It’s a busy election season, with political campaign signs going up for Prairie South School Board trustees, the City Council and Mayoral race and, of course, the provincial election — many Moose Jaw residents are wondering, ‘Is it especially illegal to remove or interfere with unwanted political signs?’
We interviewed Jay-D Haughton, Public Information and Strategic Communication Manager for the Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS), to get clarity on the question.
Haughton noted that he was not able to speak to the question of public areas, such as sidewalk easements — he kept his comments to the subject of private property.
Can campaign signs be placed on private property without permission?
“In a residential circumstance, on people’s private property, obviously if you enter onto their property without permission, you could be criminally charged for trespassing,” Haughton explained.
“If this is a respective candidate that they do support, and they do want an election sign ... the right course of action is to approach the homeowner for permission.”
If an unwanted sign does appear on your private property, Haughton said, the property owner has the right to do what they want with it, including throwing it in the trash.
Whoever is in lawful possession of the sign, in this case the person whose property the sign is on, is the offended party, Haughton explained. The political candidate or party the sign is promoting does not own that sign or have any rights regarding its display or protection.
Do campaign signs have their own legal category?
“There is no specific bylaw or any section in the Criminal Code of Canada regarding election signs,” Haughton stated.
The signs fall into the same category, therefore, as things like Halloween or landscaping decorations. If a homeowner has placed a sign on their lawn supporting the Sask Party, for example, and that sign is defaced, stolen, or damaged, the MJPS treats the issue as normal, without special consideration for current politics.
“There’s a couple different areas that they could be charged. Obviously, mischief is one of those areas, where an individual that defaces ... any type of sign on someone’s property, they could be criminally charged for that, and then obviously if you’re entering onto their property, as well, you could be charged with trespassing. If you steal the sign, you could be criminally charged with theft under $5,000.
“It’s not something that we’ve been called for. I can’t speak for other jurisdictions, but if it does happen here in Moose Jaw, it’s very, very rare.”
If you have questions or concerns on the subject, Haughton invites the public to call the MJPS non-emergency line at 306-694-7600 or file an online report at mjpolice.ca/report — an MJPS officer will reach out to see how they can help.