Addressing her supporters following defeat in Monday’s federal election, Liberal candidate Nell Thomas said she, her team, and supporters “have been victimized” throughout the five-week campaign.
In a speech delivered at Lindsay’s Olympia Restaurant, Thomas said she ran a “squeaky clean” operation, which culminated April 28 with 29,193 votes (38.7 per cent). She was the runner-up behind four-term Conservative MP Jamie Schmale, though the performance was the Liberals’ strongest in the riding in 25 years.
“We do not denigrate, we do not name call, we do not believe in fraudulent, or destructive, or illegal activity. But we have been victims of all the above,” Thomas said.
She claims her elections signs were heavily tampered with throughout the campaign, while team members, including herself, received death threats, were verbally abused, and physically intimidated by detractors.
This was happening even before a series of comments made by Thomas on a now-deleted X – formerly Twitter – account was made public last week, she claims.
In those messages, posted in 2023 and 2024, Thomas appeared to question why anyone would want to have children today, stating, “of necessity, a mother must be a climate change denier.”
While discussing an unknown issue, she appeared to target Canada’s older demographic, commenting that solutions “must include stop keeping ancients alive so long.”
In a video posted to her official election channels, Thomas said those comments were taken out of context, though apologized for the hurt her words may have caused.
“I want to make clear that my values remain rooted in respect, understanding, and justice. For those who know me, they know I am a person of strong morality. I am a physician who cares for patients of all ages across every stage of life, including end-of-life journeys. I help people find dignity, relieve suffering, and seeking peace when existence becomes too heavy to bear.
“I am also a lifelong environmentalist who cares deeply about the future we are leaving for our children. There is nothing more meaningful to me than caring for moms and their babies. I love the life force that drives us to create new generations,” she said.
Thomas said those comments were plucked from conversation threads involving multiple people, with no context provided. She felt it was a coordinated smear campaign.
“The issue is foreign interference, the extreme rightwing propaganda machine of disinformation,” Thomas said. “These are the threats to democracy that we must all work against right now.”
