With less than two weeks into the federal election campaign, the Conservative Party of Canada has already ousted four candidates from the race.
Three candidates in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia were removed on Tuesday, while a fourth was booted late Wednesday.
Conservative party Leader Pierre Poilievre was asked about the removals on Thursday, and said that their “vetting process is stronger than all the other parties.”
“That’s why we have a zero tolerance for anyone who acts unacceptably,” he said during a campaign stop in Kingston, Ont.
The removal of candidates comes as some veteran Tory campaigners and strategists have said that the Conservative campaign needs a reset.
Here is what we know so far about the ousted candidates and the reasons behind their dismissal.
Mark McKenzie, a city councillor from Windsor, Ont., was the first one to be removed from the Conservative roster on Tuesday.
McKenzie was running in the Ontario riding of Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore.
He told Global News in an interview Tuesday that the party removed him due to past comments he made in a podcast suggesting former prime minister Justin Trudeau should face the death penalty.
McKenzie said the remarks he says he made while co-hosting a comedy podcast in 2022 were “all a joke” and he regrets making them. In the podcast, he also voiced his support for public hangings.
Mackenzie said his comments were taken out of context, adding that he doesn’t stand by them.
“My co-host at the time was not a big fan of Justin Trudeau, so we jokingly said about public hangings in other countries. It was all a joke. It was a comedy podcast, right?” McKenzie said.
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He said he received a call from the party Tuesday morning asking about his podcast and the comments he made.
Shortly afterwards, before he says he had time to send them the audio files, McKenzie received another call from top party brass informing him that he was no longer the party’s candidate in the riding, he said.
He said he was disappointed to hear that the party no longer wants him to be a candidate, but admitted that his “off-the-cuff” remark was “in poor taste.”
Stefan Marquis was running for the Tories in the Quebec riding of Laurier – Sainte-Marie.
In a post on X, Marquis said 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.”
Global News reached out to the Conservative party for more information.
“Mr. Marquis is no longer a Conservative Party of Canada candidate,” the party said in a statement, without elaborating.
Lourence Singh was the third Conservative candidate to get dropped on Tuesday.
Singh was the party’s nominee for the British Columbia riding of New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville.
A Conservative party spokesperson told Global News in an emailed statement Tuesday evening that Singh “will not be a candidate” for them.
The spokesperson did not provide a reason for the removal.
In an email to Global News late Wednesday, Singh said he was given “a reason” for his dismissal during a nine-minute phone call with the party on Tuesday, but did not say what it was.
“No further comment as I am working on an appeal to be reinstated,” he said.
The Conservatives removed their fourth candidate in two days late Wednesday.
Don Patel was running in the Toronto area riding of Etobicoke North.
A Conservative party spokesperson told Global News on Wednesday that the party had dropped Patel after he endorsed a social media post that supported the idea of deporting some people to India where “[Prime Minister Narendra] Modi can take care of these nonsense people.”
“Endorsing such a statement is clearly unacceptable,” the spokesperson said.
“The Conservative party will always stand up for the safety and security of Canadians.”
The controversy in the Conservative camp comes after another federal candidate, Liberal Paul Chiang, announced Monday night 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.
Liberal Party Leader Mark 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’ Sean Previl
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
