The Conservative Party has dropped a candidate from its roster of nominees in Quebec, the second person the party has ousted on the same day.
Stefan Marquis, who was running for the Tories in the Quebec riding of Laurier – Sainte-Marie, said in a post on X he had received a call Tuesday morning from one of the party’s operations managers in the province and was told that he would no longer be the Conservatives’ candidate.
“I was told without further note that ‘certain’ individuals within the party had consulted my recent posts on Twitter-X and deemed these sufficient reason to end our political collaboration,” Marquis wrote.
Marquis did not elaborate what posts specifically were referenced but criticized the Conservatives for their decision, saying the party had “cut loose a devoted ally” who would run in what he called a “proven complicated political landscape.”
The riding of Laurier – Sainte-Marie has never been held by the Conservatives since its creation in 1987, bouncing primarily between the Bloc Quebecois and Liberals.
The NDP held it from 2011 until 2019 following the “orange crush” of the 2011 election.
The riding was held from 1993 until 2011 by former Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe.
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The incumbent candidate is Liberal Steven Guilbeault, who served in former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet as environment minister and was named to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet shortly before the election was called.
The now-former Conservative candidate also criticized the party, saying his opinion was not respected.
“Publish a non-vetted tweet on X and expect ostracization from your natural ally,” he wrote. “This now appears to be the way of Canadian politics.”
Global News has reached out to the Conservative Party for more information, but did not hear back by publication.
Marquis’ ousting is not the first one the party has made this election cycle, with the Conservatives having removed Mark McKenzie as candidate in Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore for past comments he made in a 2022 comedy podcast suggesting Trudeau should face the death penalty.
McKenzie said in an interview with Global News that the remarks he made while co-hosting a comedy podcast in 2022 were “all a joke” and he regrets making them. In that same podcast, McKenzie had voiced support for public hangings as well.
The city councillor in Windsor, Ont., said his comments were taken out of context, adding that he doesn’t stand by them.
He told Global News that he’s disappointed the party no longer wants him to be a candidate, but acknowledged his “off-the-cuff” remark was “in poor taste.”
The controversy comes a day after another federal candidate, Liberal Paul Chiang, announced he was stepping down as the candidate in the Markham-Unionville riding following comments he made in January that Conservative Joe Tay should be turned over to Chinese officials in return for a bounty.
Carney had said prior to that decision that the remarks were “deeply offensive” but that Chiang “has my confidence.”
At a campaign stop in Edmonton Tuesday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was asked about the controversies surrounding the Liberal and Conservative candidates.
He said so far, his party has not had any similar circumstances.
“If things arise, though, we will make the best decision for our country, for our democracy, and so we’ll be prepared to do that,” Singh said.
—with files from Global News’ Saba Aziz
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
