Nova Scotia NDP candidate out after criticism for ‘troubling’ posts about Israel

CITYnews halifax / By Cassidy McMackon, The Canadian Press

HALIFAX — An election candidate criticized by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs for “troubling” and “damaging” social media posts is no longer running for Nova Scotia’s New Democratic Party in the Nov. 26 general election, the party says.

In a news release Saturday, the provincial NDP said Tammy Jakeman is no longer the party’s candidate in the Eastern Passage district, which is south of Halifax.

“New Democrats are committed to ensuring the safety and dignity of all members of the Jewish community and Nova Scotians of all faiths,” the release said. “We recognize that everyone running for office has a responsibility to ensure that their comments do not cause undue harm.”

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs issued a news release Friday which included pictures of two posts by an account bearing Jakeman’s name on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.

One, from November 2023, responds to a World Children’s Day post from the Auschwitz Memorial by saying that children in Gaza will die because “Israel is obsessed with killing all Hamas, regardless of the human expenses.” In another, also from 2023, the same Jakeman account retweets a post that said “Apartheid Israel is at its happiest when terrorizing Palestinians.”

As of Saturday afternoon, the account appeared to no longer exist on the platform. Jakeman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs along with the Atlantic Jewish Council said the statements were “inflammatory” and “hurtful” in Friday’s release.

“Statements of this nature often have real-world impacts, contributing to a climate of fear and hostility experienced by Jewish community members,” the release said.

The groups called on provincial NDP Leader Claudia Chender to say why Jakeman was allowed to run for the party, and to dissociate the party from Jakeman’s “damaging remarks.”

NDP spokesperson Alana Cahill said the party was not aware of the posts during the candidate nomination period. Cahill said Jakeman posted an apology for the remarks to her X account on Friday, though The Canadian Press could not verify this claim, as the account appeared to have been removed.

The NDP is “always reviewing and improving our vetting process to make sure it’s rigorous, and that all of our candidates uphold the values and principles of our party,” Cahill said in an email.

Jakeman’s exit from the party comes after the candidate nomination period closed, so there will be no NDP candidate to taker her place in the Eastern Passage district, Cahill added.

It’s not clear whether Jakeman will run as an Independent.

The Nova Scotia Liberal Party also condemned the social media comments.

“There is no place for antisemitism, hate, or discrimination of any kind in our province, and we cannot allow the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day be used as a line of attack against the Jewish community here in Nova Scotia and across the world,” the release said Saturday.

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston said the NDP was correct to remove “someone who holds dangerous and antisemitic views” from the party.

“No matter how you worship in Nova Scotia, and in all of Canada, you should be able to do so without fear of intimidation,” Houston said in an emailed statement. “The views expressed by Ms. Jakeman fell far short of that ideal.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.