Exercise caution: city, schools warn volunteers

Markham Economist & Sun
Feb. 21, 2014
By Amanda Persico

An online posting, seeking volunteers for the campaign of an unknown Markham municipal candidate, have been removed from a popular classifieds website due to unauthorized use of the city’s logo.

More than 70 online classified ads, calling for volunteers to help with a ward councillor’s campaign, were posted on Kijiji from Jan. 23 to Feb. 15.

A majority of ads used the city’s logo, giving the perception the ad was authorized by the city.

The city’s returning officer has warned all registered candidates they cannot use the city’s logo for campaigning purposes. The city also contacted Kijiji asking for the ads to be pulled off the website.

Today, the ads were gone.

The Economist & Sun replied to the Kijiji ad asking for more information and has yet to receive a response.

But the incident has some residents questioning the safety of Kijiji ads seeking volunteers and want the city to step up.

And several residents commented on yorkregion.com are calling for the city to withdraw the candidacy of the person responsible for the ads.

“The ad certainly was deceptive,” said a poster to yorkregion.com named John. “The voters in Markham should be fully aware of who they are supporting and who shouldn’t be supported. I don’t believe for a minute this was the unintentional act of someone unfamiliar with the rules. This was deliberate and designed to deceive volunteers by using Markham’s official logo with the promise of community hours. Unbelievable.”

Others argued working or volunteering for a political campaign should not qualify as accredited community service hours for high school students.

In fact some commentors accused the poster of luring and deceiving students looking to complete their community service hours to graduate.

“I sure hope students don’t get tricked into something like this thinking it is community service when in fact it is not,” another online poster commented. “I sure hope the schools would tell them this as well. To go door to door for someone is not helping the community, but benefiting one individual.”

Public school students are permitted to volunteer for political organizations, including municipal political activities, which can be counted toward a student’s 40-hour graduation requirement.

But the school board is advising students to go directly to the source instead of relying or responding to an unverified ad, such as those posted on Kijiji.

All community service placements must be approved by the school’s guidance department, school board spokesperson Christina Choo-Hum said.

“If students are interested in volunteering in an election campaign, contact the actual party or candidate directly,” she said. “We want to see our students in safe placements. The guideance department has a lot of tools to connect and find the student a placement.”

York’s Catholic school board is currently reviewing its community service policy, which is expected to be complete by April.

The current policy does not list political organizations as an acceptable option for students looking for volunteer hours.

Meanwhile, Markham residents also called on the city to reach out to students and parents in order to explain these classified ads are not sanctioned by the city.

Earlier this afternoon, the city’s communications department published a public service announcement with tips for students looking to volunteer, reiterating the school board’s message.

“Municipal elections also provide an opportunity for youth and other residents to familiarize themselves with the municipal political process through volunteer opportunities,” the announcement reads. “Many registered candidates also benefit from and advertise for volunteers. In this case, residents interested in volunteering to become involved in the election can do so by contacting a registered election candidate directly.”

The city also recruits volunteers for the municipal election on the city’s website.