An Osoyoos, B.C., man has been caught on camera stealing campaign signs promoting Dustin Sikora for mayor.
Sikora who is part of the Osoyoos First slate of candidates, claims multiple election signs were stolen over the weekend. Cameras were then installed which captured two incidents on Monday.
In a statement, Sikora said the man in the video is Marcel St. Louis and Louis’ wife is the financial agent official for incumbent mayor Sue McKortoff’s campaign.
“They are both very well known as close personal friends with mayor McKortoff and this social circle has fought very hard during the election to keep their status intact,” said Sikora in a statement.
“However, committing criminal activity is over the top. I am disappointed and now left with even more questions than answers.”
McKortoff says she knew nothing about Louis’ alleged actions beforehand.
“I was quite shocked, and I would never ever condone this type of behaviour and I’m very sorry for what had happened because it is not comfortable for anyone,” said McKortoff.
Tampering with election signs is an offence in British Columbia. Sikora has been in contact with RCMP, and claims Louis was arrested.
Global News reached out to RCMP for more information, but they declined our request for an interview.
“I personally take this matter very seriously as it is a symbol of what needs to change. Change is always met with peak resistance when it is needed the most,” said Sikora.
Meanwhile, throughout Sikora’s campaign, many questions have been raised regarding his roughly $23,000 donation to the Freedom Convoy movement, one of the largest Canadian donations.
Sikora addressed the questions on the Osoyoos First website in September. In a statement, he said he is not anti-vaccine or a denier of science and has all his vaccines.
However, he said he is equally sympathetic to those that were afraid of getting the COVID shot as he is to those that were afraid of contracting COVID without it, claiming he strongly believes in a person’s freedom to choose.
“Given that this is election time, I am not surprised but I am disappointed in the attempts to misdirect your attention away from the aforementioned balancing facts in exchange for divisive conjecture and nefarious imagineering,” said Sikora.
Sikora along with three council candidates make up the Osoyoos First party banner, which has the potential to win mayorship and possibly the majority of town council seats.
Global News did reach out to Sikora for more information, but he did not make himself available for an interview.