The Liberals are facing questions about their candidate selection process for Ontario’s snap election as the Progressive Conservative campaign continues to unearth past social media comments made by Liberal candidates.
On Monday, a social media post surfaced from Viresh Bansal, the Liberal candidate for Oshawa.
“You can thank India for cleaning trash people,” he wrote. “Ask your gay friend @JustinTrudeau to do the same.”
The message was in response to a 2023 social media post by federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh about the killing of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, which Canada has said was linked to the Indian government.
Nijjar was a Canadian citizen, temple president and prominent leader of the Khalistan movement, which seeks independence for India’s Sikh-majority Punjab state.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada called on the Liberals to drop Bansal as a candidate, calling the post “disgusting” in a statement.
“The fact that the Ontario Liberal campaign has not immediately and unequivocally condemned these remarks is unacceptable,” President Danish Singh said. “There is no place in Canadian politics for candidates who celebrate state-sponsored killings and use hateful, homophobic rhetoric.”
The Ontario Liberal campaign did not comment directly on the social media post, instead accusing the PCs of distraction tactics.
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“Classic Doug,” a spokesperson said. “Anything to distract from his failed record in Ontario, the billions wasted on deals to benefit his buddies and an active RCMP investigation over his Greenbelt giveaway.”
The post is the latest in a string of social media comments made by Liberal candidates that the Progressive Conservative campaign has unearthed and shared in recent days.
One candidate in the Ottawa area previously posted what appears to be a joke about consent. Separately, a Thunder Bay Liberal candidate wrote a series of controversial messages, including defending Bill Cosby. Those posts date back to 2012 and 2014, respectively.
Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie has backed her candidates.
“The candidate had apologized for the tweets,” Crombie said in North Bay on Friday, referring to the Thunder Bay candidate. “I think this was a long time ago and that he’s an elected official today and he’s apologized.”
The series of posts the Progressive Conservatives have been able to find raises questions about how thorough the Liberal vetting process was ahead of the snap election.
Crombie and her party committed early to running a full slate of candidates across the province’s 124 ridings and, ahead of the campaign, declared electoral urgency to make it quicker to nominate candidates. The move allowed the party to expedite nominations in some ridings to ensure it had candidates in every riding before the election.
The Progressive Conservatives said Crombie should personally take responsibility for her candidates’ past comments.
“Despite widespread backlash, Crombie refuses to take responsibility for her hand-picked candidates and continues to stand by them,” the campaign said in a statement. “Bonnie Crombie’s silence and continued support for these candidates speak volumes.”
The Liberals have not held back in response, circulating a list of previous statements Progressive Conservative Party Leader Doug Ford has made.
Ford has had two moments on the campaign trail where his own comments have come under fire. He was caught on a hot mic making candid comments about his support for U.S. President Donald Trump in November’s election and also mentioned the return of the death penalty in a moment his team called a “poor-taste joke.”
The Liberals have a slate of 123 candidates in Ontario for election day, while the Ontario NDP will run the same number. The Greens said they have nominated 124 candidates across the province.
All four party leaders are set to meet on the debate stage on Monday evening in the second and finalized televised all-party event of the campaign.
Election day is Feb. 27.
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