City removes controversial union posters

The City of Sherbrooke has taken it upon itself to remove the 200 anticaq and anti-plq pre-election posters within its territory after the union coalition that posted them failed to remove the signs as ordered. Each member union has been issued a fine of $ 2,000 for violating municipal bylaws relating to signs.

The City began removing the signs Tuesday, explaining that the signage contravened By-law 13.1.4 on banned signs. The coalition of unions was ordered to remove the signs on August 7 after receiving the legal advisory from the City. The unions were given 72 hours to take the signs down, but they refused to do so.

Meanwhile, the Quebec Superior Court dismissed a request by the coalition for an interlocutory injunction in Quebec City that would have allowed the coalition behind the campaign to post new signs by the time of the official start of the election campaign on August 23. Quebec City removed 200 signs on July 23.

In Sherbrooke, the coalition has still to respond to the removal of the signs and the $2,000 fines. Last week Marc Ranger, the spokesman for the coalition and director of CUPE Quebec, told Sherbrooke’s LA Tribune that the group would not pay any fines. He stated that he believes that the bylaws in question were invalid and in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Montreal has never removed similar posters and Laval has adapted its by-laws to allow such electoral displays.

The coalition includes the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Steelworkers Union, the Canadian Union of Professional and Clerical Employees (COPE), the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), and the Quebec Union of Service Employees (SQEES).