Ontario NDP under scrutiny due to candidate's social media post

#NDPLeaderAndreaHorwath; #PCs; #AdolfHitlermemeonsocialmedia; #TasleemRiaz; #OntarioLiberalLeaderKathleenWynne


Ottawa, May 25 (Canadian-Media): Ontario's NDP leader Andrea Horwath, had been called by Ontario's Progressive Conservatives (PCs) this morning to part ways with a Toronto candidate who shared an Adolf Hitler meme on social media several years ago, media reports said.

Andrea Horwath/twitter

​At a morning news conference, two PC candidates, Todd Smith and Gila Martow, presented a printout of an October 2013 social media meme shared by Tasleem Riaz, the NDP candidate in Scarborough–Agincourt, what they said was the proof of anti-Semitism in the NDP.
 
A quote commonly attributed to Hitler featured in the Facebook post overlaid over a photo of the tyrannical despot giving a Nazi salute to a gathered crowd.

A title above the image reads, "The Ruler said about Rule." 

The phrase below it — "If you don't like a rule ... just follow it ... reach on the top ... and change the rule." 

The phrase is reportedly attributed to Hitler, though there's no direct historical evidence of it

Smith and Martow also provided a screen grab of a April 2011 post allegedly written by Riaz, taking aim at the federal Liberals' and Tories' support for the war in Afghanistan. 

Riaz was reported to have said the parties supported troops who "slaughter innocent men, women and children."

In a statement, Riaz said she was "horrified that an inappropriate meme was on my Facebook page...I don't recall sharing it in 2013...I am an interfaith advocate, and I have devoted my life to interfaith religious tolerance and freedom...I find Hitler, the hate he spewed, and the genocide he committed to be abhorrent."

During a campaign stop on Friday morning, Horwath said she was unaware of the details of the post and would have her staff investigate the allegations.

Shortly after Horwath spoke, Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne said on Twitter that Andrea Horwath needed to be clearer in her condemnation of this post by her candidate.

In recent weeks NDP candidates' social media footprints have come under increasing scrutiny from the PCs on the campaign trail.
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