Liberal candidate defends campaign worker amid middle-finger photo fallout

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The online backlash against a London-area Liberal campaign volunteer who was photographed making an obscene gesture outside a Mark Carney rally is unacceptable, the federal candidate for whom he’s working says.

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David Goodwin is running for the Liberals in Elgin-St. Thomas-London South and in a statement sent to The Free Press defended the volunteer, Matt Janes, who has been pilloried on social media over the picture of him giving a photographer two middle fingers.

“I strongly condemn the harassment that a small group of toxic ideologues has inflicted on Matt, his family, and the residents, business owners and community organizations of Elgin-St. Thomas-London South,” Goodwin said, noting Janes has faced “threatening calls and emails.”

Goodwin attributed the backlash to “far-right idealogues.” The photo, published by journalist/lawyer Caryma Sa’d, has framed Janes as emblematic of what critics call the Liberal party’s indifference to the struggles of young people. He’s been dubbed the “Brantford boomer” in reference to the rally’s location and his age in the Baby Boom generation.

Railway City Brewing Co., a St. Thomas brewery that formerly included Janes as a partner, issued a statement this week distancing itself from him. Goodwin said a yarn shop Janes formerly ran was also targeted along with community groups where Janes and his wife volunteered.

In a statement to The Free Press earlier this week, Janes said he was in line at the Carney rally in Brantford when he and other supporters encountered what he called a “vulgar F*** Carney crowd” that was “harassing and shouting obscenities” including calling the Liberal supporters “pedophiles.”

In an interview, Sa’d said that account is substantially accurate. The gesture was directed at a videographer working with Sa’d, though they weren’t part of the anti-Carney protesters, she said.

The reaction by Janes was captured in the photo, which then ricocheted across social media.

In his Friday statement, Goodwin didn’t condone Janes’ response but said: “In the face of this sustained harassment, Matt ultimately gave ‘the double bird’ to his harassers.”

Goodwin added:“(Janes) has been a wonderful volunteer for my election campaign, mostly by delivering pamphlets to residents’ mailboxes.”

He called on Conservative opponent Andrew Lawton to “strongly disavow the far-right ideologues in this scenario, and their despicable behaviour against the decent, hardworking people of Elgin-St. Thomas-London South.”

Goodwin continued: “(Lawton) says he’s denounced his well-documented habit of insulting multiple groups on podcasts, on air and online. But Mr. Lawton has been largely absent throughout this campaign, avoiding protesters, most public events and opportunities to be accountable to the people he wants to represent.”

In an email response to Free Press questions, Lawton said he and his team “have knocked on tens of thousands of doors” and counting.

“We have run a positive campaign focused on ideas and the need for change in this country,” Lawton said. “Any assertion otherwise is false. My opponent understandably wants to talk about anything other than his Liberal government’s disastrous record.”

Lawton is married to a Free Press employee.

Elgin-St. Thomas-London South is a vacant seat, with longtime Conservative MP Karen Vecchio opting to not seek re-election. In addition to Goodwin and Lawton, the ballot includes Paul Pighin (NDP) and Stephen Campbell (People’s Party).

bwilliams@postmedia.com
@BrianWatLFPress

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