A former supporter of Vancouver’s governing civic political party says he was shocked to find one of their election signs installed on his property without his consent.
Wah Gee, who worked as a volunteer for ABC Vancouver in their 2022 election campaign, said he was returning home this weekend when he encountered someone putting a sign for the party’s byelection candidates up.
“He was hammering down the final post. And I was going, ‘Oh, I didn’t even request a sign,’” said Gee, who is backing Team for a Liveable Vancouver in the upcoming vote.
“I’m not gonna mince words, it’s a little sneaky for sure.”
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ABC Vancouver launched a sign blitz this weekend, installing about 800 lawn signs around the city according to the party.
What was different this time was that the party automatically installed signs at the homes of its registered supporters from the 2022 municipal election. Anyone who didn’t want a sign had to opt out, according to an email the party sent to registered supporters.
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The party told Global News only a few people did opt out. But Gee said he believes there may be many others like himself.
“I never received an email,” he said.
“I’m sure that there were many more signs out there that were put up that were probably not authorized.”
Kareem Allam, a political strategist who served as Mayor Ken Sim’s former chief of staff, wants Elections BC to probe the matter.
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He said the way ABC was deploying signs could run afoul of trespassing laws, consumer legislation on negative opt-ins, or amount to voter intimidation of the email were going out to people regulated by the ABC-dominated city council.
“It demonstrates at minimum a lack of ethics, but also a foolishness,” he said.
“Let’s say all of this was legal and all of this was ethical, putting up signs on people’s lawns that don’t support you means they’re just going to get taken down, so it’s just a waste of resources.”
In Gee’s case, the volunteer deploying the sign removed it when he was told it was unwanted.
“He was nice about it and I was nice about it,” he said.
Vancouverites will vote on Saturday, April 5 to fill two open city council seats.
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