Mayoral candidate Doug Ford (open Doug Ford's policard) has had far more illegal campaign signs removed than his rivals.

Since Oct. 2, the first day candidates could erect signs, city bylaw officers have removed 336 illegal Ford signs — more than 16 per day. By contrast, only 25 of Olivia Chow’s signs and 21 of John Tory’s signs have been removed in total, according to figures provided by the city on Wednesday.

Campaign signs can be placed along public streets and on private property with the permission of the property owner. They cannot be placed on city property at all, on private property without permission, or in locations where they pose a safety risk to drivers or pedestrians.

Ford campaign spokesman Amin Massoudi said the improper signs may have been erected by untrained supporters who dropped by the campaign office and requested some. The campaign’s actual sign crews are well-trained and “have been told to follow the rules to the tee,” he said.

“As with any campaign, there are volunteers that are not part of the official sign crew team that come and get some signs and just come and help out, and we feel that maybe some of these folks — and we have a lot of them, because we have a lot of grassroots support — are not as well-trained and might not know the rules as well,” Massoudi said.

The enforcement system is driven by complaints rather than proactive inspections, so it is possible that residents are simply paying closer attention to Ford’s signs than those of his rivals; Massoudi said “we feel we might be subject to a little bit more scrutiny.” However, the vast gulf between Ford and his rivals strongly suggests his campaign has indeed committed more violations.

Veteran incumbent Raymond Cho (open Raymond Cho's policard) (Ward 42, Scarborough-Rouge River) has had the second-most signs removed: 78. First-time candidate Munira Abukar (Ward 2, Etobicoke North) is third with 70.

Rounding out the top 10 are Cho rival Neethan Shan with 56, Justin Di Ciano (Ward 5, Etobicoke-Lakeshore) with 51, Michael Coll (Ward 16 Eglinton-Lawrence) with 49, Ishrath Velshi (Ward 26, Don Valley West) with 47, incumbent Mark Grimes (open Mark Grimes's policard) (Ward 6, Etobicoke-Lakeshore) with 42, David Mousavi (Ward 23, Willowdale) with 39, and Diana Hall (Ward 44, Scarborough East) 38.

These figures do not include complaints about legal signs that have mysteriously vanished or been intentionally damaged, such as the Abukar signs defaced with racist graffiti. Candidates in wards around the city have complained to the Star that their signs are being tarnished or taken.

The campaign of Andray Domise, who is running against Rob Ford (open Rob Ford's policard) in the Etobicoke ward (Ward 2, Etobicoke North) currently represented by Doug Ford, said last week that he has lost more than 100 signs to “organized theft and vandalism.” In discussing the Doug Ford signs found in improper locations, Massoudi said Ford himself has had “hundreds” of signs stolen from proper locations.

“I’m not insinuating anything, but anything’s possible,” he said.

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