Albertans4Freedom took video of worker trying to remove a sign

City of Calgary representatives say a staffer unlawfully removed separatist signage on Tuesday, an admission that followed public backlash on social media.

“The City can confirm that some signs were removed in error and later returned to the original owner,” a spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement.

In a video posted to social media by Brian McLelland, leader of Albertans4Freedom, a city worker was seen trying to pull a sign out of the ground in the city’s northwest.

“We now know who has been tearing down our signs in 10th street,” McLelland said in his message.

McLelland had not responded to Postmedia’s request for comment by publication time Thursday. Albertans4Freedom is a third-party advertiser promoting separation in the upcoming referendum.

The city added that the large board the city worker was trying to remove, as shown in the video, was left in place. As of Thursday, the ‘Send Ottawa a Message’ signs remained along 10th Street Northwest near Confederation Park.

The city’s website says it does not regulate referendum signs and it will monitor signs that “present safety hazards or interfere with public infrastructure.”

However, it can still remove such boards that, among other locations, are placed within 15 metres of any intersection, 30 metres of any city bus shelter, transit bench, bus zone, LRT station, or LRT platform, 20 metres of a sign posted by the same owner or featuring the same idea, or in a playground zone or school zone.

Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness said the issue of removing signs is complicated by several restrictions approved by council last year.

The changes raise the minimum distance between signs by the same party or candidate by 10 metres to 30, prohibiting signs within two metres of a driveway crossing and increasing a list of restricted roadways.

“This has happened during the last municipal election,” Wyness said. “And if council doesn’t change these rules, it will happen again during the provincial and federal elections.”

She said the convoluted rules have made the city’s enforcement complaint-driven, which can result in instances of unfairness. Specially designating places for election signs can enhance clarity and “encourage staff to just go and make sure that the signs are compliant with the overarching bylaws,” Wyness added.

“The rules impact how the electorate is informed, or curiosity is encouraged for the electorate to learn about the issues before them.”

Ward 14 Coun. Landon Johnston, who once harboured similar frustrations with the city when he launched a petition to recall former Mayor Jyoti Gondek in 2024, said removing signs exasperates volunteers and doesn’t foster a fair conversation about an issue.

The city removed Johnston’s signs because their size violated local bylaws.

“The frustration goes either way, no matter what the sign would be,” he said. “Hopefully the city apologizes. Whoever owns the sign gets it back, and you know we can just move on from there.”

Ward 8 Coun. Nate Schmidt sounded more optimistic stating while the act was “unfortunate,” the city’s admission was a good sign that led to the rectification of the error. However, he acknowledges the recent sign rules have made their enforcement confusing.

“It just again makes things less clear for everyone, and when it comes to especially elections, clarity, the perception of fairness, and the equal enforcement of the law is something that builds people’s trust in that process,” he said.

“And if there are more complexities added to the way that works, (in) that nobody is quite sure how it’s supposed to work, then that will create situations where people will speculate as to how it’s working, and we don’t want that to happen. “