The Liberal candidate for Cariboo-Prince George says he’s filed a police report after several of his signs were destroyed or damaged in both Hixon and Quesnel over the long weekend.
In a post to his campaign Facebook page on Sunday, April 20, Clinton Emslie said that his sign in Hixon had been destroyed and stolen and that four of his seven signs in Quesnel had been “obliterated.”
As a result, Emslie said he had reported the matter to both the RCMP and Elections Canada as it is illegal to deface, alter or steal a campaign sign under the Canada Elections Act.
Speaking to the Citizen by phone on Monday, April 21, Emslie said it looked like four of the affected signs had been run over by either full-sized vehicles or all-terrain vehicles and another had potentially been damaged by pedestrians.
He shared photos showing tire tracks near a smashed sign bearing his name.
“It impacts people’s perception and that’s not fair,” Emslie said.
“That’s not what democracy is about. At this point in time, our country is divided and we’re trying to unite people in the sense of fighting for a common cause … and the oppositions parties — no names mentioned — are clearly in this to fight and smear and deter people from voting for the Liberals in any which way that they can, including vandalizing elections signs.”
Emslie added that he’s heard similar stories from fellow candidates further south in BC and that in his own campaigning, he’s faced doors being slammed in his face, crude things shouted at him and cruel comments left on his social media posts.
He said he would continue to run a clean campaign and put back up any fallen signs as many times as it takes.
