Rachael Thomas

Rachael Thomas (née Harder) (born 1986) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Lethbridge in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election. A member of the Conservative Party, she was reelected in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, and has been the Shadow Minister for Canadian Heritage since October 2022. Previously, Thomas has also served as the Official Opposition critic for Youth and Persons with Disabilities, the Status of Women, and Digital Government.

Early life and education Harder was born in Calgary, Alberta and grew up on a small horse farm in Kathyrn, Alberta, where she was the third of five children. When she was nine years old, she planned a dog kennel business with her parents. The report, Hemorrhaging faith: Why and when Canadian young adults are leaving, staying and returning to church was commissioned by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and was published in 2012 by Harder and her four co-authors. Using 72 interviews and almost 3,000 survey responses, it studied how and why younger Canadians aged 18–34 were increasingly leaving the church. A review of the report by Kelvin F. Mutter, an associate professor at McMaster Divinity College, praised it as "a sound piece of research" and "a vital resource for anyone interested in ministering with youth and young adults". Mutter also gave minor criticisms of the report for being largely limited to description and analysis instead of solutions, and not devoting more time to early childhood and family spiritual practices because of its scope being limited to young adults.

Political career

2015 election and 42nd Parliament Harder won the nomination race to become the Conservative Party candidate for the riding of Lethbridge for the 2015 federal election. The former MP for the riding, Jim Hillyer, chose to run in the adjacent riding of Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, which was created after the 2012 Canadian federal electoral redistribution. During Harder's campaign, Harder filled out a survey from the anti-abortion Campaign Life Coalition indicating that she would work to pass laws banning abortion if elected. Later, the Lethbridge Herald reported that she said that all women deserve access to abortion at a campaign town hall. The Campaign Life Coalition then contacted Harder's campaign to verify their "pro-life" rating of her on the organization's website, and restored the profile, claiming that Harder's campaign manager told them that the Herald had misquoted her. In August 2017, Andrew Scheer, the new Conservative leader, named Harder to his shadow cabinet as critic for the Status of Women.

In October 2018, Harder introduced Bill C-419, the Credit Card Fairness Act. The bill sought to implement measures to end misleading banking practices in the credit card industry and help consumers make informed choices about the use of credit cards. Bill C-419 was defeated at the second reading.

From February 2019 to August 2020, Harder was the Chair of the House Standing Committee for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, as well as its subcommittee on agenda and procedure. In March 2019, Harder spearheaded the creation of an inter-parliamentary friendship group between Canada and the Republic of Artsakh, and held its inaugural meeting in association with the Armenian National Committee of Canada. For her role, Harder received a letter of thanks from Ashot Ghulyan, the President of the National Assembly of Artsakh. From April 2019 to February 2020, Harder was a member of the executive of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association. Harder's Conservative platform for the 2019 federal election included a focus on the expansion of the energy sector, and the completion of pipelines. Her environmental positions included ending carbon pricing in Canada, and prohibiting the dumping of sewage in waterways such as the West Coast and the St. Lawrence River.

After Erin O'Toole, whom Harder had backed for leadership in 2017,

In July 2021, Harder was one of 62 Conservative MPs to vote against a bill banning conversion therapy in Canada.

2021 election and 44th Parliament In September 2021, Harder was reelected with approximately 55% of the popular vote. During Erin O'Toole's post-election reshuffling of the shadow cabinet, Thomas was not granted a Shadow Cabinet position, it has been speculated that this is due to her stance on vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.

In December 2021, Thomas posted a Facebook Live video, in which she asked for respect and appreciation for unvaccinated Canadians and falsely suggested that the vaccinated were more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 than the unvaccinated. Thomas also suggested that being unvaccinated and taking rapid tests was safer than vaccination. At the time of the video being posted, two-thirds of those hospitalized in Alberta for COVID-19 were unvaccinated, despite only making up one-fifth of the population. According to Timothy Caulfield, the Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy at the University of Alberta, Thomas's video incorrectly portrayed science as supporting her claims and was harmful misinformation that could lead to vaccine hesitancy.

In March 2022, Thomas made a statement in the House of Commons defining a dictator as "a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has obtained control by force" and said that many Canadians agree that such a definition applied to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. She then said that whether Trudeau is a dictator would be determined in the next federal election. The statement was criticized by Mark Gerretsen, Parliamentary Secretary to the Government House Leader, fellow Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner, and United Conservative premier of Alberta Jason Kenney, among others, for inaccurately equating Trudeau to actual dictators.

In October 2022, new Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre named Thomas Shadow Minister for Canadian Heritage. In November 2023, Thomas apologized to Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, who is from Quebec, for requesting an answer in English during heritage committee meetings.

2025 election and 45th Parliament In April 2025, Harder was re-elected and elected vice chair of the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in the 45th Canadian Parliament.

Personal life In June 2021, Harder married Victor Thomas at the Banff Springs Hotel. |