Rural N.S. candidate offers $500 reward after vandals target election signs

A Nova Scotia man running for municipal office says a $500 reward will be worth it if he can figure out who's been vandalizing his election signs.

Timothy Gillespie is vying for the District 7 seat (Lydgate, Allendale, East Sable, West Middle Sable, Sable River and Port L'Hébert) of the Municipality of the District of Shelburne in Saturday's election.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Gillespie said campaigning door to door isn't an option, so he's focused on putting up election signs throughout the region.

About four days ago, Gillespie said he started noticing multiple signs had been stolen, spray-painted or broken.

Signs broken, run over

At first, Gillespie just thought it was the work of some "darn kids." But then he saw another, and another.

"What really sort of pushed me over the edge a bit was when I saw somebody had knocked one down and then run over it with their truck," Gillespie said.

"That let me know that somebody was really intending to, you know, damage my campaign."

Gillespie has a hunch that he's being targeted because of his local news website, and outspoken opinions on local issues that may have ruffled feathers in the past.

Damage reported to police

He said he's found at least six damaged signs as of Thursday, costing him about $400.

Gillespie reported the issue to the RCMP, and said he was told it will likely be difficult to find the culprit. But if enough evidence is gathered, the police told him a mischief charge could be appropriate.

That's when Gillespie decided to up the ante, and offer a $500 reward for information about who has been destroying his signs. Money seems to be the most reliable way to get people's attention, he added.

"If the reward happens to bring somebody forward who knows who did it, and that person gets charged, well, it'll be money well spent," Gillespie said.

Opposing candidate calls for vandalism to stop

The only other candidate in the race, Dale Richardson, hasn't had any signs destroyed.

One of Gillespie's signs was spray-painted with his opponent's name, but Richardson said he has no idea who is behind the vandalism and doesn't condone it at all.

While Richardson said he's seen a few provincial and federal election signs in the area defaced before, he thought "we were above that" at the municipal level.

"My message is to voters, even if they agree with me or disagree, I encourage them to vote. So, I can't see what's to be gained by knocking signs down," Richardson said.

More people needed in civic politics

Although Gillespie has had to take extra time out of his campaign to replace the signs, he urges people not to get discouraged from jumping into municipal politics themselves.

It's the only level people really have control over, he said, and civic decisions are so key to building strong rural communities.

"It's not an easy life up in the boondocks here. And we need each other, and the more we can co-operate and not sort of try to damage each other, the better off we're all going to be."