One New Westminster woman came home from the holidays to a rude surprise – someone had cut the power cord to her “Stop Harper” Christmas light display.
Disappointed that she wasn’t going to get a new prime minister for Christmas, Andrea Mears, who lives on the corner of 10th Avenue and Surrey Street, wanted a way to voice her displeasure with Harper and the Conservatives.
“I want to live in a Canada that believes what I do; peace, preserving the environment and reducing the gap of income inequality,” she said. “All the things I want to say are super long, so I thought ‘Stop Harper’ is much shorter.”
On Nov. 28, she hung a string of Christmas lights on her fence (at the top of Cariboo Hill, in the Cariboo Road and 10th Avenue intersection) that read “Stop Harper” in bright red lights.
It was meant to be a festive expression of Mears’ political beliefs, but someone must not have been of the same festive spirit as Mears, because less than a week after she hung the lights she received a phone call from a New Westminster bylaw officer.
“He said that there had been four calls from motorists saying they were distracted or confused by the lights and thought it meant they had to stop,” Mears told The Record.
Not wanting to prompt any more complaints, Mears changed the setting of the lights from flashing to fade, hoping this would be less distracting for motorists.
Two days later, however, Mears came home and the lights had been unplugged – strange, yes, but she didn’t think much of it and continued on with her life.
Shortly before Christmas, Mears and her family went out of town for about a week. When they got home on Dec. 30, the ‘Stop Harper’ lights were out, again, but this time someone had cut the power cord and left a note that read, “On behalf of the neighbourhood, I’m shutting you down for Christmas. Merry Christmas Scrooge.”
“I was totally shocked. I couldn’t believe somebody would cut, would vandalize, somebody else’s property, and the fact that there was a note led me to believe that this person had … set out with intent,” she said.
Mears, who has two young children aged three and six years old, was upset. She told The Recordshe teaches her children that it is OK to disagree with other people, but that it’s important to listen and respect what they say.
“I don’t want them to think that destroying their neighbour’s property is appropriate for opposing political beliefs,” she added.
Mears replaced the cord and on top of the note left behind by the vandals, she tacked her own note, which read, “To whoever cut my lights, you may not agree with what they say but surely you agree I have the right to say it. Please don’t vandalize my property again.”
Mears took the display down on Sunday and still has no idea who cut the cord or left the note. She’s spoken with her Block Watch captain and her next-door neighbour, and neither were bothered by the lights.
In fact, her neighbour actually found the message amusing and had witnessed several people taking photos (a sight this reporter also witnessed).
“My Block Watch captain said, ‘What kind of person would assume to speak on behalf of the neighbourhood?’ Nobody spoke to him about it, so that was also very strange,” Mears said.
The “Stop Harper” lights are gone for now, but Mears is already trying to think of ideas for another display, possibly something Valentine’s Day themed.
The Record contacted the New Westminster Police Department, but calls were not returned by press time.
