Campaign sign issues in North Grenville

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Election season is in full swing and the municipality is being flooded with campaign signs for those running for both mayor and council in North Grenville.

There has been some unrest over the past few weeks about these signs, as it seems that some candidates have not been paying close enough attention to the rules that dictate what is on their signs and where they are allowed to be placed.

According to Ontario’s 2018 candidates guide, all signs must clearly state that they have been paid for, and are the responsibility, of the candidate themselves. Mayoral candidate Elwood Amour is in violation of this rule, as well as some of the signs of incumbent Mayor David Gordon. Although the other candidates who have signs have adhered to the provincial regulation, many have text that is quite small and unreadable from the road.

The municipality also has strict rules in their bylaw about where the signs can be placed. Campaign signs are not allowed to be placed on municipal property, except for road allowances. Even if it is on a road allowance, signs are not allowed to be placed on any centre median, middle of a roundabout, traffic island, or centre boulevard. They are not allowed to be placed within 1.5 metres of a fire hydrant, curb, driveway, or travelled portion of a street, within 30 metres of an intersection, 15 metres of a bus stop, on any railing, retaining wall, bridge, bench, garbage can or structure of any kind, within 300 metres of a voting location or within 10 metres of another election sign for the same candidate.

It is clear from driving around the municipality that some of these rules have been broken. The signs of several candidates are definitely in vi- olation of the by-law, as they are within 30 metres of an in- tersection. “There have been some issues about sign location, but we have addressed this with every candidate to have it corrected and the consequences for not following it,” says North Grenville Clerk, Cahl Pominville. “The sign by-law is being enforced by the municipality.”

There have also been issues in the municipality regarding the theft of signs. Mayoral candidate, Jim Bertram, had several signs stolen from where he had placed them in Oxford Mills. The removal or destruction of signs is a criminal offense and should be reported to the OPP.

1 COMMENT

  1. Apparently the Bylaw is not being enforced regarding sign placement at intersections. For example, the illegal sign on the south east corner of 43 & 44 nor any roundabout on 43. Some of the candidates who voted for the Bylaw are repeatedly and blatantly ignoring the rules. Some people believe it is a ‘small’ thing considering all the issues in our community but it is the law….

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