Shayan Somani

🇮🇱 An armed Israeli settler blindfolded and bound a Palestinian farmer in the West Bank. Israeli soldiers showed up, watched, and left. Out of 1,500 settler killings between 2017 and 2025 1 conviction.

@DhillonHariGTA Read Hafiz's response before just parrotting Nate's claims as gospel. That's not what they say. Who knows what's true at this point...we'll find out in the next couple of weeks.

Nate's biggest allegation of 34 ballots is admitted by Hafiz team! Mysteriously paper docs are now lost. That alone warrants this election tossed out and Hafiz, his campaign manager banned. How did 34 ballots got into box? Someone put them in. Who? How? Hafiz was ok when 1800 votes were struck off. Nate wasn't. Hafiz was ok with 34 extra ballots. Nate wasn't. Any honest candidate would be rattled by ballot stuffing unless that candidate knew he is the beneficiary. You are on the team that got caught with worst political scandal. You preaching purity, ethics, loyalty to others is a bit rich. If OLP and Liberal brand is being damaged, it is on your team. And on the old guard who after knowing 34 extra ballots called it a fair election. Such large scale manipulation is never an accident or one-off. It was planned and funded. Hafiz owns it. Toss the election out. Ban Hafiz. Ban his campaign manager and all other tricksters. Only path to restore trust - the hardest thing to earn in politics.

"I do not think it was wrong to respond, but Jonathan convinces me that it is important to be clear: Nate’s motivations and claims to purity are wrong, but that does not mean the process needs to stay the way it is. Nate makes some valid points along with some wrong accusations, but those valid points do not invalidate the meeting. We do need renewal; it just needs to be led by somebody other than Nate." Agree with this statement. So tired of the holier than thou attitude he and his boosters have. Fix the issues and move on and if there is enough in the delta or allegations, re-run it.

The article by Jonathan Scott gives me pause. Firstly, read it and enjoy it. It is wonderful because it hits some nails right on the head. Secondly, ask yourself, as I am, whether you are helping the cause as he describes it. The problem in politics is that no matter how pure your motives might be, you cannot allow those attacking to be unanswered. If you do not respond to public accusations and mud flinging, then the one making the accusations tends to win the media war and you (or those you are defending) will still be covered in mud. I have been posting a lot online about how I think Nate’s accusations are wrong, unfair, exaggerated and misleading. That is largely because I believe the meeting last Saturday was not much different than other meetings. Nate accepted the process before the vote and would have continued to accept it if he won. His various allegations sound really bad when not answered, but that does not mean he is right. When he started attacking and claiming to be clean as a whistle, I felt it was necessary to respond. In that process, I know I have upset some people who liked me, but also liked Nate. But if I did not speak up as a person who was on the scene, who else was doing it? I do not think it was wrong to respond, but Jonathan convinces me that it is important to be clear: Nate’s motivations and claims to purity are wrong, but that does not mean the process needs to stay the way it is. Nate makes some valid points along with some wrong accusations, but those valid points do not invalidate the meeting. We do need renewal; it just needs to be led by somebody other than Nate. All political parties in Canada have work to do on nominations. There is no denying that. The time to have that conversation, though, is not immediately following a controversial meeting with the losing candidate leading the discussion. I have lost a nomination before. I know how it feels. I was in no position at the time to be objective, clear headed or fair. Frankly, it took me ten years to seriously dip my foot back into politics and it still bothers me when I think about it. I can never undo what happened and it will be a permanent scar. The difference is that I knew enough to know that and mostly stayed quiet instead of attacking. Ontario Liberals still have six months to go in this leadership contest. Renewal and fixing many of the problems in our party will be part of that conversation. I look forward to joining it constructively and supporting a candidate who has some great ideas, but also understands that the brand has to come before his own ambitions. So, yes, I do think I am helping the cause. Of course I am biased in that assessment. But so is everybody when they look inward. The key is to know that, and keep doing your best (that includes @J_Scott_ ). Do not give up or wait for other people to solve the problems that you see. Unless you are emotionally distraught and unable to think clearly. #onpoli

@MacLeodLisa I'm pretty sure the more the city gets to know Brad Bradford, the less they'll like him.

He will win because the City is motivated for change.

@dmacpher @ArfinNathaniel You guys are children

@shayanthinks @ArfinNathaniel

Representatives for Anhasul Hafiz concede that ballots were miscounted and/or mishandled in the nomination contest in their counter-filing.

@ArfinNathaniel @dmacpher Epic burn. You'll find most rational adults will agree with not putting homeless shelters or transitional housing in front of elementary schools. But go ahead, run with that policy and see how much support it has.

@dmacpher @shayanthinks It's actually worse than you think lol. x.com/shayanthinks/s…

@dmacpher @ArfinNathaniel I think this means I'm pwned?

@shayanthinks @ArfinNathaniel

There what is...? I am just comparing your motivation with the motivation of some others who are on Nate's team. Don't interpret my message mean I don't care about election integrity etc. in party nominations. I want it to be resolved so this never happens again and people honestly leave our riding alone and stop using it as a launchpad or to air out their grievances. And I'm pushing back on his team's framing of it and their indignation about it. That's my main beef with them.

@shayanthinks @ArfinNathaniel Ahhh, there it is 😉

@FalkenbergChad @brianlilley Do you understand the concept of strategic ambiguity or are you new to the way human beings operate, especially in politics?

@shayanthinks @brianlilley "not a formal endorsement" is STILL an endorsement. Either you're an idiot or you're playing me as an idiot.

PMO trying to pass this off as just a cellphone video someone took as they were talking and not an endorsement is laughable and embarrassing for PMO.

You may care about it. Nate's team, specifically @ArfinNathaniel I think wouldn't be so up in arms if their guy had won, given they did a lot of the same stuff, just to a lesser extent. Nate's circumventing of the formal process for these disputes has basically crapped all over the place that I live in. That is my main beef. NES's team's indignation about it and how he handled it in the immediate aftermath. His videos and media campaign were more about saving face than they were about the integrity of elections. After all, he didn't seem to have any complaints about Carney's majority which was 100% created by backroom deals. In fact, he said he's stayed on as an MP to help protect it.

@shayanthinks @ArfinNathaniel I care about the integrity of the process not the candidate, unsure why you keep twisting it like that

It was deliberately vague and not a formal endorsement. I don't understand why that is hard to comprehend. It's why his campaign didn't push out "Proud to be endorsed by the PM" the way he pushed out endorsements for his 2023 leadership campaign. My guess is the PMO didn't give him permission to use that kind of language...and I am 100% sure he asked. Also I should correct the previous quote, I just realized Mary Margaret-McMahon didn't endorse him for SSW. She previously offered that formal endorsement (using the specific language of endorsement) for his 2023 endorsement though the quote may be inaccurate in terms of it's phrasing.

@shayanthinks @brianlilley "If it went well, it was an endorsement"

Chances are this riding goes NDP anyway unless Doly Begum comes out in support of whoever is the Liberal nominee. I don't know how names get crossed off the list OR how a ballot gets certified (Hafiz's team seems to be indicating that every ballot is certified by scrutineers). I am doubtful, however, the party will re-run it if a) the alleged discrepency is less than the delta or b) the delta means that people voted twice and that there would be enough people doing it to change the outcome. But sure, go ahead and re-run it WITH Nate in it and see how you fare this time. He has however, graciously bowed out from any re-run for the good of all mankind. Not because he is now in a tonne of debt, went scorched earth on the community, blamed it in part on immigrants and refugees to tap into pre-existing anti-immigrant sentiment and calling it third world. While also having his team bring in those exact same folks to vote for him. No not that.

@ArfinNathaniel @shayanthinks Can’t really audit yourself back into compliance here, the entire process is in question.

Right. This guy is not somehow going to spin this into re-launch a party leadership bid. 👇 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 — Stays as an MP while Losing the Ontario Liberal leadership race to Crombie 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 — Announces he won't run again federally 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 — Appointed Housing Minister, reverses decision and says he'll run 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 — Confirms he's staying as minister, not running for Liberal leadership 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 — Wins re-election with biggest vote share of any Toronto MP 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 — Dropped from cabinet by Carney, publicly says he feels "disrespected" 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 — Starts criticizing Ontario Liberal direction under Crombie 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 — Teases a run for Ontario Liberal leader 𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 — Announces jump to provincial politics, will resign federal seat when by-election is called 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 — Still sitting as MP, running for provincial nomination, recruiting team for Ontario Liberal leadership bid April 2026 - Allegedly offers something to another candidate to drop out of the race in SSW. May 2026 - Loses and cries foul with some legitimate claims, blames immigrants / non-citizens / PRs in part despite his team bringing in those same folks.

I initially thought it was an endorsement as well. But then looking back at it and watching the video, I think Carney was hedging and not offering a formal endorsement. If it went well, it was an endorsement, if it didn't he can say what he said now. Typically when someone endorses someone else, it's explicit: "I am endorsing so and so for his run in such and such riding" It's why Nate's campaign pushed out deliberately vague language about the video. Contrast that to the actual endorsement he received from Mary Margaret-McMahon "I am proud to offer my full endorsement to Nate Erskine-Smith for the nomination in Scarborough Southwest."

@shayanthinks @brianlilley Its was an endorsement for Nate to be working as a Liberal on the provincial level. It was an endorsement.

No I’m not stumping for that. I say re run it if it turns out some of these allegations are true. In particular the vote discrepancy. My main beef is the way NES and his team have carried themselves. He came in on a high horse and left with scorched earth. He also is also stayed on as an MP to apparently support Carney’s majority which was undoubtedly garnered through back room deals. So please spare me this stuff about NES being the white knight of democracy. He’s just another opportunistic politician trying to save face. Albeit just a friendlier one with a softer voice.

@shayanthinks @ArfinNathaniel So your stumping for... Decline in voter trust? Why not both sides areism? When a political family tries to be political in a new country theres obviously going to be some learning curves, hopefully the voters can learn from this.

I don’t disagree. Definitely not ideal but I’ll wait to see what’s fact and fiction before making that determination. In Terrebonne as an example, elections Canada forced a revote because the margin was 1 and there was 1 ballot that demonstrably was inappropriately mismarked. If the delta had been 20, I don’t think they force a revote even though I suspect there may have been more than one error like that.

@shayanthinks @ArfinNathaniel When you have any number of discrepancies it throws the entire thing into question. By its nature this means controls weren’t effective.

a) he’s not my guy. Wasn’t involved in his campaign and don’t know him. b) if you’re referring to Hafiz, hell no. These party nominations have nothing to do with democracy and everything to do with getting out the vote within the rules of the nomination. Do I think Hafiz basically just went to a bunch of different community organizations that he had relationships with and said: get them to the ballot box whether they’re PRs, Citizens or can speak English? 100%. You know which other team did the exact same thing? I’ll give you a hint. He’s always the one that’s doing everything with integrity and falling on the sword for the good of the people.

@shayanthinks @ArfinNathaniel Does yours?

@ArfinNathaniel Oh so what you’re saying is we should wait to see what’s fact and what’s fiction before throwing stuff out there as fact? I am 100% ok with that. I have no idea who’s telling the truth at this point, I just know your guy doesn’t have the halo around his head in all this.

@shayanthinks No, we don't know that the discrepancy was 12. You're taking Hafiz's word as gospel. All that's been confirmed is that there is indeed a discrepancy.

Brother wake up. Nate’s sacrificial lamb video was all about saving face and giving himself a narrative to keep his political life alive. He just as easily focused on the specific issues with IDs instead of saying that temporary residents and refugees were to blame, and that it was like something in the third world while posting picture of people voting (illegal by the way.). All while his team also brought in some of those same folks to vote and they undoubtedly also did not all have the appropriate ID. But he gets a lot more sympathy for his cause if he can also tap into the anti immigrant sentiment bubbling up in this country. He is just as politically calculating as the next politician.

@shayanthinks A riding with significant Bangladeshi community should have lots of photos of Brown people.

This is what OLP insider hacks did - a new lease of life to racism. Pinning SSW scandal on brown people even though all hacks are white folks, claiming to save OLP. And lifelong consultants to OLP. Liberal shenanigansgiving new oxygen to anti-Brown racism! Let that sink in.