There's a battle brewing over political posters in Quebec City.
A coalition of unions decided to launch a pre-election publicity blitz last week, posting signs discouraging people from voting the Liberal Party and the CAQ.
The signs said “We deserve better,” and conveyed a message that there's no real difference between the governing Liberals and the CAQ, the party poised to form government in October, according to a steady stream of polls.
“For us, when you look at their program, it's bad for the middle class, it's bad for our members. It's four more years of austerity.” said Marc Ranger of the Canadian Union of Public Employees. “For us it's important to have a say. We are citizens. We have an opinion. It's our duty to give our opinion.”
The City of Quebec, however, said the posters are unauthorized and illegal because they violate municipal regulations that forbid electoral posters outside of an election campaign.
The Quebec election campaign does not officially start until late August, ahead of the Oct. 1 election.
The city sent workers to take the posters down, and said it is sending the bill to the unions.
The coalition of unions is threating legal action, questioning why the city removed the signs so quickly.
“We advised the City of Quebec that this is a political move that they're doing right now. They're against the law. We are within our rights. They are illegal by trying to take out our posters. We are going to take all the necessary actions – legal actions,” said Ranger.
He added that said the battle is just beginning, and not only do the unions refuse to take down any posters, they say they'll be putting up more in other regions of Quebec, including strategic ridings in Montreal.
