Ontario Conservatives publicizes controversial posts from Liberal and NDP challengers, triggering resignations and condemnation in final stretch of election

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A series of controversial social media posts from Liberal and New Democratic Party candidates in Ontario in recent weeks has prompted two withdrawals and calls for others to resign ahead of election day on Thursday. Here’s what we know about the inappropriate, misogynistic and embarrassing statements — and how parties responded to them.

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Brian Hamilton

On Feb. 14, the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party (PC) shared several screenshots on X of Thunder Bay-Superior North Liberal Party candidate Brian Hamilton making comments appearing to support American actor Bill Cosby, who has been accused of sexually assaulting dozens of women, and former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi, who was acquitted of sexual assault charges in 2016.

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“As a tribute to International Women’s Day I’m going to be wrong all day,” the Liberal candidate wrote in 2015. “I miss #JianGhomeshi. Even if he is an ass slapping lady choker. His peculiarities don’t neutralize his genius,” he wrote on another occasion.

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Hamilton subsequently apologized for his comments in a statement, noting they “do not reflect my current views” as the Liberals rallied behind him, saying there was no plan to remove him from the ballot.

“I think this was a long time ago and that he’s a representative, an elected official today, and he’s apologized,” Ontario Liberal Party Leader Bonnie Crombie said during a press conference following the revelations.

Thomas Simpson

Similar comments were uncovered by the PCs the following day, Feb. 15.

“Consent is not sexy #success,” Ottawa Centre Liberal candidate Thomas Simpson earlier wrote on social media. Crombie weighed in during a campaign stop outside the nation’s capital, saying Simpson should “absolutely” apologize.

“He was a young man, and he understands that is not appropriate and not tolerated, and he has completely apologized and withdrawn his statements, and he’s made those apologies,” she told reporters.

Morris Beckford

The PCs found more embarrassing posts the following week.

On Feb. 17, an old message surfaced from Scarborough-Rouge Park Liberal candidate Morris Beckford asking followers, “Question: Was Hitler a leader? (It’s a Burns question).”

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Viresh Bansal

Later that same day, the PC’s published a screenshot of offensive comments made by the Liberal’s Oshawa candidate, Viresh Bansal, responding to federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s pledge to “leave no stone unturned” following the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh activist believed to have been assassinated by Indian agents in British Columbia.

“@theJagmeetSingh you can thank India for cleaning trash people,” Bansal commented on Singh’s social media account. “Ask your gay friend @JustinTrudeau to do the same.”

Bansal’s comments drew the condemnation of fellow Liberal candidate Vicky Dhillon, running in Brampton East, who called the former’s statement “reprehensible, unacceptable, and will never represent my views or opinions.”

“I will not tolerate his behaviour or support him. Therefore, I am asking the Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party to immediately and officially drop Viresh Bansal as the party’s candidate in Oshawa,” Dhillon wrote in a statement.

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Crombie denounced Bansal’s comments, saying: “I don’t stand for them. They don’t reflect who I am… I don’t think they reflect the values of the Ontario Liberal Party.”

Last Friday, the party confirmed Bansal’s campaign had been suspended.

Rick Ellsmere

The day after Bansal’s posts were publicized, Feb. 18, the Liberal candidate in Timiskaming-Cochrane, Rick Ellsmere, was outed by the Progressive Conservatives for social media posts that included an image of a cheering Homer Simpson beside a list of “10 Things Men Know About Women.” All the rows are blank except for the last. “Women have Breasts,” the graphic reads.

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“I apologize,” the northern Ontario politicians told a local newspaper in Timmins when reached for comment following the revelation. “I am running for the Ontario Liberal Party because I want to support my community. I hope to earn my community’s trust so I can advocate for my riding.”

Liberal party’s response

Bahoz Dara, the Ontario Liberal Party’s press secretary, said that the string of indiscretions was more a reflection of Premier Doug Ford’s desperation “digging up social media posts from up to a decade ago.”

“No wonder,” Dara added in a written statement to National Post.

“This is the guy who during the campaign said he supported Donald Trump, and pushed the death penalty behind closed doors, only to flip flop later… like he always does. Unlike Doug Ford, who has refused to present any plan to fix health care or make your life more affordable, Team Bonnie is focused on getting the basics right here in Ontario.”

Meanwhile, Ford and the Progressive Conservatives have basked in the Liberals’ embarrassment, creating and promoting a website on Monday called “Meet Team Bonnie,” which highlights the controversial statements made by these candidates and others who previously questioned Crombie’s party leadership.

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The PC Party did not respond to the Post’s request for comment in time for publication.

Devon Monkhouse

“Bonnie makes me want to vote for another party,” Devon Monkhouse, the Liberal candidate for Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry, wrote in July 2023, shortly before Crombie’s successful leadership bid. Monkhouse polled his social media followers the previous month, asking them whether supporting Crombie was “cringe?”

Nearly nine-in-ten (88.1 per cent) of respondents to Monkhouse’s poll agreed.

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Amanda Zavitz

The NDP also found themselves in the crosshairs when, on Feb. 19. The PCs shared a clip of Elgin-Middlesex-London candidate Amanda Zavitz expressing her “secret” desire to be a black woman.

“My secret is that I want to be a Black woman,” Zavitz, an associate sociology professor at Western University, told a New York audience last year while speaking at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. “I want to be an expert in inequality, with lived experiences of poverty and living in addiction and alcoholism,” she added.

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Last Thursday, Zavitz resigned from the race. In a Facebook statement, she denounced the PC Party for seeking to distract voters “from the critical task of defeating Doug Ford and electing an Ontario NDP government.”

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