HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative campaign manager has resigned amid accusations of “vote buying” with Tim Hortons gift cards.

Peter Zwicker, Conservative campaign manager for the riding of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, resigned Tuesday morning after the Nova Scotia Liberals filed a complaint with election officials about the party giving away cards -gifts to people at a drive-thru Saturday.

Zwicker released a statement saying the campaign hosted an event with local candidate Susan Corkum-Greek at the Tim Hortons store in Lunenburg, and he handed out gift cards worth $2.07 – the price of a average cup of coffee. He said that in 15 minutes he dealt cards totaling $51.75.

Zwicker said Corkum-Greek didn’t know it happened, and he said he was “sincerely sorry” that his actions distracted from the campaign.

The Liberals said they were informed of the gift card offering by a community member in attendance. The party said it was reported that a campaign worker handed out the cards to people in line at the drive-thru while Corkum-Greek was parked at the other end, greeting customers and asking for their support during the provincial elections of November 26.

“This potential vote-buying activity raises serious concerns about the integrity of the election,” Liberal Party President Margaret Miller said in a statement Tuesday.

“A Nova Scotia Conservative candidate allegedly bribed Nova Scotians to vote for her and her party – was this an isolated incident? This is certainly not behavior that people expect from their elected officials these days,” she continued.

Elections Nova Scotia confirmed receipt of the Liberals’ complaint and a spokesperson said the agency was investigating.

At a news conference Tuesday morning, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston said he was not at the drive-thru Saturday, but was in Lunenburg later in the day knocking on doors.

“It wouldn’t be uncommon for political events to have coffee and donuts, this could be a variation of that. But we will let Elections Nova Scotia speak,” he said, speaking to reporters before Zwicker issued a statement regarding his resignation.

Houston said handing out gift cards was not a party strategy and that “local campaigns make decisions.”

Tom Urbaniak, a political science professor at Cape Breton University in Sydney, Nova Scotia, said in an interview Tuesday that there is an ethical difference between offering donuts and coffee at a campaign event. organized by a party and give a direct gift to people.

“This echoes a practice that was historically common in Nova Scotia… where candidates would hand out rum or boxes of chocolates and it was a form of vote buying.” But that pretty much disappeared in the early 1990s,” Urbaniak said.

“This seems to echo a historical (practice) now considered generally unsavory,” he added.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published November 12, 2024.

— With files from Michael Tutton.

Lyndsay Armstrong, The Canadian Press