Moose Jaw sign sends mixed message

Many Moose Jaw residents are upset about an anti-abortion sign that’s gone up in town. But it’s not the pro-life message people are taking issue with, it’s the fact that it uses the City of Moose Jaw’s logo.

The sign reads, “she can’t abort the memory” above the banner “welcome to Moose Jaw, drive safely”.

Residents say the placement makes it look like the City of Moose Jaw endorses the campaign.

Courtney Robins Alexis wrote the city a letter explaining that there’s another pro-life sign not far from this one, but the sign in question makes her feel very uncomfortable.

“This sign in particular, accompanied by the “Welcome to Moose Jaw” sign seems to put forth the notion that everyone in the entire city feels this way,” writes Alexis. “It is excluding women that have had an abortion or believe in a woman’s right to choose for herself when reproduction occurs. I would even go so far as to say that it is downright shaming women that have had an abortion and live in Moose Jaw, whether or not they regret it.”

The city says that’s not true, and the campaign has no authority to use its logo.

The sign is privately owned and on private property. City officials are trying to track down the people responsible for putting it up because of all the complaints they’re getting.

“I can’t blame anybody,” said Matt Noble, Moose Jaw’s City Manager. “That’s not the way we or any other city does business. Right now our main impetus is to find the people responsible, but so far they haven’t returned our calls.”

Global News also tried to contact the people behind the sign, but they didn’t return our calls either.

The national office behind the campaign did take our call though. They said the whole thing is a mistake, and they never meant to have both items on one sign.