Urgent call this morning, Lachine Town Hall had been vandalized overnight, the entrance covered with red graffiti with messages supporting the student protests of recent weeks. The Solutions Graffiti team was quickly dispatched to respond to this emergency and to remove graffiti, which covered the front of the building, the steps, and the wooden doors, which look old enough to be referred to as “heritage”. Given that these are older, more delicate surfaces, the result of the pressure washing and graffiti removal process was quite good.

 

It seems relevant to point out that two private schools are located near the site (less than 5 minutes away), but there is no University or CEGEP nearby. We’d rather not jump to conclusions, but, you know…

 

In this case, the vandals, whether or not they are associated with the student groups who are protesting against the rising tuition fees, are making the entire movement look bad by committing an act which is both irresponsible and disrespectful.

 

We are neither for nor against the student protests, but we can’t help but be disappointed to see such acts being committed without any real notion of the consequences – a monument near City Hall was also the target of graffiti vandalism (the graffiti removal went very well on that one too) – but vandalism such as this not only generates costs to cities, which is ultimately paid for by the taxpayers, it also causes property damage and has negative social impacts.