RESIDENTS SEE RED OVER NEW BLUE ELECTION SIGNS

New Blue party candidate and current Cambridge MPP Belinda Karahalios has caught the eye of voters for the upcoming provincial election, though some are seeing red.

Resident Matthew Stubbings contacted the Times after seeing Karahalios's election placards on Franklin Boulevard, contrary to the regional bylaw that came into effect in January banning election signs from regional roads.

Stubbings photographed the New Blue election signs along Franklin, stretching from Can-Amera Boulevard to Avenue Road, calling it "the first test of the new regional bylaw."

He added he contacted regional bylaw about the signs.

As of May 10, the signs had been removed.

An email from regional staff to the Times stated, "Candidates will be receiving information on the bylaw and where they can place election signs. We are taking a progressive enforcement approach and will be educating candidates on where they can and cannot place signs."

The email also stated sign placements are investigated on a complaint basis and a bylaw officer is sent out to validate the complaint. If the complaint is valid and is in an area it shouldn't be, the sign will be removed.

Jim Karahalios, co-founder of the New Blue Party, said in an email to the Times the bylaw prohibiting election signs from being placed on regional roads is "antidemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional."

He said the ban flies in the face of Canadian case laws giving the right to participate in political process and goes beyond the scope of the authority of the region.

"Other municipalities in Canada have rejected such bans on election signs because they know it is illegal," Karahalios said.

"But in Cambridge, local councillors don't care about the rules. We have Cambridge city councillors who break their own rules to ram a new development in Blair village and a drug injection site in Galt, against the will of Cambridge residents. Now we have regional councillors who set illegal bylaws to try to silence constituents from fully participating in the democratic process."

Karahalios added he doesn't want to see

his wife's signs disposed of as they are paid for by ""New Blue donors" who "work hard for the money."

That isn't the only claim against the New Blue Party of Ontario co-founder, as Preston resident Paul Brown stated on social media, he saw her election signs in Riverside Park on May 9.

Brown said he left the park and called city bylaw with a complaint and was told a bylaw officer was going to the park to investigate. He was also told, Brown said, there were other complaints.

When Brown returned to the park two hours later the signs were gone.

There were no signs in the park on May 10.

John Mattocks, manager of municipal bylaw compliance, said the city's municipal compliance team "has not removed any signs from Riverside Park or been made aware of signs in the park at this time."

Mattocks said city municipal compliance staff can remove election signs if they are placed in a location they shouldn't be, including: on or within any road allowance abutting any city building; on any utility pole, official sign or official sign structure; on any tree or fence on city property; in any city cemetery, war memorial, cenotaph, mausoleum, tomb, headstone, pergola or park; at any location where the election sign constitutes a safety hazard to the general public; and if it exceeds a height of 1.5 metres if placed on an outer boulevard of a road.

The city investigates sign placements on a complaint basis, Mattocks said. When signs are placed in the wrong location, they will be picked up by compliance officers and stored.

Mattocks added if a sign is removed, it can be returned. A warning or charge may be issued following a "progressive enforcement approach," he said.

For inquiries about signs that have been removed or to file a complaint, contact the municipal compliance division at bylaw@cambridge.ca or 519-623-1340, ext. 7907.