BRANDON--James Montgomery makes no secret about his political preferences; he is a conservative voter.

Montgomery's friend recently told him about an NDP sign campaign in Stephen Harper's home riding of Calgary-Heritage called "Send Harper A Message." Even though Montgomery leans right, he thought the campaign was a good idea.

"I thought it was very creative, unique, just a fantastic idea," said Montgomery.

For a $50 donation, the NDP will create a sign in the riding to send a message to the Conservative leader. They post the sign in the riding and then send you a photo for proof.

There are a number of pre-written messages you can choose from - those ones are all anti-Harper - or you can send in a custom one from your computer.

The website states the party has the right to refuse any message and that no refunds will be given.

The site stated messages must be respectful.

Montgomery put the campaign to the test. On Sept. 17, he sent in a message the NDP campaign didn't expect to see. James wrote: "Make it 4 in a row, Go Harper!"

Montgomery donated his $50 to the campaign and got an email from the NDP saying the party had received his money. Several days went by and Montgomery never got a photo of his sign despite contacting the campaign several times.

On Sunday, he got an email saying he was getting a refund.

"Now, I'm not sure what's going on because I never asked for a refund and they never explained to me why my sign wasn't being put up," said Montgomery.

In all honesty, Montgomery said he knows full well his sign likely wouldn't get posted but thought his message was respectful and didn't break the rules of the NDP sign campaign.

A spokesperson for Matt Masters, the NDP candidate for Calgary-Heritage who's behind the sign campaign, said the party has had to turn away other submissions for signs and unlike James the party did not give a refund in other cases.

The spokesperson said the message did not fit in with NDP policy.

Montgomery said there are bigger issues in this election but he said this shows you can also have fun with politics.

As for that $50, he still hasn't got the refund but said donating to the NDP was "part of the deal."