It’s spring, and, in addition to the perennial blooms of cherry blossoms and daffodils, this year the residents of B.C. will be seeing a very different crop of colours erupt in the yards and along the boulevards and highways of our communities.
Yes, it’s election year and, when the writ drops on April 11 for the May 9 election, expect to see election lawn signs sprouting everywhere. They are, perhaps, the most immediate and (some would say) irritating aspects of our democratic process.
While none of the candidates for the leading political parties can say precisely how many signs they expect to erect, they all concede it’s a prodigious number.
“They’re an important piece of the campaign,” said Adam Olsen of the BC Green Party with a chuckle, adding that the signs let people know who their candidates are in each area.
“We’ve got our signs here and are ready to go with some 15 to 20 volunteers already lined up to start putting them up as soon as we’re allowed.”
In fact, the Green Party has taken the proactive step of inviting voters on the Peninsula to request their own lawn sign by registering on the party’s website.
Gary Holman, the NDP candidate (and incumbent MLA) for Saanich North and the Islands is similarly prepared for the coming challenge.
His campaign manager, Scott Colbourne, reported that, like the Greens, his campaign office has their supply of signs just waiting to be placed throughout the communities on the peninsula.
“Some people have a tradition of putting them up…it’s the first thing they ask for when we come to their door,” said Colbourne.
But it’s not only private property where the signs are placed. Bylaws in Sidney, Central and North Saanich all allow for the placement of political signs during elections on public property, and it’s those signs that present the real challenge to the political parties.
“Putting signage along side the highways becomes strategic,” said Colbourne. “Each community has their own ethos when it comes to signage and we try to respect that.”
Stephen Roberts, the Liberal candidate, is also ready for the coming signage challenge.
“We have boxes of the signs here, and we invite people who want a sign to call us or contact us on-line and we’ll make certain they get one. And we’ll have people out there putting up signs wherever we can. People get passionate about their signs, and we also respect that.”
Rules aren’t consistent.
It’s not, however, simply a matter of sticking signs up wherever one wants. There are rules.
Unfortunately for hapless campaign workers, those rules aren’t consistent. Depending on where the candidates’ teams may be on the peninsula, they’ll have to abide by different sets of sometimes baffling regulations.
For example, while both North Saanich and Sidney have bylaws restricting the size of signs to 1.5 square metres, North Saanich has an additional restriction on the height of the sign. There, signs cannot be placed so their height exceeds 1.53 metres. So any thoughts of putting your sign up on the highest location in North Saanich is strictly verboten.
In North Saanich bylaws also state signs cannot be posted on public property nor on boulevards fronting public properties. In case that’s not specific enough, signs are also not allowed “on a park which has thereon a building or structure or has otherwise been improved by the municipal or other government agency.” No word on what constitutes improvement, but ostensibly mowing the lawn might qualify.
In Sidney, signage on public property is allowed, so long as the owner in front of whose private property the sign is placed doesn’t object. The bylaw doesn’t explain what happens when that sign is on a boulevard in the middle of a street and has two or more private properties facing the offending signage.
To confuse matters a bit more, no sign can be placed on public property nor on a boulevard fronting on public property.
In both Sidney and North Saanich, the signage must not be placed in a location representing a hazard to vehicles or pedestrians and signs must be removed within three days following the election … and yes, that apply even if the candidate has lost their election bid and is understandably disappointed and doesn’t really want to even see the signs again.
With those restrictions in mind, campaign staff may want to head off to Central Saanich to place their signs. According to bylaw enforcement officer Ken Neurauter, there are no bylaws governing election signage, so long as they don’t obstruct visibility. He also stated that Central Saanich is more understanding when it comes to the arduous task of removing signs. Candidates are allowed a full week to remove signage there. (Time to recover from the election night celebrations or disappointments in Central Saanich.)
The good news is Saanich North and the Islands is not known for the vandalism of signs, or some of the sign battles seen in other parts of the province.
According to media relations officer Cpl. Erin Fraser of the RCMP, the force has never had many complaints about damaged signs or any conflicts related to signs.
“People are pretty well behaved when it comes to political signs,” she observed with a chuckle. “We’ll be keeping it that way.”