Candidate’s signs stolen, vandalized

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This article was published 13/09/2023 (994 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Within a day of her first campaign signs being put out, the Liberal candidate for Spruce Woods had several stolen.

Later on, several of Michelle Budiwski’s signs were defaced with insults like “Liberal scum,” but she says she’s refusing to be bullied or intimidated.

Manitoba’s election campaign kicked off on Sept. 5 when the writ was officially dropped.

The day after that happened, Budiwski said her husband and kids surprised her by putting up her first signs in the Rivers area while she was at an event so that she would see them on the drive home.

While they were still in place the morning after, they had disappeared by that afternoon.

“They weren’t just knocked over, thrown in the ditch,” Budiwski said by phone on Tuesday.

“They were taken, like physically taken and the Conservative signs that were on the same road are still there, so this was personal. It was targeted.”

She said signs of hers in and around Oak Lake, Wheatland, Alexander and Kemnay have also disappeared.

Later last week, Budiwski got a call from someone in the Oak Lake Beach area who reached out to say they’d spotted signs of hers that had been defaced.

A picture Budiwski posted on her Facebook page showed the words “Liberal scum” and “f— off” written on a sign in black.

The rest of the defaced signs had more vulgar messages, she said.

The issue has been reported to police and she said a security company has offered to see if any of their cameras in the area caught the incidents.

In total, she estimated around one-quarter of her signs have been stolen or damaged.

That has led her to put in a rush order to get more printed, with plans to replace every affected sign with two new ones.

“People don’t have to vote for me,” she said. “If they don’t feel like I would be the best representative for our area, they don’t have to vote for me. But to steal, damage or deface property to try to make some kind of point, all they’re doing is making me more committed than ever to stand up for those who feel like they don’t have a voice.”

Part of the problem, she said, might be that people assume a link between the Liberal Party of Canada and the Manitoba Liberal Party, even though they are legally distinct organizations with no formal ties.

Though she has spent a lot of time over the last few months trying to explain that difference to prospective voters, people are still mistaken.

“They forget that 80 per cent of the things that impact us every single day are our provincial issues: health care, education, roads, infrastructure, seniors … and we’ve had a Conservative government for seven years, so this idea that the Liberals are at fault for these things, people are mistaken and misinformed.”

Her competitor in Spruce Woods, Progressive Conservative candidate Grant Jackson, said he has heard from volunteers for his campaign that some of his signs “have grown legs and walked away in the night,” though he’s not aware of his signs being defaced.

“I think it’s wrong,” Jackson said. “It’s also illegal, and I find it very unfortunate that this is transpiring. I strongly encourage people on all sides of the political spectrum to leave all election signs alone. The election is 20 to 21 days away … so they’ve only got to look at them for three more weeks.”

He said that having worked in some capacity in every federal and provincial election campaign for the last 10 years, signs have gone missing or were knocked down in all of them. The best response, he said, is to get back out there and put another up.

In an email, the Tories echoed Jackson’s thoughts but did not confirm whether other candidates’ signs had been tampered with.

“Unfortunately, sign tampering is a problem in every election,” an unnamed spokesperson wrote. “We encourage all Manitobans to protect the integrity of our elections by respecting the rights of candidates to free expression and refraining from any acts that disrupt the fair exchange of their ideas.”

An NDP spokesperson also wrote by email that sign tampering occurs during elections but did not confirm any incidents in this election.

“Our candidates are hard at work meeting with Manitobans all across the province,” they wrote. “When signs are stolen, campaigns file police reports and ensure we replace the signs. Unfortunately, this does happen during campaigns sometimes. We believe in respectful campaigning and condemn any form of theft or vandalism.”

A spokesperson for the Manitoba Liberals told the Sun by email that several of their candidates have experienced the same issue.

“This directly speaks to the divisiveness in politics today and undoubtedly contributes to why less people want to put their names forward on the ballot this election,” they wrote.

Other than the issue with the signs, Budiwski said the campaign has been a busy one so far.

She said she has met with organizations and interest groups representing Manitobans with disabilities, seniors’ groups, health-care workers and municipal councils for most of the communities within Spruce Woods to identify goals and plans for the constituency if elected.

“The reality is the Manitoba Liberal Party will probably not form government in this election,” she said. “We know that we are grassroots, we’re building, but we are in a position to maybe force a minority government. That’s better for all Manitobans because we’ll end the polarization and actually forcing collaboration instead of fighting.”

To follow Budiwski’s work during the election, follow her accounts on most social media platforms. Her Facebook page is facebook.com/michellebudiwski2023.

She can be reached by phone at 431-541-1768 or by email at michelle@michellebudiwski.ca.

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