Vandalized election posters prompt complaints to Montreal police

Montreal police say they are looking into complaints of vandalism of election signs in at least three boroughs.

Investigators are looking into incidents in the Plateau–Mont-Royal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville and L'Île-Bizard-Sainte-Geneviève.

One of those complaints came from Projet Montréal, which went to the police last week after about 50 of its placards were defaced in the Plateau.

Stickers affixed to posters of borough mayor candidate Luc Ferrandez have a photo of his face on it and a series of criticisms of Projet's platform.

One sticker features the sentence "I secretly want to have my legs broken," referring to Ferrandez.

This week, another 200 posters were vandalized with a variety of stickers.

While defacing signs during election campaigns isn't new, Ferrandez said he believes this year is particularly bad. He said about 40 per cent of the party's posters have been stolen.

"They are desperate people, people who express frustration, powerlessness that leads nowhere," he said of those who have been doing the damage.

But for the most part, he said, people are respectful, regardless of whether they share the same beliefs as his party.

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He pointed out that no campaign is won because of signs, and no campaign is lost if signs are defaced.

Degrading women

In the Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough, the word "slut" has appeared on signs featuring three female candidates, including borough mayor candidate Sue Montgomery.

"There is a lot of sexism and misogyny," she said. "It's unacceptable and I want to be a politician so that it changes."

All municipal political parties in Montreal except Vrai changement pour Montréal say they have had their signs vandalized in some way.

A sign for Mohammad Yousuf, who is running for Coalition Montréal in Park Extension, was cut up.

And Denis Coderre tweeted out a photo Wednesday evening of one of his signs with a Swastika drawn over his face.

"This act is totally unacceptable and is to be condemned. This is a hate incident that cannot be tolerated," he wrote.

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