Signs of an election? Tom Osborne campaign signs pop up in St. John's

Though Premier Dwight Ball hasinsistedhe's not thinking about an election, bright spots of colour have popped up on a few St. John's lawns.

And they weren't spring crocuses.

Bright red election signs for Tom Osborne, Liberal MHA for the Waterford Valley district in St. John's,were spotted around Hamilton Avenue on Monday night.

"All of my signs are still in storage, so I'm guessing it was one of thevolunteers that were putting up signs for me in the last election, maybe getting ahead start. Not sanctioned by me, but I'm delighted I have the support," he said, laughing.

He said he's not quite sure how many signs have been put up, or where, or by whom.

The date of the upcoming election hasn't yet been announced,but Premier Dwight Ball has said it will happen before the end of the school year. Osborneinsisted the campaign signs which appeared to be from his run in the 2015 electionare not an indiction that he knows something the rest of the province doesn't.

Will the province vote before the budget is passed?

As the province's finance minister, Osborne will be delivering the provincialbudget on April 16, and it's possible voters will be heading to the polls before the budget has been passed.

Osborne insisted that even if the people of Newfoundland and Labrador are voting on a new government before the house votes on his budget, that doesn't mean it's just for show.

"We are putting forward to the people of the province our fiscal plan, in terms of the budget. The people in [the province] will know exactly where we are from a financial situation," he said.

Echoing criticisms lobbed by Ball in the House of Assembly on Monday, he said that puts the standing Liberals in direct contrast to the former PC government, claiming that government left voters in the dark about the province's financial situation when they went to the polls in 2015.

As for the Tom Osborne signs dotting the grass in St. John's from that election, henoted that the province's elections act does allow for candidates to use signs from past votes, they just have to put a dollar sign on them to log their campaign spending.

"I know exactly how many signs Ihave in my storage shed and I will account for those. These other signs, I'm not sure how many are up or who'sbeen putting them up, but I will find out," he said.

He didn't say whether he'd be asking those enthusiastic supporters to take the signs down.

Read more stories from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador