Deputy Mayor Sheldon Forgette admits that he was likely going to note and file a six-year-old report proposing changes to the city’s election sign regulations.
Forgette referred the item back to the general government committee and says that staff will address the matter in the coming weeks. He adds that he is not in favour of any changes to neither the number of signs a candidate may erect nor the geographical placement of those signs. Forgette deems any restrictions on election signs to be “undemocratic.”
Councillor Derek Shogren is one of those who urged Forgette to refer the matter back to committee. Shogren notes that noting and filing the report would have essentially killed any discussion or debate on proposals to limit or ban election signs on municipal property.
Shogren considers the wave of signs leading up to elections to be unsightly and says he knows from discussions that many citizens feel the same way. He also advocates for a shorter period when signs can be erected at election time, saying six weeks would be plenty.
Forgette, who successfully used signage, along with a robust social media campaign in the last election, feels that limiting signs also prevents an underdog candidate from breaking through. The Deputy Mayor senses that election signs may eventually lose their usefulness as political campaigns are waged more and more online.
