CALGARY — A Liberal candidate now seeking a seat in Parliament previously blasted the party as “untrustworthy,” “conniving,” and even “the surest path to greater evil,” according to past social media posts resurfaced ahead of a key federal by-election.Blacklock’s Reporter reports that Doly Begum — a former Ontario NDP deputy leader — repeatedly attacked Liberals in the years before securing her nomination in Toronto’s Scarborough Southwest riding.“Great to see the Liberals continuing to steal NDP ideas in a desperate bid to get votes,” Begum wrote in a 2018 post. “What’s worse is the poor implementation and the fact that it takes them 15 years.”In a 2019 message, she urged voters not to forget what she described as “years of Liberal deception and carelessness,” characterizing the party’s record as a string of failures.Begum also took aim at the federal government’s handling of China in a 2020 post, questioning whether Canada was sourcing personal protective equipment linked to forced labour.“Are we using personal protective equipment made through slavery of Uyghur Muslims in China?” she wrote. “Why is the Trudeau government silent on the gross human rights violations and abuses happening in China?”.Carney calls byelections in three ridings as Liberals seek majority.Begum, a Bangladeshi-born former community organizer, is now running as a Liberal candidate in the April 13 byelection to replace former MP Bill Blair, who was appointed High Commissioner to the United Kingdom on February 2.Her past criticism extended beyond her own commentary. During the 2019 election, Begum encouraged voters to read a piece in The Guardian that labelled the Liberal Party as a greater evil, retweeting a passage that read: “The politics of Liberals aren’t a lesser evil. They are the surest path to greater evil.”The Guardian column, headlined “Justin Trudeau Is A Fake Progressive,” argued the Liberal brand of progressivism was little more than political marketing.“Now that the shine has worn off the Liberals’ formula of fake progressivism, we’re being treated to the Party’s perennial fallback: exhortations to back them ‘strategically’ lest the Conservatives come to power,” the commentary stated.While describing Conservatives as “frightening,” the piece argued Liberal warnings about a right-wing threat were not made in good faith, but instead used to discourage alternatives.“Fearmongering distracts from just how many economic policies Liberals share with Conservatives,” the column said, pointing to corporate tax cuts, privatization and resource development on indigenous lands.The article concluded by urging voters to back the NDP as the clearer alternative for Canadians seeking progressive policies.Begum has not publicly addressed her past remarks since entering the Liberal race, as voters in Scarborough Southwest prepare to head to the polls.
