Rachael Thomas
- Born
- 1986 — Calgary, Alberta
- Family
- Married to Victor Thomas
- Education
- Briercrest College and Seminary; Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Social Science, University of Lethbridge
- Career
- Youth and young adult consultant
- Political Experience
- Elected to represent Lethbridge in the House of Commons in 2015, reelected in 2019 and 2021. Shadow Minister for Canadian Heritage since October 2022. Previously, Official Opposition critic for Youth and Persons with Disabilities, the Status of Women, and Digital Government.
- Notable
- Formerly known as Rachael Harder. Published a paper on emerging trends for young Canadians titled 'Hemorrhaging faith: Why and when Canadian young adults are leaving, staying and returning to church'.
Based on publicly available information — may contain inaccuracies
Business & Financial Interests
Before entering politics, Rachael Thomas worked as a Youth and Young Adult Coordinator. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and a Master of Arts degree in political science from the University of Lethbridge.
Key Relationships & Connections
As a member of the Conservative Party's shadow cabinet, Rachael Thomas works closely with party leader Pierre Poilievre. She has served in several critic roles, including Shadow Minister for Canadian Heritage and later for Public Services and Procurement.
Public Controversies
In 2021, Thomas was publicly corrected by the Lethbridge police chief after she made statements in the House of Commons linking a local supervised consumption site to an increase in crime rates. The police chief stated that her statistics were inaccurate and that crime had actually decreased in the area around the site. Thomas later defended her comments, stating she was representing the concerns of her constituents. She also faced criticism for social media posts in which she reportedly compared federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates to "tyranny" and promoted a petition against them.
Where Rachael falls on key policy spectrums
Your Money
People & Society
How We're Governed
Land & Community
Rachael Thomas won with 40,866 votes (61.1%)
Total votes cast: 66,937
How does Rachael Thomas's voting record line up with your values?
Mr. Speaker, last week the CRTC announced that it will be tripling the online streaming tax from 5% to 15%. This tax will now drive up the cost that consumers pay for things like Netflix or Disney+. Just this weekend, Spotify announced that, taking effect in July, they will be increasing their prices. For over 800 years, it has been parliamentary tradition that only Parliament imposes a tax.
Mr. Speaker, a tax is a tax is a tax. He can call it whatever he wants, but at the end of the day Canadians pay more. That is a tax. Prime Minister This tax will do much more than just cost Canadians. It will actually impact us in terms of our negotiations with regards to CUSMA. The Liberal government has already been accused of escalating this irritant. It has already been signalled by the U.S.
Thank you very much. My question is for Mr. Menzies. One of the things you said in an interview with The Hub was, “The era of a free, independent, trusted media in Canada is finished.” That's quite a bold statement, so I would like to ask you to explain why you draw this conclusion and what the implications are.
One observation that I would make, and data seems to back this up, is that, as the media becomes more partial in the sense of either taking the left side of the political spectrum or the right side of the political spectrum and then amplifying that view without consideration of what might be in the middle or even just telling a story without any sort of angling to it, because we see less and less
During the interview, you commented on exactly this with regard to public trust towards media. You made the statement that subsidies fuel a trust deficit and that an erosion of trust could lead to a growing group of people drifting towards unprofessional online news sources. Do you care to expand on that?
Mr. Speaker, let us focus on the facts. The Liberals are spending so much that they have actually doubled Trudeau's deficit. That is quite the accomplishment, because Trudeau's deficit, of course, was massive in nature, historic, in fact, so the fact that the government has doubled it is quite something. The reason this matters so much is not that they spent so much money, but that they did it
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals promised a “new government”, but we do in fact see more of the same. We see more costly spending, more taxes and, ultimately, more prices to pay for Canadians. Whether it is the grocery store or the gas at the pumps or their mortgages that they're trying to pay month to month, Canadians are struggling to make ends meet because of the costly policies of the government.
Where did the group come from?
Who formed the collective?