The Editor,
Monday, October 6 2008
Over the last few weeks, many election campaign signs put up on Gabriola have been torn down or destroyed. I am distressed and depressed by this attack on free speech.
I will be voting for Jean Crowder, am strongly opposed to many Conservative policies, and have voted on the progressive left all my life. And that is precisely why it deeply troubles me that this destruction has been aimed almost entirely against Conservative party signs. You, whoever you are who is tearing down their signs, may believe that because you too dislike this government that you are merely expressing your political opinion. Not so!
You are preventing others from expressing their political opinions, and once you step over that line, you are no longer being a part of democracy, but are attacking our most basic and cherished freedoms.
It troubles me especially that you, the sign vandal, might be someone who claims to share my belief in progressive, people-based policies. How could you imagine that destroying the democratic process could possibly support our cause? With “friends” like you, who needs enemies?
Shelagh Huston
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