Thomas kicks off Conservative campaign
By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on March 26, 2025.
Herald photo by Al Beeber
Conservative Party candidate Rachael Thomas launched her campaign for re-election Tuesday. Thomas is running for a fourth term in the Lethbridge riding.LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com
Three-time Lethbridge MP Rachael Thomas launched her campaign for re-election with a rousing speech to a large, impassioned crowd on Tuesday night.
Thomas, who was first elected to the House of Commons in 2015, stood in front of a podium and emphatically said “Campaign ’25, here we go” before launching into her Conservative party’s priorities and discussing what her party believes are the Liberals’ failings.
Thomas noted that things have changed since her first campaign when she was elected under her maiden name Harder. She now has a husband, Victor Thomas and the couple are parents to a child born last year.
Thomas told the crowd that momentum is building for the Conservatives across Canada and hope is rising.
“We are hearing from Canadians that it is time to put Canada first,” said Thomas to huge applause.
“The Liberals have spent the last 10 years inflating the cost of housing and food, weakening our economy and driving up food lines as well as taking away the affordability of everyday life.”
She talked about how rising costs are impacting affordability for all Canadians and that Liberal leader Mark Carney, who she called former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s handpicked successor, has on his cabinet 87 per cent of the people who were on his predecessor’s. And the Liberals are trying to trick Canadians into giving them another chance, she said.
“The same Liberals who raised the carbon tax, who doubled the national debt, who drove up food bank lines, who drove up housing costs and who made the cost of living at a record high, these are the same politicians who blocked pipelines, who shut down LNG projects and passed anti-energy Bill C-69 which makes us more beholden to the United States of America rather than less,” said Thomas.
“Energy keeps us alive,” said Thomas, and if Canada doesn’t develop its own resource here, the country will be developing someone else’s.
“The need doesn’t go away, it just means we bring it from dirty dictators – blood oil – instead of oil that can be ethically and environmentally produced here in our country,” said Thomas.
People want Conservatives to create policy that will develop the economy and create jobs, budget within their means and cut taxes so Canadians can make ends meet, she said.
And they want the party to stand up for seniors, victims, and to care for families and support veterans while being mindful of the cost and size of government, she said.
She said party leader Pierre Poilevre has a “relentless belief in Canada’s potential” and a Conservative government will “axe the taxes that make life unaffordable right now. We will build homes for families that need them, we will cut government waste and reckless spending. We will lock up violent criminals and keep our streets safe. We will secure our borders and protect our sovereignty. We will unleash our natural resources to create good jobs, energy independence and national strength, because putting Canada first means putting Canadians at the forefront,” added Thomas.
She said American president Donald Trump’s tariffs threaten Canadian industries, sovereignty and prosperity “but we will not be bullied as a nation. We not be weak, we will stand on our own two feet and we will protect our economy, our workers and our independence,” Thomas added.
“We will never surrender our sovereignty or our freedom.”
If elected, the Conservatives will lift the federal energy cap “and we will approve LNG plants, pipelines and mines to create high paying jobs for Canadians. We will strengthen our economy by knocking down trade barriers that currently prevent us from moving goods and services and people just between provinces,” she said to applause.
The Conservatives will also end federal catch-and-release policies where criminals are arrested and put back on the street the next day, Thomas said, noting that in Vancouver the police chief has stated that 40 people are responsible for 6,000 crimes a year which Thomas said is because of Liberal mismanagement and “the laws that they have put in place that allow for this catch-and-release system to perpetuate.”
Conservatives believe that mandatory jail time needs to be imposed for violent repeat offenders and hard drugs need to be banned.
“And we need to offer real recovery programs to those who are struggling with addictions so we can bring them home to their loved ones, she added.
The party will cap immigration at sustainable levels and crack down on fraud to ensure new Canadians come to Canada to build a better life and not exploit the system.
The party will also build the military, she added.
23-22
Nothing new here. In fact as the saying goes “same old , same old”. Blame the Libs on all things bad. As if the pipeline fiasco was all their fault. It was not! Blame Biden for XL, the Québec government for opposition to “Alberta’s dirty oil” and the governor of Michigan for opposition to the Enbridge pipeline. And who bought the Trans mountain pipeline from Kinder Morgan?
Her parties proposal? More “mines” and “pipelines” and fast tracking all the future projects, though this is in line with Carney’s thoughts.
Lost amongst all of this rhetoric is nary a mention of the environment.
Smith has not helped the Cons despite her denials to the contrary.
One more question to Thomas. Does she support “conversion therapy”? Her previous thoughts on the matter would suggest she does, at least in part.
“momentum is building for the conservatives” ! She has obviously ignored the latest polls which show the Liberals under Carney have moved ahead of the Conservatives and her Trump loving leader. I’m still struggling to find one major accomplishment she has accomplished for Lethbridge besides getting married and having a baby.
It appears that many voters outside of Alberta and Saskatchewan are realizing that the threat from the United States to Canada’ s existence is driving their votes toward the Liberals. This is why the Conservatives and NDP are dropping in support. The way our system is, is that when the NDP do not do well, neither do the Conservatives. For sure, in our southern Alberta riding, it doesn’t really matter how we vote, the Conservatives will win, even a fence post would win. We will, again, not vote for them. For Thomas though, her level of support dropped in the last election, so time will tell for the Lethbridge riding.
These results are interesting and pertinent:
“338Canada Federal Projection”
http://www.338canada.com/federal.htm
Seriously, with 55+ percent of the votes in 2021, Mrs. Thomas’s support is untouchable. Looking at the candidates she is facing this go around, I can see her gleaning a greater number of the percentage of Lethbridge constituency votes!
yes, another untouchable con god. well, not quite a god because god is a man, right.
Ms. Thomas, you have served Lethbridge Constituents well ever since you were first elected. Your zeal and passion to represent us in parliament is greatly appreciated.
You have always run a positive campaign and have never personally attached other candidates who have run against you. (Just the other day, the Liberal candidate for Lethbridge presented in the Lethbridge Herald, and he gloated on himself and then personally attached you on all fronts). Thank you for being above candidates like him!
You and your office staff have always been anxious to help, providing information and support in timely fashion. You personally ensure that questions and concerns are resolved and you and/or your staff always follow up.
Your elegance in Parliament and your proficient style in debate (which by the way, you have mastered) resounds to us that when the Conservatives form our Federal Government, you will achieve a Cabinet position which you certainly earned and deserve.
pierre – skeletons in the closet around obtaining security clearance. kind of ironic that he says it is because he wants to be able to talk about classified stuff…but if he is not cleared to be privy to classified info how does he know any of it…thus, he has nothing to talk about, anyway.
this is a significant issue that needs to be pushed upon and further investigated. what is pierre hiding?
Among various other platforms you obviously also do not understand political posturing do you? Regardless, be assured, Mr. Poilievre has nothing to hide.
easy for you say, as you know and see all. most of us are forced to rely on optics and available uncovered information. then, it takes a mind capable of factoring in the large area that exists between black and white…which is too tall a task for those that know and see all.
pierre is hiding, or he would do as each leader has done already, which is obtain security clearance. how would he, as pm, be able to make informed decisions on our most sensitive issues without an entire picture that can only be gained by being informed?
again, even for one that can only see in black and white: pierre cannot be privy to info that is classified, thus, he cannot not speak about such info because he is not able to have that info. for him to utter that he will not seek security clearance so that he can speak about classified things is ridiculous.
Once agin “Biff” you do not comprehend the tactic of “political posturing” and apparently you never will understand these concepts. You and your often referred to “old coffee buddies” just continue in your ways with limited vision. Biff, may I pose this simple question to you, that I assume you can fathom, “What relevance did obtaining “security clearance” glean for Mr. Trudeau, with three time code of conduct violations?”
security clearance is about becoming privy to our most sensitive and serious security issues. period. nothing to do with trudeau.
please explain, though, the tactic of political posturing here as it applies to the great tactician pierre.
btw – i never reference old coffee buddies, nor any buddies.