(Press release from the City of Ottawa.)
With the announcement today of the 2015 federal election on Monday, October 19, 2015, the City of Ottawa reminds candidates of municipal regulations on election signs.
The regulations require that temporary election signs not be posted on private property, such as lawns and businesses, until 60 days prior to the federal election (Thursday, August 20), and not be posted on public property until 30 days prior to the election (Saturday, September 19).
Signs must not pose a safety risk and must not be erected in such a way as to interfere with the safe movement of vehicles or pedestrians.
For safety reasons, election signs are not permitted on central boulevards or medians and may not be placed within 50 centimetres of a sidewalk; or where there is no sidewalk, within two metres of the roadway or within 50 centimetres of the edge of a shoulder.
The City will enforce the regulations on a request-for-service basis, or proactively if the placement of a sign is causing a public safety or line-of-sight issue.
What is the point for these signs anyway? Like it’s going to win over anyone’s opinion. As if it’s going to help gain votes. In certain rural areas for instance, you’re just going to see an overwhelming sea of blue. So those areas are conservative regardless what happens. That won’t change. But why does the rest have to put with these signs? Why does it have to be smeared in our faces every time we drive around, that the conservatives are the grand master overload owning the region?
To me, these signs offer absolutely nothing but to display their hate (or dislike) for any other political stripe. Like CFRA AM 580 and their non stop bigoted propaganda, but in a way where we can’t even tune out. The best we can do is to roll our eyes and move on. The whole thing is not constructive at all. Noone is going to go “hey Martha… look at them blue signs on the corner… gotta be such swell folk if they get so much shupport… perhaps we should join them…”. Not going to happen, so what’s the point?
And why can’t someone fix the electoral system anyway? What’s with the first-past-the-post system? In some regions it’s completely pointless to vote, because a certain party is going to win no matter what, because the majority are religiously glued to a certain party.
What do the signs do in those places? Showing pride that they own the place? I find all this sign displaying all very childish. People should work together, and not let politics divide us. Politically driven outlets, like those signs, and like some radio stations, do the exact opposite.