Blake Ellis/The Independent

During the 2025 federal election, candidates have used social media to their advantage to connect with voters.

But, it can also reveal what they really believe in short time span of the campaign. The Independent took a dive into the social media accounts of the seven candidates vying for to be MP of Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong. 

Incumbent Marilyn Gladu has had controversial posts on social media in the past, with one in particular still circulating. That picture of Gladu and Candace Bergen, then the interim leader of the Conservative Party having dinner with two protesters of the Freedom Convoy during the protests in Ottawa in 2022. She also took some hits for the comments made against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in 2020. Her Facebook profiles during the election have remained relatively uncontroversial, taking several shots at Liberal Leader Mark Carney which usually mimic the party’s campaign stands. 

However one post on Jan. 20, the day the President Trump was sworn into office, may cause some voters to uncomfortable, “Welcome back to office President Trump, and welcome to Vice President Vance. When Canada elects a Conservative government, we look forward to working to build a prosperous future for both our nations.” These comments were made after Trump had quipped about making Canada the 51st state and imposing tariffs on Canada.

Among some of the other right-leaning candidates, the pandemic is still a hot topic. People’s Party Candidate Brian Everaert recently posted a meme on Facebook stating, “Still waiting for someone, literally anyone, to explain to me how billions of unvaxed people with no boosters are still alive. Alive and well, just out there living their best lives. He introduced the meme with “For all of you Conservative and Liberal supporters.” 

Christian Heritage Party candidate Mark Lamore also leans into conspiracy theories posting a meme on April 12 talking about an increase in vaccines to the number of people being diagnosed with autism. In 1980, one in 100,000 children were diagnosed with autism compared to 1 in 36 in 2024.

Lamore comments, “No coincidence at all, nothing to see.” 

The link between autism and vaccines has been disproved but the current US Secretary of Health, Robert Kennedy Jr. has resurrected the claims.

Lamore also posted a meme from McCullough Foundation – headed by Dr. Peter McCullough, often called one of the best-known faces of COVID-19 misinformation – which four vaccines which were “pulled” when their were complications and pointed out the COVID-19 vaccine is still in use.“Why? Because they knew what was going to happen,” commented Lamore “Why is it still not pulled here?”

Libertarian Party Candidate Jacques Boudreau sticks to his Libertarian beliefs on X, taking a shot at Liberal Leader Mark Carney recently. And while some of the right-leaning candidates lean towards conspiracy theories, the Facebook accounts for NDP Candidate Lo-Anne Chan and Liberal Candidate George Vandenberg are relatively quiet, with Vandenberg posting either about car shows or Sarnia City Council, while Chan has posts about her 2022 bid for a City of Sarnia council seat or about Jiak, her local small business in Sarnia.