It's sad and deeply concerning that every time we have an election, an editorial needs to be written about vandalism to election signs.
This time it happened over the weekend in Kitimat with one of Taylor Bachrach's signs being defaced.
There is simply no excuse for this kind of violence. Yes, it is violence. And even if it's not, it incites violence.
It is anathema to the entire concept of democracy. We live in what is more or less a civil society wherein differences of opinion are settled at the ballot box. And that's the way it should be.
How did we get to the point where some people hate the other side so much, they are willing to entertain the concept of autocracy?
Because that is where this kind of behaviour leads. The othering, the scapegoating, the conspiracy theories, the hatred and the vitriol eats away at civility until we are neighbour against neighbour, friend against friend, brother against brother.
While it is appalling that there are always a few people who stoop to these lows during an election campaign, we must also resist the temptation to broadly paint all of our political opponents with the taint of it.
That just adds to the division and the hate, and ultimately, we don't even know for sure if this act was politically motivated, although that's a pretty solid bet.
Kudos go out to Bachrach's Conservative opponent Ellis Ross, who very quickly spoke out against the vandalism on his Facebook page.
If the candidates can be civil and respect each other, why can't their supporters?
There's a little more than three weeks left in this campaign. Let's keep it clean, folks.
