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

In a news release Saturday, the provincial NDP said Tammy Jakeman is no longer the party’s candidate in the riding of Eastern Passage, 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 statement said. “We recognize that everyone running for office has a responsibility to ensure their comments do not cause undue harm.”

The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs issued a press release Friday containing photos of two posts from an account bearing Jakeman’s name on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.

One, from November 2023, responds to a message from the Auschwitz Memorial on World Children’s Day by claiming that children in Gaza will die because “Israel is obsessed with killing all of Hamas, whatever the human costs.” In another, also from 2023, the same Jakeman account retweets a message that read: “Israeli apartheid is at its best when it terrorizes Palestinians.”

The statements were “inflammatory” and “hurtful,” the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Atlantic Jewish Council said in a statement released Friday.

“Statements of this nature often have concrete impacts, contributing to the climate of fear and hostility felt by members of the Jewish community,” the statement said.

The groups called on NDP provincial leader Claudia Chender to explain why Jakeman was allowed to run for the party and to disassociate the party from Jakeman’s “harmful remarks.”

Jakeman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

NDP spokesperson Alana Cahill said her party was not aware of Jakeman’s comments during the nomination period. Cahill said Jakeman posted an apology for the remarks on his X account on Friday. However, as of Saturday afternoon, the account no longer existed on the platform.

The NDP “constantly reviews and improves our selection process to ensure that it is rigorous and that all of our candidates uphold the values ​​and principles of our party,” Cahill said in an email.

Jakeman’s departure from the party comes after the close of the candidate nomination period, so there will be no NDP candidate to replace her in Eastern Passage, Cahill added.

It is unclear whether Jakeman will run as an independent.

The Nova Scotia Liberal Party also condemned Jakeman’s comments.

“There is no place for anti-Semitism, hatred or discrimination of any kind in our province, and we cannot allow the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day to be used as a line of attack against the Jewish community here in Nova Scotia and around the world. » indicates the press release on Saturday.

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston said the NDP was right to remove “someone who holds dangerous, anti-Semitic views” from the party.

“No matter how you worship in Nova Scotia and across 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 well short of this ideal.”

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

Cassidy McMaccon, The Canadian Press