Two Conservative candidates dropped by party

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The federal Conservatives say two candidates, one in Windsor and the other in Montreal, will not be allowed to run for the party, citing questionable conduct by one of them.

On Tuesday, the Conservatives dropped Stefan Marquis, running in the Montreal riding of Laurier—Sainte-Marie where the incumbent is federal cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault, as well as Windsor city councillor Mark McKenzie, who was running in the southwestern Ontario riding of Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore.

A statement from party spokesperson Sam Lilly said Mr. Marquis is no longer a candidate, but did not elaborate on why the party made its decision to drop him.

In an emailed statement to The Globe and Mail, Mr. Marquis said he can only speculate on why he was dropped as a candidate.

“Nothing was either explicitly or implicitly pointed out to me,” he wrote.

The party’s announcement followed news that a Toronto-area Liberal has withdrawn from the campaign over his comments that people should take a Conservative candidate to the local Chinese consulate to collect a bounty.

In a posting on X, Mr. Marquis of Montreal wrote that he was called by one of the Quebec operations managers for the Conservatives.

“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,” he said, without elaborating. “The call lasted less than a minute.”

In recent X postings, Mr. Marquis touted the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the secretary of the U.S. health and human services department, praised the right-wing media outlet Rebel News, denounced the booing of the American national anthem and reposted material that suggests Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was provoked by NATO expansion.

As for Mr. McKenzie, Mr. Lilly’s statement referred to “clearly unacceptable” remarks by Mr. McKenzie.

In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Mr. McKenzie said he was called Tuesday morning by Jenni Byrne, the Conservative campaign manager, and Michael Crase, who has been the executive director of the Conservatives.

They asked about remarks he made in a 2022 podcast, joking about public hangings that might include former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

Looking back now, Mr. McKenzie, who has been a broadcaster for more than 20 years, said the remarks were tasteless, and added “Anyone who listened to the show knew we were kidding.”

After Tuesday’s initial call, in which he agreed to send an audio clip of the remarks, he said he was called again, within minutes, and told he was out as a candidate.

“They said, ‘The decision’s been made. You’re out. You’re not the candidate anymore.’ I said, ‘I didn’t send the audio. You guys haven’t heard it.’ They said, ‘Nope. We heard it. We heard the clip. That’s that. The decision’s already been made. Don’t speak to the media.‘”

Mr. McKenzie, who is in his first term as a city councillor, said he is disappointed he was not given a chance to express his side of the story.

Now Mr. McKenzie, who said he has received calls of support through the day, may run as an independent or for another party. “I’m kind of weighing all options,” he said.

Mr. McKenzie noted that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has made remarks he has had to apologize for.

On Tuesday, Liberal Leader Mark Carney said his party is looking for a new candidate in Markham-Unionville after incumbent Paul Chiang stepped down over his comment about taking a Conservative to the local Chinese consulate to collect a bounty.

Late Monday, Mr. Chiang issued a statement on X saying he would not seek another term in the riding he has represented since 2021.

Earlier Monday, Mr. Carney had said he found Mr. Chiang’s comments “deeply offensive,” but ruled out dropping him as a candidate.