Mayoral candidates in Laval are already aiming hard blows at their opponents.
Laval city councillor and mayor candidate Alain Lecompte was filmed destroying multiple signs placed throughout Laval by his mayoral rival Jean-Claude Gobé.
Gobé videotaped Lecompte as he swung a sledgehammer at Gobé's signs placed on St. Martin Blvd.
"That an elected official has decided to take the law into his own hands and smash our signs with a sledgehammer beggars belief," said Gobé.
The pair confronted each other verbally and in the video Lecompte said he had no regrets in smashing his opponent's signs.
"I'm vandalizing them? But your signs are illegal," said Lecompte, saying he believed it was against Quebec's electoral law to set up campaign signs two months before the November election.
He later pointed out on Facebook that Laval has a bylaw requiring municipal authorization before signs are installed.
Lecompte said he was not going to file complaints with the Elections Office, but would instead destroy every sign he found, saying they are not allowed in place until Sept. 21.
Gobé has filed a complaint with police, saying not only is Lecompte a vandal -- he's wrong.
There does not appear to be any provincial law forbidding candidates from putting up signs on private property any time they want, as long as they are willing to pay the full price for the signs.
Quebec's electoral law has strict guidelines about election expenses, the length of a campaign, where signs can be posted, and what will be reimbursed.
According to the law, any expenses a political candidate incurs are only eligible for reimbursement if they occur during the campaign period, which begins on Sept. 22.
