HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sarah Jane Thomson, also known as Sarah Jane Whatmough-Thomson,"Personal loss opens new door for Post editor"
''The Publisher'', March 1, 2004
(born 1968) is an entrepreneur who was publisher and CEO of the ''
Women's Post The ''Women's Post'' was a Canadian English-language magazine, targeted at professional business women, based in Toronto and distributed nationally. The magazine was published every other month, had a circulation of 75,000 with a community of 300 ...
'' and a former candidate for
mayor of Toronto The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the Municipal government of Toronto, municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; t ...
.


Early career

Thomson was born Sarah Jane Whatmough in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
and grew up in
Burlington, Ontario Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is a city and List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipality in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region at the west end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Can ...
. After dropping out of high school at 15, leaving home, and spending several months
couch surfing Couch surfing is a term that generally indicates the practice of moving from house to house, sleeping in whatever spare space is available (often a couch or floor), generally staying a few days before moving on to another house. People sometimes ...
and living on the streets, she began working at a
gas station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...
at age 16 and progressed quickly to become a manager, and
Sunoco Sunoco LP is an American master limited partnership organized under Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware state law and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Dating back to 1886, the company has transformed from a vertically integrated energy ...
franchise dealer, until at the age of 18, she founded a company to manage and turnaround struggling gas stations. Thomson claims that her management company grossed over $30 million a year with more than 200 employees."Lone woman runs in race for mayor's chair"
/ref> While building her management company, Thomson enrolled at
McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...
, in
Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...
as a mature student at the age of 21 to study Philosophy and English. In her twenties, Thomson became involved in restoring old homes. She created a small bookstore in her home and went through a long and drawn out rezoning process that drew her into politics. As Sarah Whatmough, she ran in the 1997 municipal election for one of two
Hamilton City Council Hamilton City Council is the governing body of the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Since 21 November 1960, Council has met at Hamilton City Hall at 71 Main Street West. The current council consists of the mayor In many countries, a may ...
seats in Ward One, but was unsuccessful in her bid, placing fourth with 19.4% of the vote.


Publishing career

In 1998, she founded a community newspaper in Hamilton, the ''Hamilton Examiner''. After she sold it, she moved to Toronto, and established the ''Women's Post'', a nationally distributed publication aimed at professional women, in 2002, also meeting and marrying Greg Thomson the same year. The ''Women's Post'' was initially a biweekly newspaper before becoming a magazine in 2008 published, at various times, weekly, monthly, bimonthly, and then quarterly. In 2012, it ended its regular print edition and became an online daily publication, womenspost.ca before becoming inactive in 2019.


Political career


2010 Toronto mayoral election

Sarah Thomson registered as a candidate for election as
Mayor of Toronto The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the Municipal government of Toronto, municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; t ...
on January 4, 2010."On your mark ... Race for change at City Hall begins"
, ''National Post'', January 5, 2010
An April 2010 poll by the ''Toronto Star'' stated that Thomson had the support of 7% of respondents, but by June a poll showed her support had risen to 17%, putting her in third place. Thomson was supported by former mayoral candidate
John Tory John Howard Tory (born May 28, 1954) is a Canadian lawyer, broadcaster, businessman, and former politician who served as the 65th mayor of Toronto from 2014 to 2023. He served as leader of the Official Opposition in Ontario from 2005 to 2007 ...
's two sons. George Tory was appointed her campaign manager while John Tory, Jr., was a key campaign strategist. Her candidacy was endorsed by
Conrad Black Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour (born 25 August 1944), is a Canadian-British writer and former politician, Publishing, newspaper publisher, Investor, financier, and Fraudster, convicted fraudster. Black's father was businessma ...
. Among Thomson's ideas for the city was a call for subway expansion in Toronto. From this, she garnered the moniker "Subway Sarah" and was accused of having "Tunnel Vision" She suggested
toll Toll may refer to: Transportation * Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway ** Toll road, a type of road which for which payment is required for passage ** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use ** Road to ...
s be placed on the
Gardiner Expressway The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, commonly known as the Gardiner Expressway or simply the Gardiner, is a partially at grade and elevated municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running close to the shore of Lake Ontario, it exten ...
and the
Don Valley Parkway The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) is a municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which connects the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Highway 401. North of Highway 401, it continues as Highway 404. The parkway ru ...
to cover the cost of subway expansion. Thomson also advocated restructuring the
Toronto Community Housing Corporation Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) is a public housing agency in Toronto, Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest social housing provider in Canada with over 58,000 units across 2,100 buildings and approximately 105,000 residents. It is the ...
to enable non-profit organizations already providing key care to obtain the funding they require to deliver better service than city run programs. In early June, one poll had Thomson in third place at 17% ahead of candidates
Rocco Rossi Rocco Rossi (born February 6, 1962) is a Canadian businessman currently serving as president and chief executive officer of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, and was formerly the president and CEO of Prostate Cancer Canada. Background Rossi att ...
and
Joe Pantalone Joe Pantalone (born February 22, 1952) is a retired Canadian politician who served on Toronto City Council and Metro Council from 1980 to 2010. Pantalone was the deputy mayor of Toronto from 2003 to 2010, and represented the Trinity area as a cou ...
, but after falling to 7%, behind Pantalone and tied with Rossi, Thomson withdrew from the campaign on September 28. She subsequently supported
George Smitherman George Smitherman (born February 12, 1964) is a former Canadian politician and broadcaster. He represented the provincial riding of Toronto Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2010, when he resigned to contest the mayor ...
in a failed effort to prevent frontrunner
Rob Ford Robert Bruce Ford (May 28, 1969 – March 22, 2016) was a Canadian politician and businessman who served as the 64th mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014. Before and after his term as mayor, Ford was a city councillor representing Ward 2 Etobi ...
from becoming mayor. Her withdrawal occurred too late to be removed from the ballot and she received 1,883 votes or 0.232% support in the final count.


Provincial politics

On March 9, 2011, Thomson announced that she was planning to run as a candidate for the
Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; , PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by Bonnie Crombie since December 2023. The party espouses the principles of liberalism, with their rival the Progressive Co ...
in the riding of Trinity—Spadina in the October 2011 provincial election. Thomson was nominated as the party's candidate at a meeting on March 27 and, in the general election, placed second with 18,731 votes (39.93%), 1,139 votes behind incumbent Rosario Marchese of the
Ontario New Democratic Party The Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP; , NPD) is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is Ontario’s provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. The ...
.


Between elections

From 2011 to 2017, Thomson was chair and volunteer CEO of the Toronto Transit Alliance, a non-profit organization which ran educational campaigns and advocated for increased funding for transit, sustainable urban transportation design, and transit expansion. The organization hosted the Green Cities 2017 conference in Toronto. On March 8, 2013, Thomson accused Toronto's mayor Rob Ford of groping her while he was inebriated - claiming she thought he was on cocaine. This included inappropriately grabbing her buttocks and suggesting that she "should have been in Florida with him because his wife wasn't there.""Sarah Thomson wants apology after Rob Ford alleged grope at the CJPAC party"
''Toronto Star'', Friday, March 8, 2013
Ford denied Thomson's allegations. Later, two Richmond Hill councillors, who were at the event, came forward stating that they had witnessed Thomson asking her assistant to stage a photograph so it would look like Ford was groping her, so that she could use it against him in the mayoral campaign.


2014 Toronto mayoral election

On March 20, 2014, Thomson arrived at Toronto City Hall in a horse-drawn cart in order to register as a candidate in the 2014 mayoral election. Because of her low poll numbers, she was not included in all-candidates debates although she claimed that she was polling in fifth place. In July, Thomson arrived on horseback at "Ford Fest", an annual picnic organized by Mayor Rob Ford and his family. She faced a possible $100 fine for violating a by-law against riding a horse in a public park but the city did not impose a fine. In August, Thomson apologized for
robocall A robocall is a phone call that uses a computerized autodialer to deliver a pre-recorded message, as if from a robot. Robocalls are often associated with political and telemarketing phone campaigns, but can also be used for public service, emerge ...
ing voters at 1:00 in the morning. Her 2014 campaign was known for numerous bizarre antics, including doing her hair in
dreadlocks Dreadlocks, also known as dreads or locs, are a Hairstyle, hairstyle made of rope-like strands of matted hair. Dreadlocks can form naturally in Hair#Texture, very curly hair, or they can be created with techniques like twisting, Backcombing, ba ...
, having a video interview conducted by her grade-school son, and making a music video parody of 'Timber'. Some suggested that she was trying to appeal to Blacks using these cultural signifiers despite being Caucasian. A
Nanos Research Nanos Research (previously SES Research) is a Canadian public opinion and research company that was established in 1987 by Nik Nanos. For the 2004 Federal Election, the company launched a publicly available nightly tracking program, the firs ...
poll conducted at the end of August estimated Thomson's support at 0.7 percent of the popular vote.


City council candidate, 2014

On September 3, 2014, Thomson posted a poll on her website asking voters whether she should continue her candidacy for mayor or withdraw and run for city councillor instead. On September 9, two days before the deadline for candidate registration, Thomson withdrew from the mayoral election and registered as a candidate for councillor for Ward 20 Trinity—Spadina instead. She garnered less than 10% of the votes, placed third and lost to
Joe Cressy Joseph Cressy (born July 10, 1984) is a former Canadian politician and activist who served on the Toronto City Council from 2014 to 2022. Cressy represented Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York, and was the chair of the Toronto Board of Health. On 22 Apr ...
.


2018 sexual harassment allegation

In February 2018, Thomson published an article in ''Women's Post'' alleging that inappropriate sexual comments were made to her by an unnamed television host at a luncheon during her 2010 run for mayor.
TVOntario TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian Public broadcasting, publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates ...
confirmed in a statement that Thomson's allegation was directed at
Steve Paikin Steven Hillel Paikin (born June 9, 1960) is a Canadian journalist, author, and documentary producer. Paikin has primarily worked for TVOntario (TVO), Ontario's public broadcaster, and is anchor of TVO's flagship current affairs program ''The Ag ...
, host of the network's ''
The Agenda ''The Agenda with Steve Paikin'', or simply ''The Agenda'', is the flagship current affairs television program of TVOntario (TVO), Ontario's public broadcaster. Anchor Steve Paikin states that the show practices long-form journalism. Each hour-l ...
'' current affairs program, and that it was launching a third-party investigation. Paikin denied the allegations, calling them "100% false" and describing Thomson's comments as
defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...
. The network stated that, "based on the evidence to date, TVO sees no reason to remove Mr. Paikin from his role as host for ''The Agenda''." In April 2018, an independent investigation commissioned by TVO cleared Paikin of the allegations made by Thomson finding that while Thomson genuinely believed Paikin propositioned her, the evidence did not support her account of what happened. The investigator found that Thomson "tended to make leaps without sufficient evidence to do so and she linked evidence together without factual foundation. Thomson's evidence also veered toward being exaggerated and untrue."


Barbados

Thomson moved to
Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...
in mid-2018. There she owns and operates a
boutique hotel Boutique hotels are small-capacity Hotel, hotels that provide more personalized service than typical hotels. They typically have fewer than a hundred rooms, and are considered more "trendy" and "intimate", often due to their location in urban ar ...
and
eco-tourist Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conservation and environmental ...
resort and community arts centre.


Personal

Sarah and Greg Thomson married in 2002 and divorced in 2020. They have two children.


References


External links


Sarah Thomson for Mayor - 2014 Toronto Mayoral Collection
- Web Archive Created by The University of Toronto Libraries
Sarah Thomson blogWomen's Post

Canvas and Cave
- Thomson's business in Barbados {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Sarah 1968 births Canadian magazine publishers (people) Canadian newspaper publishers (people) Living people McMaster University alumni Businesspeople from Toronto Politicians from Toronto People from Saint Peter, Barbados Ontario municipal politicians Ontario Liberal Party candidates in Ontario provincial elections Women in Ontario politics Barbadian businesspeople Women hoteliers