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Ad firm says controversial billboards promoting Bernier’s party staying up

Aug 25, 2019 | 10:25 AM

OTTAWA — The owner of the controversial billboards featuring Maxime Bernier’s face and a slogan advocating against mass immigration says the ads are staying up.

Criticism has been pouring in since the billboards started popping up across the country late last week, with residents and other politicians saying the signs are fear-mongering and unnecessarily divisive.

But Pattison Outdoor issued a statement on their social media accounts on Sunday saying that if people have an issue with the content, they should contact the advertiser, True North Strong & Free Advertising Corp.

Pattison’s statement suggested they had reviewed the ad content and did not find it in violation of the Canadian code of advertising standards or their own policies.

But they said if the advertiser at any point removes their contact information from the billboards, the campaign will be pulled down.

The ads tell people to vote for Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada, though the party says it is not affiliated with the third-party group running them.

The Canadian Press