As election fever grips residents in the Cowichan-Malahat-Langford riding, tempers have started to fray.
The campaign teams for Liberal Party candidate Blair Herbert and the NDP’s Alistair MacGregor have both raised concerns about verbal abuse directed at their volunteers from Conservative supporters.
According to Herbert's team, a Liberal volunteer who was carrying election signs in Duncan, was harassed by a "male Poilievre supporter" who called them a “Trudeau-Carney whore."
The NDP team says they heard concerns from canvassers about harassment from Conservative supporters, including one incident involving a senior citizen volunteer who was yelled at while knocking on doors.
“A canvasser ... was approached by a younger man in his car, who pulled over, got out, and yelled, ‘Are you a f***ing Liberal?’” said a spokesperson for the Liberal Party. "The canvasser felt scared and even took down this person's licence plate number, in case they came back again.”
Herbert’s campaign team has also said election signs have been taken down almost as quickly as they can put them up, with some vandalized and left strewn on the ground.
“It is interesting to see the signs that do remain standing; I think that speaks volumes as to what lengths other party supporters will go to in order to win this riding,” said Herbert in a news release.
Green candidate Kathy Code says election signs are a small part of her campaign strategy as she does not want to create litter.
“And as demonstrated, they are often the targets of attack,” she said. “I don't know that signs serve to change minds; most people are pretty entrenched as it is. I'm not sure if my signs have survived or not.”
Instead, Code says she has noticed an “extreme frenzy” about not voting Conservative in the election.
“I've been asked to step down as the Green candidate and tell my supporters to vote strategically in this riding as the means to defeat the Conservatives,” said Code.
But Code refuses to succumb to the pressure. “Let me say this now, this is not how democracy works. I will not toss the Green Party under the bus under any circumstances, and I will stand strong for our principles and our policies.”
Herbert, too, says he has received pressure from “left-wing voters asking him to step down so their candidate can win the election.”
“I would suggest that you let democracy work instead of trying to manipulate the process,” said Herbert, quoting an email response he sent to one voter.
“When you put your hat in the ring for an election, you expect some signs to be vandalized, but you do not expect the intimidating and manipulative tactics that our campaign is experiencing,” he added.
Conservative candidate Jeff Kibble was also approached for comment.
