Thursday, January 11th, 2007 ::: New Signs

Everyone should have a hobby. Our hobby is destroying illegal billboards with the rule of law.

The outdoor advertising industry has a global culture of non-compliance with the law. Advertising companies are erecting illegal billboards all over the world, wherever they can get away with it. In Toronto, this renegade, lawless industry has been acting with impunity due to bureaucratic negligence.

Our Streets are where civic capital is created. Illegal billboards monetize our civic capital, under no colour of right, by treating citizens as consumers first. Illegal billboards commodify what is unique about our neighbourhoods by turning our Streets into pages of a mass-market magazine, without regard to the law. Join us as we fight to legalize and democratize Toronto’s visual environment. Join us as we fight to Reclaim the Streets.

On IllegalSigns.ca you will discover how most billboards in Toronto are illegal and how we seek to become the catalyst for the assiduous application of our laws against this out-of-control industry.

Billboard Permit Fraud

Advertising companies are filing false information with the Buildings Department and obtaining illegal Sign Permits without the required City Council approvals. Over the past 15 years, the Buildings Department has issued over 500 illegal permits for billboards.

Audits of By-Law Enforcement

We wanted to see what Municipal Licensing and Standards is doing about illegal signs. The results are shocking. Toronto’s Sign Inspectors don’t know what they are doing - MLS has decided that hundreds of illegal signs are legal because they haven’t a clue how to investigate billboards. The result is an industry out-of-control.

Street Studies

We take a close look at illegal signs in one neighbourhood.

Before and After

Evidence of our handiwork.

We are currently soliciting donations to create an illegal billboard database for the entire City.

Sincerely,
Rami Tabello, Coordinator