With more than a week to go before the Ontario provincial election, a liberal candidate running in the Oshawa riding is facing calls to drop out of the race after some of his old posts resurfaced on social media.
The post was made in 2023 by Liberal candidate Viresh Bansal on X, who responded to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s post about the killing of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. It came after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Canadian government had “credible allegations” linking agents of India to Nijjar’s fatal shooting in B.C.
The now deleted post reads, “@theJagmeetSingh You can thank India for cleaning trash people. Ask your gay friend @JustinTrudeau to do the same.”
In another 2023 post, Bansal responded to Deputy Conservative Party Leader Tim Uppal’s concern about India’s internet services being suspended.
Bansal wrote back, “It’s Indian internal matter. You better take care of your own.” He added in Punjabi, “Watch out or you might get hurt as well.”
The World Sikh Organization (WSO) is calling on the Ontario Liberals to remove Bansal as a candidate.
“Bansal’s comments are not just a one-off, there are at least three different posts that we have recorded, in which he made anti-Sikh remarks, including threatening the deputy leader of the conservative party of Canada, Tim Uppal, saying he might find himself ‘roughed up’ if he continues to press concern over events in India,” Balpreet Singh said in an interview with OMNI News. Singh is the legal counsel and spokesperson at the WSO.
“Having these sort of remarks from a political candidate is just completely wrong and not acceptable. We believe he should be removed.”
Bansal has apologized for the posts in a statement to X on Tuesday.
“I deeply regret the hurtful and thoughtless comments I posted on Twitter in the heat of the moment. I want to sincerely apologize, especially to the Sikh and LGBTQ2S+ communities,” read the statement.
“I put my name forward as a candidate for the Ontario Liberals because I wanted to support my community, improve the economy, and improve public safety. I regret that my past words have distracted from this important work. I look forward to continuing to advocate for the people of Oshawa.”
Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie condemned the posts made by Bansal this morning, but did not stop him from running as a candidate.
“I understand that people can post some really terrible things on their social media. But I want to say that I condemn those statements, 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,” Crombie said.
“He managed to offend two beloved groups in one tweet, and this is completely unacceptable. It is not who I am, I don’t stand for this, it is not who the Ontario Liberals are. He does not share our values.”
If the Ontario Liberals don’t withdraw Bansal’s candidacy, the WSO said it will raise a lot of concern for the Sikh community.
“It’s clear that Mr. Bansal doesn’t understand the Canadian political system. He doesn’t understand Canadian values, that you can’t be threatening individuals that you disagree with like this and then decide you’re going to run for public office,” Singh said.
Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford’s move to call a snap election for Feb. 27, prompted party leaders to find a full slate of running candidates in a quick turnaround. But the WSO is questioning the vetting system taken by the Ontario Liberals to select their candidates.
“Bonnie Crombie and the Ontario Liberals have to withdraw his candidacy in order to restore faith. Someone like this, getting through the system without being vetted, basically endorsing foreign interference and transnational oppression, as well as targeting the LGBTQ community. How does someone like this get away with running for the Liberal Party of Ontario? Apologies simply won’t be enough at this point, he has to be withdrawn,” Singh said.
“I think the community will take action in the sense that they will not be supporting the Liberal Party of Ontario, if they run candidates like this.”
With files from Amarjit Singh, OMNI News