Markham called police over election ads controversy

Thornhill Liberal
March 6, 2014
By Amanda Persico

Unless someone confesses, the city may never know the person behind several online ads seeking volunteers for an election campaign.

The city’s returning officer and city clerk Kimberly Kitteringham gave an update during a general committee meeting on the city’s actions over anonymous ads that appeared on Craigslist and Kijiji last month.

More than 70 ads were posted in January and February calling for volunteers to help with a council candidate’s campaign for the 2014 municipal election.

Both sets of ads used the official City of Markham logo and pointed to city-owned facilities such as the Millilken Mills Community Centre or the Civic Centre on maps associated with the ads.

No contact information was posted with the ads.

The ads have since been removed.

“This is a serious issue,” ward Councillor Don Hamilton said. “There’s been rumours and a lot of innuendo.”

Once the city was aware of the ads, not only did staff contact both Kijiji and Craigslist and ask for the ads to be removed, but also responded to each individual ad asking the poster to cease and desist.

The city also contacted the school boards to warn of the ads, posted a public service announcement on the city’s website and contacted the police.

Police looked into the incident but closed their investigation, the city’s corporate services commissioner, Trinela Cane said. Police did not find any malicious intent or find the ads to be vindictive, she added — their apparent criteria for pursuing the matter.

All the information the city has about the posted ads was obtained through email exchanges.

According to those exchanges, the poster claims to be a local youth not affiliated with a campaign or a candidate and is looking to connect and engage other youth in the city in the municipal election, Ms Kitteringham said.

Deputy mayor and Regional Councillor Jack Heath probed further, asking if there was an identity associated with the emails.

The poster is partially identified through emails, Ms. Kitteringham said.

“That’s what social media is, anyone can post any information,” she said.

“I don’t mean to be flippant, but I can say I am the Queen of England and no one will know if I am or not.”

The city has also notified all current councillors and registered candidates warning them municipally owned intellectual property, such as logos and pictures are off limits.

That also includes current councillor head shots used for official city business.

If candidates are concerned about the use of a photo, they should contact the city’s clerk’s department.

THORNHILL COUNCILLOR WEIGHS IN

There have been rumours as to who is behind the online classified ads. One pointed to incumbent Councillor Howard Shore, who is running in the new Thornhill ward.

Mr. Shore denied any involvement with the ads. 

“It would have never occurred to me to look for volunteers on a site such as this, let alone anonymously,” he said in an email. “This is, however a serious matter... I, for one, want to see the perpetrator identified, as this certainly tars the whole process.”

One Craigslist ad points to a street near Mr. Shore’s home in Thornhill. 

But as York Region Media staff discovered, maps on Craigslist can be manipulated.

Our newsroom created ads on Craigslist and Kijiji to test the online mapping system and its accuracy.  

When creating a Craigslist ad, after you have typed in a postal code you have the option of moving the map pointer to any location. That means you can pinpoint a location on the map unrelated that does not match a postal code. 

When creating a Kijiji ad, there are two options when generating a map, using your current location or using a postal code. The difference here is the map is fixed and cannot me manipulated. 

“Clearly someone is not a fan of mine and (is) having a bit of fun at my expense,” Mr. Shore said. “As I’ve recently learned, one can easily identify any area they want as a map location if they want to be mischievous... Unfortunately, it’s too easy for someone up to no good to plug in a map location near one person or another that others then latch on to.”