down. I earn it on my own merit,” he said.
He said the signs must be coming “from people with very little intellect. I’ve really nothing to prove to this so-called organization.”
He said he doesn’t know where the alliance’s funding comes from or if they are registered with Elections Canada.
Third parties, or people or groups who are not candidates or parties wanting to advertise in a campaign, must register with Elections Canada once they spend over $500 in advertising. There are also local and national spending limits.
As of Tuesday, Elections Canada said the Vaughan Democratic Alliance wasn’t registered.
Failure to register and exceeding funding limits can net a group or person fines or even jail time, according to Canada’s election laws.
Mr. Bevilacqua said he would “absolutely” pursue the matter after the election, if rules had been broken.
However, he said he’s not going to be stopped in the last week of his campaign by “immature acts”.
When asked his response to the question the alliance is posing to him, Mr. Bevilacqua said he doesn’t have to respond since the alliance hasn’t asked him the question directly.
“For me, the ultimate judgment of the work I do in my community is called election results,” he said.