A controversial billboard along St. Laurent Blvd. in Ottawa, promoting the immigration policy of Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada, is being criticized as divisive and anti-Canada.
Marylee Sevilla is the People's Party candidate in Ottawa-Centre. Sevilla is a visible minority from a family who immigrated to Canada; Sevilla also said she identifies with the LGBTQ community.
“Everything that all the other Canadians claim that Maxime Bernier does not support and stand for, I am,” said Sevilla.
Sevilla said the Ottawa billboard was created and paid for by a third-party group and was not directed or endorsed by the PPC. The billboard reads: ‘Say NO to mass-immigration’ and displays an image of party leader Maxime Bernier and the party’s logo. Seville said she supports the message of regulation when it comes to immigration.
“They all want the Canadian dream and right now we aren’t giving it to them because we have a backlog,” said Sevilla when referring to her party’s stance on immigration. Sevilla said her party believes Canada can’t afford an influx of immigrants and refugee and the government should take care of struggling Canadians and immigrants already in the country.
But not all residents agree with the message on the billboard. From coast to coast, the advertising has been met with calls for its removal, calling the billboards divisive and anti-Canadian.
“I think that kind of thing needs denouncing and it's emblematic of global problems,” said Ernest Condon.
Susie El Saadany is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa, and a former head of Statistics & Risk Assessments with the Public Health Agency of Canada.
“The guy is ignorant, he does not reflect reality,” she said. “If he did his research on how immigration is done in Canada, he would not say that,” she said of Bernier’s acceptance of the messaging.
The group behind the billboards is run by the chief executive of a Toronto-based mining company; the company paid sixty-thousand dollars to put the signs up. By Sunday evening, the billboard company caved to calls for the advertising to be pulled.
“The criticism Pattison Outdoor Advertising received this past weekend from the public, in the press and on social media regarding the People’s Party billboards designed (and paid for) by True North Advertising Corp. has been overwhelming,” said Randy Otto, President of the company in the statement.
“It was never my or Pattison Outdoor’s intention to offend, alienate or in any way insult the public by allowing this ad to be run,” said Otto, adding the company will be reviewing its policies relating to political messaging. Otto vowed the ads “will be removed from our sites as soon as possible.”
Carleton University student Braeden Cain expressed anger and disappointment when first witnessing the advertisement in Ottawa; saying the billboard is not a true depiction of what Canadians believe.
“Canadian values are values of welcoming people into our homes and helping them out when they're in need and that's not a reflective message,” said Cain.
