Hootsuite founder, C-51 critic Ryan Holmes tweets NDP thanks

In politics, as in life, it's rarely a bad idea to say thank you.

Just ask the New Democrats, who triggered a wave of Twitter-driven goodwill and free publicity after going out of their way to acknowledge the efforts of an outspoken critic of the government's proposed anti-terror bill.

On Wednesday night, Hootsuite founder Ryan Holmes tweeted a picture of a letter he had just received from New Democrat Leader Tom Mulcair, with the following comment:

"Myself and 140+ tech leaders were called unpatriotic then this from @NDP_HQ, class."

As of Thursday morning, Holmes' message had been retweeted 512 times.

The back story:

Holmes came under fire from Conservative MP Laurie Hawn last week after he and more than 140 other Canadian tech and business leaders signed an open letter to the government, in which they warned that the controversial new counter-terror provisions would both "undermine Canada's reputation and change our business climate for the worse."

• READ the letter on the StopC51.ca website

During the final round of debate, Hawn noted that "several NDP members" had cited the letter, which was published in the National Post.

"I would suggest that if websites providing content, hosting services or other businesses are profiting from the dispersal of this type of horrific material, they should seriously reconsider their business model and lack of commitment to the values that bind us as Canadians," he told the House.

• Bill C-51: How Trudeau's support of the anti-terror bill could help the NDP

Later Thursday, Hawn posted an apology to his Facebook page.

"My intention in commenting on Bill C-51 was not to question the loyalty or values of any particular company or group of companies in Canada. My overall intention was simply to emphasize that we all have roles and responsibilities in addressing the threats to Canada, some of which we have no direct experience with, as a population.

"There are always strong emotions and opinions on both sides of any difficult issue; and I could have chosen my words more carefully. For that, I apologize."

The bill, which was supported by the Liberals, passed the Commons last week, and is expected to make it through the Senate later this month.