Behind the Signs: What Most People Don’t See During Election Season
April 14 2025
As election season ramps up again in Etobicoke — and yet another round of signs pops up across lawns and boulevards — there’s a truth quietly felt by many campaign volunteers: it feels like election season hasn’t stopped since January.
Across Ontario, volunteers have been stepping up in back-to-back campaigns — some helping out both federally and provincially. And while signs may just look like plastic boards on a stick to some, for many, they’ve come to represent a marathon of cold hands, icy falls, and sheer exhaustion.
What people don’t always realize is that signs — especially large ones — aren’t put up by professionals. They’re built, transported, and installed by volunteers. Everyday people. People with day jobs, families, and not enough time. People who care enough about their community, or a candidate, to give up their weekends to hammer rebar into frozen ground or drill into posts while the rain drips off their hoods.
This has been a long winter and spring. The early months of the year were full of ice and snow, making even basic tasks like delivering literature a challenge. I still remember slipping on a sidewalk in February, flyers in hand, thinking, “This can’t be how democracy works.”
And then came March — another round of signs to prepare, store, and deliver, often in the kind of wet, gray, bone-chilling rain that seeps into your clothes and your spirit. Volunteers had barely a month to recover. My own family spent one recent Sunday on a side street, trying to build large signs in the back of a car — fingers frozen, tools slippery, doing our best to laugh through it. By the next morning, even moving around hurt. My body needed a break, and I finally realized I had hit my limit — at least for a little while.
But just as I was starting to regroup, I saw it: signs broken, cut, defaced — and one possibly even torched. That’s the kind of thing that breaks not just your heart, but your spirit. Not just for the campaign, but for democracy itself — and for all the time, effort, and care that goes into putting those signs up in the first place.
It’s gutting and not just because its a sign but it’s a symbol of effort — of hours spent getting permission, tracking addresses, pounding posts. It’s a symbol of belief — that this campaign, this voice, matters. When that’s destroyed, especially after everything people have already put in, it feels like someone is trying to erase that belief.
We know sign vandalism is common. We also know it’s not always random. Incumbents are often targeted and I have found that very much the case in my neck of the woods both provincially and federally. But so often this kind of vandalism also targets to a higher degree female, racialized, and LGBTQ2S candidates, basically anyone who threatens the status quo.
And while yes, tampering with signs is illegal, few people report it. Fewer still get a response. It’s not usually worth calling the police over a missing lawn sign. So volunteers shrug, and go back out. And hammer again.
But the truth is, it hurts.
So the next time you see a sign, let it remind you of this:
Someone stood on that lawn with a clipboard. Someone asked for permission. Someone gave it. And someone showed up — cold, tired, soaked — to make sure it stood tall. Not because it was easy but because they believed.
Whether you support that candidate or not, the sign is a signal of democracy in action — imperfect, vulnerable, and incredibly human.
So maybe just let it stand.
🛠️ Want to help a local campaign?
Most campaigns are still looking for sign crews, lit droppers, and Get Out The Vote support. It’s not glamorous — but it’s deeply appreciated.
📸 Have you seen sign vandalism?
Take a photo and report it to the campaign. If it's persistent and targeted, consider documenting it — especially if it’s happening on public property.
Community Conversations
Last week, we hosted our very first Virtual Community Conversation with TDSB Ward 2 Trustee Dan MacLean and local community advocate Noel Semple. A big thank you to both of them for taking time out of their busy schedules to join us for this important town hall event.
We gained valuable insight into the current TDSB budgeting process for the 2025–26 school year, and I’m thrilled that so many engaged residents joined the conversation.
If you missed it — don’t worry. The Etobicoke Voice will be hosting more of these forums soon, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, here’s an upcoming opportunity to continue the conversation:
West End Budget Town Hall
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
In person at Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute, 500 The East Mall
Register here
Let’s keep showing up, sharing ideas, and making our voices heard.
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