In a long profile in the Kingston Whig-Standard, OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas is lauded by friends and family as a caring and principled leader.
“Smokey’s a very caring person. It’s just in him to care,” said Thomas’s sister in the profile. “I can’t tell you the number of people he’s helped, inside and outside that union.”
In the profile, Thomas reflects on his decision long ago to hold the NDP just as accountable as he holds other political parties, remembering the time he burned an effigy of former NDP Premier Bob Rae.
“The NDP wanted to cut services and close wards and didn’t want to reinvest the money saved back into mental health care,” said Thomas.
“I caught hell for that because our membership, not surprisingly, had a lot of NDP supporters,” adds Thomas, who subsequently revoked his party membership. “I was only doing what I believed was the right thing.”