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Election signs found dumped near trash can; Candidate already expecting negative campaign

'The sad thing is we have come to expect that. It’s disappointing because that is the expectation,' says Tanya Saari, Liberal candidate in Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte
2021-08-21 Liberal signs trashed
A reader found several election signs for Barrie-Springwater-Oro Medonte Liberal candidate Tanya Saari had been dumped beside a trash can near Johnson and Grove streets on Friday.

Tanya Saari is refusing to get mad, despite learning a number of her campaign signs were dumped next to a trash can in the city’s northeast end on Friday.

The Barrie-Springwater-Oro Medonte Liberal candidate, whose signs were discovered by a reader near a plaza at Johnson and Grove streets, told BarrieToday she wasn’t aware of the issue, but admitted she wasn’t surprised it had happened, either. 

“The sad thing is we have come to expect that. It’s disappointing because that is the expectation,” she said. “When I submitted my name, I had to sit down with my husband and my kids and (said) there are going to be negative things said about me and there are going to be some negativity thrown at me.

"I think that’s a very unfortunate conversation that we had to have at home.”

Saari says she chooses not to pay attention to the negativity, whether it be in the form of trashed signs or online comments. 

“If there are people asking questions or something like that (online), we have people behind the scenes that will come to me with those questions, but other than that you just can’t dive into the comments because it can be a really dark place,” she said.

“When you react to it, you’re giving people exactly what they want. If you let it go, they’re not getting out of you what they wanted, so it’s important to just take the higher road.”

Saari says she likes to follow former first lady Michelle Obama’s motto of “when they go low, we go high."

“Even when (Liberal leader) Justin Trudeau was here Wednesday, we had to pull our volunteers aside and let them know they’d have to walk through a group of protesters and it was not going to be pleasant,” she said. “I understand that it’s going to happen, but I am not going to let it bug me. I am focused on one thing and that is getting across the finish line.”

A Barrie police said they have not received any reports regarding vandalized election signs. 

The federal election is set for Sept. 20.