Pointing fingers in Point Douglas: NDP blames Liberals after signs disappear
In complaint to Elections Manitoba and police, party says it has video evidence
The provincial New Democratic Party has filed a complaint with both the Winnipeg Police Service and Elections Manitoba, alleging the Liberals are behind the disappearance of hundreds of campaign signs.
In a letter to elections commissioner Bill Bowles, NDP secretary Keith Bellamy wrote about Bernadette Smith's campaign office getting a complaint from a constituent about his sign being stolen.
Osvaldo Pena told CBC he saw three people near his house taking an NDP sign he had perched on his front lawn Thursday evening.
He said he was driving with his grandson around 8:30 p.m. when he noticed three men standing on a sidewalk in front of his house. Pena said the men had about eight or nine NDP signs in their hands, so he decided to confront them.
'$5 for the big one'
"I told them I need it back." He said that's when the men told him he'd have to buy his sign if he wanted it back.
"I said what do you mean, that's mine. He said well, there's a place where they pay $2 for the small one and $5 for the big one. And I said yeah, but that one is mine!"
Pena said he then reported the incident to NDP campaign headquarters who then sent a staffer out to search for the men.
He said they found the men and one said he was getting paid to take the signs to 275 Selkirk Avenue. The Liberal Party's campaign office for Point Douglas is located at 271 Selkirk Avenue.
In the NDP's letter to the elections commissioner, Bellamy wrote "Our campaign staff member approached the individual and the attached link to video was filmed during that conversation. In the video, the individual in question said that he is receiving $5 for every large sign and $2 for every small sign that he delivers to 271 Selkirk Ave., the address of the Liberal Party campaign office for Point Douglas."
Bellamy estimates the Smith campaign has lost as many 450 signs at a cost of approximately $6,000.
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'Last-ditch attempt by the NDP'
"We believe this allegation is [a] last ditch attempt by the NDP to sway voters that they have lost. This allegation is is precisely the kind of behaviour that we are working hard to change. Every day we hear how much people in this area want change and this is an example of the type of politics that the people of Point Douglas have grown weary of," the statement said.
Brault said as of Sunday evening, the party had not received official notification from the Manitoba commissioner of elections about a complaint. He encouraged anyone who witnesses the theft of any campaign materials to contact police.
A spokesperson for PC candidate Jodi Moskal acknowledges her campaign has lost signs, but not in the numbers the NDP are alleging.
"The PC campaign in Point Douglas has received a record number of sign requests during the byelection and we have had to replace approximately 100 of those signs due to theft or vandalism. Theft of election signs is illegal, and goes against the spirit of a free and fair election process. We condemn any individual or group who partakes in that type of activity," said a Moskal campaign spokesperson.
Bellamy said the signs' disappearance has hurt the NDP's Point Douglas campaign.
"It could potentially create a perception that there is less support than may actually exist, but from the campaign perspective for us it's a significant cost when signs go missing. Certainly when they go missing by the hundreds," Bellamy told CBC News.
"In my experience this is an extraordinary number of signs. I don't want to claim that the candidate or specific people are engineering this, but it certainly seems that when you are looking at numbers in the 450 range of signs going down, that there is some consistent if not co-ordinated effort," Bellamy said.