MTQ removes election signs in September-Isles

At the request of a Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ) employee, three political parties were surprised to discover that election signs installed on Boulevard Lor were mistakenly removed.

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During the night from Saturday to Sunday, volunteers from the Alliance Avenir Quebec, the Parti Québécois and the Conservative Party of Quebec displayed their colors on the boulevard, but the work, planned for several days to take advantage of the best view, will resume.

“The next morning, it was clear that all election signs of all parties had been removed by the Ministry of Transport,” said PQ candidate Marilou Vanier.

“It’s very sad and I’m very shocked because we were able to mobilize groups of volunteers anyway,” said PCQ candidate Roberto Stea.
“The signs are here, in the ministry building. I didn’t get them back. I assume they disappeared without any explanation,” he added.

Candidates do not know what rule they might have violated to justify such action of removal of election signs by Transport Ministry staff. The Ministry’s directives in this regard are mainly aimed at not compromising on road safety.

“[Je suis] Very surprising as this is not the first campaign I have done. I was a shadow worker and put up signs for Marilyn Gill among others. People are used to seeing signs on the boulevard,” said Marilou Vanier.

The Transport Ministry acknowledged the error and attributed the removal of the signs to an employee who misunderstood the instructions on the election display. The parties have not violated any rule.

“On the other hand, the parties have to re-establish themselves. We know it’s a voluntary time. We’re very sorry, but this was a mistake made in good faith,” said Sara Godreault, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Transport.

A similar situation occurred during the 1998 provincial election for the candidate of the Action Democratique du Québec. An employee of the Ministry of Transport mistakenly removed the Jacques Gélineau signs.

Here too, the error was acknowledged and staff were reminded of the guidelines to be followed during the election campaign.