Jacob Mantle

Lest we forget. I had the opportunity to meet Jack many times over the years. He will be sorely missed. Thanks for a lovely tribute Tish MacDonald.

I provided some muscle this morning as we dropped off PPE to the Carea Community Health Centre head office, donated by my friend Dominic Morrissey. Carea has locations across #Durham (including one in #Pickering) providing free health care services to the community.

My thanks to our local MPP Peter Bethlenfalvy for taking time out of his very busy schedule to speak with me this week. We were able to discuss a number of local, provincial, and federal issues including, for example, the Durham Live project and Ontario's vaccine rollout plans. I was also able to relay to him local concerns that I am hearing from residents in both Pickering and Uxbridge.

I recently had the chance to speak with a new friend, Mustafa Farooq, the CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims. Reliving past mistakes is not always the easiest thing to do but in my desire to serve my community as a federal election candidate I think it’s important to be upfront with both my strengths and my failings. Those that know me will know that a little over a decade ago I made a mistake during my time as an undergrad at Queen’s University. While a student... council representative I made a comment on a friend’s Facebook page two of my female friends, neither of them Muslim, were dressed in sunglasses and towels and I commented I like your Taliban picture. What I initially thought to be a harmless joke was in fact a hurtful comment to many fellow Muslim students on campus. Upon reflection, I was remorseful and apologized for my comment at that time. My friends, family, and community reminded me then, as they do now, the importance of opposing Islamophobia and all forms of religious discrimination. These remain real issues in Canada today. My own Christian faith is clear that all of us have inherent dignity and worth, and are entitled to love and respect. As I move forward to become the Member of Parliament for Pickering-Uxbridge I want to be clear that I will always use my voice, whether as a candidate or as a Member of Parliament, to stand against religious discrimination. I am thankful for the chance to speak with Mustafa about my past and to build a friendship for the future.

Thanks to my great digital team for rebranding our website over the weekend. Proud to be displaying our CPC colours! Check it out --> https://www.jacobmantle.com/