A candidate for the mayor's chair in New Glasgow, N.S., says his family is "embarrassed" by some of things he’s posted on social media during his campaign.
Mark Firth is one of four candidates running for mayor in the town. He says when he began his campaign, he wasn’t getting any attention.
“So I went, we'll say the Donald Trump way, and put out some ignorant stupid comments, and I got the reaction,” said Firth.
He started posting about homophobia, racism and how people are sometimes judged by the way they look or act.
In one Facebook post, he wrote, "What's wrong with gay people?" – unclear as to what the response would be.
“My friends are coming at me saying, ‘What are you talking about?’ And I said, ‘You know me, you know, this is awareness.’ I didn't use the quotes or you couldn't see my face when I said, ‘sarcasm,’” said Firth.
Gerard Veldhoven is an activist in the LGBTQ community. He says negative statements about people are hurtful, no matter how they're presented.
“The fact that he's not being straightforward about it, exactly what he means, could have a very negative impact on equality and equal opportunity,” said Veldhoven.
Another mayoral candidate, Henderson Paris, says humour and sarcasm don't often work when talking about racism.
“You have to be really careful when you take that kind of approach because, again, those sort of things just rub people the wrong way,” said Paris.
Firth says he plans on changing his marketing tactics after Sept. 1, when he'll be working to get the message out about who he really is and what he stands for.
Firth admits he’s not sure if he'll be able to make that turnaround, with municipal elections held on Oct. 15.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Dan MacIntosh.
