Election Campaign Heating Up As Lawn Signs Pop Up

Candidates were permitted to post promotional signs starting Thursday morning, and mayoral candidates Jane Pitfield was first off the starting block, putting the first of hers up at 12:01am.

Incumbent David Miller admitted he liked the ‘re-elect’ part of his signs as he drove a few into the ground around town mid-morning, while third major contender Stephen LeDrew intends to focus on television and radio ads instead. Miller said he thought the markers were an important part of the campaign.

“It’s about telling people who you support. It’s about showing there’s an election,” he said. “We reach people through the Internet, through the media, directly person to person, in debates. You get your message out any way you can.”

Miller and Pitfield both released their platforms this week, and their priorities stack up as follows.

David Miller plans to:

• Devote $18 million to clean up neighbourhoods
• Host a competition to attract architects to the city
• Create a taxpayer watchdog group to oversee spending

Jane Pitfield says her priorities are to:

• Leave Gardiner Expressway as is for now and hold a referendum on it.
• Make the TTC an essential service
• Bring in a common transit token for the GTA

Voter turnout was only 38 per cent in the last municipal election in Toronto, and when asked what they thought the major issues were this time around many Torontonians didn’t even realize a campaign was going on. Election day is a little less then a month away, on November 13th.

“Taxes, I guess,” Jamie Dalzell said when asked what he thought the most pressing issue facing the city is leading up to the vote. “They’re a little too high.”

Matt Barry had a different view: “People shooting each other. There were more shots last year than probably ever. People dying.”

Voters may be able to cast their ballots on new touch-screen voting machines. Officials say the machines help to prevent spoiled ballots and create a paper-verified audit trail.

The 20 machines will be used at advanced polling stations, which open next Monday and will be up until November 1. The locations include:

Toronto City Hall

Civic centres in:

Etobicoke
North York
East York
Scarborough

Voters in the old city of York can make their early mark at the Maria A. Shchuka MAS Library at 1745 Eglinton Ave. W.

Make sure to tune into Citytv and CP24 this Sunday at 8pm for the CityVote 2006 mayoral debate. David Miller, Jane Pitfield and Stephen LeDrew will be participating.

There are by-laws governing where election signs can and can’t be posted, and when they must be removed. Among them:

• Candidates must pay a $250 deposit to put signs up on public property. No deposit is required to put signs on private property.
• Signs can’t be illuminated, attached to trees, or placed on most City property.
• The City doesn’t have to give any notice if it is forced to remove an unlawful election sign and a $25 charge will be deducted from the deposit for every illegal sign removed.
• Once the deposit runs out, candidates must pay another $250 deposit plus any remaining amount owing within 30 days notice.
• Defacing or damaging a lawfully erected sign is prohibited.
• The City’s logo can’t be displayed on an election sign.
• Signs must be removed within three days of voting day.

To report an infraction, call Municipal Licensing and Standards at 416-395-7010.