Conservatives ditch second candidate in less than 24 hours, social media may be to blame
OTTAWA — The Conservatives have dropped a second candidate in less than 24 hours.
In a publication on X, Stefan Marquis wrote that he was informed by a Conservative party official in Quebec that he would no longer represent them in Laurier—Sainte-Marie — a Montreal riding held since 2019 by former environment minister Steven Guilbeault.
Marquis said he was told, during a call that he said lasted less than a minute, that people within the party had decided to drop him as a candidate because of social media posts.
Marquis criticized the decision, saying that the federal Conservatives 'chose to abruptly cut loose a devoted ally willing to operate in a proven complicated political landscape.' He previously ran as a candidate in the same riding for the Conservative Party of Quebec.
'Publish a non-vetted tweet on X and expect ostracization from your natural ally. This now appears to be the way of Canadian politics,' he wrote.
A quick scan of his social media posts shows that Marquis would share positive posts about the Trump administration and U.S. podcaster Joe Rogan, but also frequent criticism of Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante and other progressives.
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He also frequently peddled disinformation and conspiracy theories, including that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was 'provoked' by the expansion of NATO.
Conservative spokeswoman Audrey Lepage refused to explain the exact reasons why Marquis had ultimately been dropped as candidate in week two of the campaign.
'He is no longer a candidate. We have nothing to add,' she said.
Earlier in the day, the party dropped Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore candidate Mark McKenzie over controversial comments he made in a podcast from February 2022.
In that podcast, McKenzie expressed support for the death penalty and appeared to include then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on a list of people who should be executed.
National Post, with additional reporting by the Windsor Star calevesque@postmedia.com
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