Sean Shaw brought this up and it’s been a long time irritant to me but I really believe that there should be no election signs on public property. A lawn sign is supposed to be an endorsement of who you are going to vote for. The last time I checked but the Meewasin Valley does not vote, neither do soccer fields, tennis courts, boulevards, telephone polls, or abandoned lots.
If campaign signs are found to be up on public grounds, you get warned and then fined. If there are some allegations of dirty tricks (which of course no politician would ever do), there is some leeway on whether or not there is a fine. The same rules for civic, provincial, and federal campaigns. The exception would be the poster boards downtown and on places like Broadway and 20th Street (those poster boards seem to be there for a reason).
It rewards candidates who engage their constituents and keeps our public spaces non-partisan.
From a campaign perspective, posting signs on private property is the most effective spot for them as well.
As you noted, these public entities don’t vote your friends and neighbors do. When you see a sign for a particular candidate in the yard down the street from someone who’s opinion your respect, that carries a lot more weight then a half dozen signs strewn along the highway.
It might not sway your vote to see a sign in a neighbors yard but it’s something that can start a conversation on the block and, more generally, get you thinking about the campaign.