And he's out

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
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Low Earth Orbit
Conservatives drop Montreal candidate who said 'Plateau snobs' should be put on 'galleys'
'Plateau snobs, ecocrats and other shameless socialists should be put on galleys,' Stefan Marquis wrote on Jan. 2

Author of the article:Montreal Gazette
Montreal Gazette
Harry North
Published Apr 01, 2025 • Last updated 17 hours ago • 2 minute read

The Conservative Party of Canada has dropped a Montreal candidate who published social media posts attacking Quebec’s political culture, sharing a vaccine conspiracy theory involving Bill Gates, and echoing pro-Kremlin talking points about the war in Ukraine.


Stéfan Marquis, who had announced he was running in the Laurier–Sainte-Marie riding, was dropped from the party’s list of candidates on Tuesday after The Gazette inquired about his posts on X.

In the posts, which date back to late 2024, Marquis criticized Quebec in reference to its federal equalization payments, calling the province a “disgrace.”



“Quebec is a disgrace. Just by itself, it receives more in equalization payments than all the other provinces and territories combined. The Plateau snobs, ecocrats and other shameless socialists should be put on galleys,” he wrote on Jan. 2.

He reposted a video late December last year that claimed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ work in global health involving vaccines was really about helping pharmaceutical companies profit and giving “greater power for Bill Gates to shape the course of the future for billions.”

“This needs to stop. The damage Bill Gates has caused is colossal,” Lacasse said, referencing the post.



In other posts, Marquis reposted that the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine was provoked by NATO and a U.S.-backed coup in 2014.

“Media-fed guppies who push for war in Ukraine, listen to THIS, and wake the f*** up. It’s time now,” he said in a post on Feb. 27 referencing the thread blaming the West.

He also alleged that the main reason the former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney was tapped to lead the Liberal Party was to implement a Central Bank Digital Currency, referring to them as the “golden fleece of the globalists.”

The party declined to comment on the content of the posts or the decision to remove Marquis. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has previously expressed support for vaccinations and Ukraine.

Marquis said in a statement April 1 that he was informed of his disqualification during a call from a party official.

“I was told without further note that ‘certain’ individuals within the party had consulted my recent posts on X and deemed these sufficient reason to end our political collaboration,” he wrote.

Marquis is the latest candidate dropped by the Conservative Party. A hopeful in Windsor was removed after CTV News obtained an audio recording of him calling for former prime minister Justin Trudeau to face the death penalty.

The Liberal Party has also faced scrutiny over candidate conduct. Former Toronto-area Liberal candidate Paul Chiang withdrew after suggesting that his Conservative opponent, Joe Tay, be handed over to the Chinese consulate in exchange for a bounty.

The deadline for political parties to finalize their candidate lists is April 9.
A CBDC is inevitable. How it's sold to the public will be the interesting part.
 

spaminator

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Oct 26, 2009
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North Dakota mayor resigns after sending video of himself masturbating to city attorney by mistake
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Apr 02, 2025 • 1 minute read

MINOT, N.D. — The mayor of one of North Dakota’s largest cities resigned after an investigation into him mistakenly sending a lewd video to the city attorney.


Minot Mayor Tom Ross resigned Tuesday, the same day an investigative report was made public that found Ross sent a video of himself masturbating to City Attorney Stefanie Stalheim in January. He sent the video minutes after the two had a telephone call discussing a police officer’s suicide.

Ross asked Stalheim to delete the video, not to watch it and to keep the incident between them, the report said. Ross told an interviewer he had recorded the video at home during a lunch break and meant to send it to his romantic partner, not to Stalheim. He had said it was “a sexy video for his girlfriend.”

The report said Stalheim struggled with whether to make a formal report. Ross was her direct supervisor, and Stalheim’s annual review was pending at the time, the report said. Her complaint asked for an apology from Ross and that he consider resigning as mayor.


The investigator found Ross’s conduct “directly caused Stalheim’s inability to work in an environment free from unreasonable sexual harassment and created an offensive work environment.”

Ross said Wednesday he takes full responsibility and holds Stalheim “in the utmost regard and respect.” He said he had not resigned earlier “to respect the process.” He plans to focus on himself, healing and moving forward with his family, he said.

Telephone and email messages seeking comment were left for Stalheim Tuesday.

The Minot City Council voted on Tuesday to appoint a mayor from within the council after 15 days, which is the timeframe for citizens to petition for a special election.

Ross was elected mayor in 2022 after serving two years on the city council. Minot, about 80 kilometres south of the Canadian border, is home to more than 47,000 people.
 

spaminator

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Oct 26, 2009
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North Dakota mayor resigns after sending video of himself masturbating to city attorney by mistake
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Apr 02, 2025 • 1 minute read

MINOT, N.D. — The mayor of one of North Dakota’s largest cities resigned after an investigation into him mistakenly sending a lewd video to the city attorney.


Minot Mayor Tom Ross resigned Tuesday, the same day an investigative report was made public that found Ross sent a video of himself masturbating to City Attorney Stefanie Stalheim in January. He sent the video minutes after the two had a telephone call discussing a police officer’s suicide.

Ross asked Stalheim to delete the video, not to watch it and to keep the incident between them, the report said. Ross told an interviewer he had recorded the video at home during a lunch break and meant to send it to his romantic partner, not to Stalheim. He had said it was “a sexy video for his girlfriend.”

The report said Stalheim struggled with whether to make a formal report. Ross was her direct supervisor, and Stalheim’s annual review was pending at the time, the report said. Her complaint asked for an apology from Ross and that he consider resigning as mayor.


The investigator found Ross’s conduct “directly caused Stalheim’s inability to work in an environment free from unreasonable sexual harassment and created an offensive work environment.”

Ross said Wednesday he takes full responsibility and holds Stalheim “in the utmost regard and respect.” He said he had not resigned earlier “to respect the process.” He plans to focus on himself, healing and moving forward with his family, he said.

Telephone and email messages seeking comment were left for Stalheim Tuesday.

The Minot City Council voted on Tuesday to appoint a mayor from within the council after 15 days, which is the timeframe for citizens to petition for a special election.

Ross was elected mayor in 2022 after serving two years on the city council. Minot, about 80 kilometres south of the Canadian border, is home to more than 47,000 people.
looks like he got himself into a sticky situation. ;)
 

spaminator

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Oct 26, 2009
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Lourence Singh out as Tory candidate in New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville
Conservative Party of Canada lost three candidates on Tuesday, the latest in Metro Vancouver

Author of the article:Joseph Ruttle
Published Apr 02, 2025 • Last updated 14 hours ago • 1 minute read

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, pictured at a campaign event on Wednesday, has lost three candidates in the past day, one each in B.C., Ontario and Quebec.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, pictured at a campaign event on Wednesday, has lost three candidates in the past day, one each in B.C., Ontario and Quebec.
Lourence Singh has become the third Conservative Party of Canada candidate dropped from the federal election race in the past day. The party hasn’t said why he is no longer running.


On Wednesday, the former candidate for New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville was no longer among the Tory candidates listed online, and the website lourencesingh.ca redirects to a generic CPC page for the riding.

However, Singh’s campaign Instagram still described him as the candidate as of Wednesday afternoon.

Postmedia News reached out to the Conservative party asking for clarification about why Singh is no longer running, and whether a replacement will be announced, but hasn’t yet heard back. The deadline for nominations is Monday, April 7, at 2 p.m.

Singh is one of three Conservative candidates to be ousted from the April 28 election in the past day.

In Montreal’s Laurier-Sainte Marie riding, Stefan Marquis said he was dropped during a brief phone call with CPC officials on Tuesday, after posting a tweet on X that raised concerns among “certain” people in the party.


In an announcement, also shared on X, Marquis said his ouster was an affront to the principle of liberty.

“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.

Earlier Tuesday, Mark McKenzie was removed from the Tory ticket in the Ontario riding of Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore, after it came to light that he said in a 2022 comedy podcast that former prime minister Justin Trudeau should face the death penalty. He insisted he was joking.

jruttle@postmedia.com
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
27,856
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Regina, Saskatchewan
This is kind of refreshing to see somebody who’s not taking any shit, after 10 years of liberal scandals and ethics violations, and so on and so forth, dragging out for months or years at a time for each one.
 
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spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
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Turfed Conservative candidate McKenzie vows to remain Windsor councillor
Author of the article:Taylor Campbell
Published Apr 03, 2025 • Last updated 14 hours ago • 4 minute read

Ousted federal Conservative candidate Mark McKenzie is shown in Windsor on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. The Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore riding candidate has been removed from the federal race for controversial comments made on a podcast.
Ousted federal Conservative candidate Mark McKenzie is shown in Windsor on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. The Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore riding candidate has been removed from the federal race for controversial comments made on a podcast.
A Windsor city councillor given the boot Tuesday as the Conservative Party of Canada’s candidate in the federal election said he’s formally withdrawn from the race — and vows to remain on municipal council.


An Elections Canada spokesperson told the Star that Mark McKenzie could have stayed on the April 28 ballot for Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore, but the Ward 4 representative said he officially bowed out on Wednesday.

The Conservatives announced they no longer wanted him as their party’s representative after controversial podcast comments he made in 2022 about the death penalty recently resurfaced.

McKenzie told the Star he only agreed to formally exit the race after the party agreed to pay vendors for his campaign signs and stakes and to return donations to his supporters.

“I thought that was fair,” McKenzie said on Thursday. ” I don’t want anyone missing out on money. I didn’t want to be on the hook for anything.”

In the February 2022 podcast McKenzie spoke out “in favour of public hangings” and appeared to list then-prime minister Justin Trudeau on a list of people he thought should be executed.


McKenzie this week called his comments “tasteless” but emphasized “it was all as a joke” on a comedy podcast.

“The comments are clearly unacceptable. Mr. McKenzie will not be the Conservative candidate,” a Conservative campaign spokesperson said in an email on Wednesday.

The Star asked the Conservative Party of Canada who it might select to replace McKenzie but had not received a response as of Thursday print deadline.

Elections Canada nominations for candidates to be on the ballot close at 2 p.m. on Monday.

election
As part of the deal to remove Mark McKenzie’s name from the April 28 election ballot for Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore, the Conservative Party of Canada agreed to compensate ousted candidate Mark McKenzie for his campaign costs, including election signs like this one shown near his campaign office in Tecumseh on Tuesday, April 1, 2025.
Some in Windsor are now pushing for McKenzie to also quit municipal politics.

As of Thursday morning, nearly 600 people had signed a virtual petition calling for McKenzie to resign from Windsor city council.

Comments on the petition call McKenzie’s comments about the death penalty “inappropriate” and “just plain wrong.”


“No one who would openly call for the execution of a sitting Prime Minister has any business serving in an elected role, purporting to represent us or our values,” wrote Irene Moore Davis in a comment on the change.org petition.

“We need to tone down the violent and hateful rhetoric in our society, not reward supposed ‘leaders’ who engage in it.”

McKenzie said he will continue to serve on city council.

“This was all done before I even thought about running for council,” he said of his controversial podcast comments. “It came out during the campaign as well, from some individuals, and I was still elected.”

The Conservatives’ national leadership bypassed the traditional nomination process when it appointed McKenzie for Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore instead of letting local party members vote for their candidate.

Had McKenzie not officially withdrawn his candidacy, he would still have appeared on the ballot under the Conservative Party name, according to information provided to the Star by Elections Canada spokesperson Dugald Maudsley.


If a confirmed candidate does not withdraw, they remain on the ballot under their affiliated party, “even if they are no longer in a position to represent a party in the House of Commons if they win,” which would be the case if the party no longer supports them, or if they pass away, Maudsley said.

“In those cases, the votes for that candidate would still be counted but would be more-or-less ‘void,'” he said.

Deadlines for candidate nominations, he said, “are important as they allow Elections Canada the time necessary to print and distribute ballots in time for advance and election day polls.”

In 2022, McKenzie narrowly won Ward 4 with 1,285 votes (22.29 per cent of the total), besting runner-up Jake Rondot by 28 votes.

“In a nutshell, there is no ‘recall’ mechanism given to municipalities for removal of a councillor from elected office,” city clerk Steve Vlachodimos said in an email to the Star.


Without specifically addressing McKenzie’s comments, Vlachodimos said the integrity commissioner ultimately determines whether the city’s code of conduct has been violated. If that happens, a report would be presented to city council at a public meeting.

The Star reached out to the City of Windsor’s integrity commissioner, Jeffrey Abrams of Toronto-based Principles Integrity, and asked whether a councillor can be penalized for speech, as well as what kind of speech might result in sanctions, and whether a councillor can be penalized for comments made prior to election.

“We are unable to respond to your questions,” Abrams responded in an email.

The city’s code of conduct for members of council and local boards makes no mention of speech. It has a short paragraph on discreditable conduct that says councillors have a duty to treat one another, staff, and the public “appropriately and without abuse, bullying, or intimidation,” but it does not appear to address comments like McKenzie’s.


Vlachodimos said municipalities are limited to what penalties they can impose on councillors who have contravened the code of conduct. In accordance with Ontario’s Municipal Act, councillors can receive a reprimand and/or a suspension of pay for up to 90 days.

“Members of council are accountable to the public through the four-year election process,” Vlachodimos said.

“Between elections, they may become disqualified and lose their seat if, for example, they are convicted of an offence under the Criminal Code of Canada or for failing to declare a conflict of personal interest under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.”

The next municipal election is scheduled for Oct. 26, 2026.

Including McKenzie, the Conservatives had dropped four of its federal election candidates this week as of Wednesday. The others are Lourence Singh for New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville, Stefan Marquis for Laurier-Sainte-Marie, and Don Patel for Etrobicoke North.

The Liberal Party of Canada parted ways with candidate Thomas Keeper of Calgary-Confederation. Liberal incumbent Paul Chiang bowed out on Monday.

tcampbell@postmedia.com
 

spaminator

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Conservatives oust another Quebec candidate after he accuses Polytechnique survivor of exploiting tragedy
Simon Payette, who was running in the riding of Berthier–Maskinongé, had criticized Liberal candidate Nathalie Provost’s gun-control advocacy in a series of posts.

Author of the article:Montreal Gazette
Montreal Gazette
Harry North
Published Apr 04, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read

Hours after appearing at a campaign event Friday on protecting women from violence, a Conservative candidate in Quebec was dropped by the party after social media posts surfaced of him attacking Polytechnique massacre survivor and Liberal candidate Nathalie Provost.


Simon Payette, who was running in the riding of Berthier–Maskinongé, had criticized Provost’s gun-control advocacy in a series of posts, as first reported by Radio-Canada, including one accusing her of exploiting the 1989 mass shooting at Montreal’s École Polytechnique.


“You are very smart to use this tragedy to fuel this anti-gun extremist bribery business,” Payette wrote, according to Radio-Canada.

In another post, he added: “You’re lucky that many voters are directly descended from a bloodline of the first settlers.”

A spokesperson for the Conservatives confirmed in a statement to The Gazette that the candidate will not be running for the party.

“This individual’s conduct is completely inappropriate and cannot be excused,” the spokesperson said.

Earlier Friday, Payette had appeared alongside party leader Pierre Poilievre at a campaign stop in Trois-Rivières where Poilievre pledged tougher sentences for perpetrators of family and intimate partner violence.

Payette is the latest candidate to be dropped by the Conservative party. Mark McKenzie, a Conservative hopeful in Windsor, was removed on Tuesday after CTV News obtained an audio recording of him calling for former prime minister Justin Trudeau to face the death penalty.


That same day, Stéfan Marquis, who had declared his candidacy in the Montreal riding of Laurier–Sainte-Marie, was removed after The Gazette inquired about a series of controversial posts on X. The posts included a vaccine conspiracy theory involving Bill Gates and pro-Kremlin rhetoric about the war in Ukraine.

Lourence Singh of the British Columbia riding of New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville and Don Patel in the Toronto-area riding of Etobicoke North were also dropped during the week. The reason why Singh was dropped was not disclosed. Patel was dropped after he endorsed a social media post that supported the idea of deporting some people to India, the party said.

Other federal parties have also faced controversy over conduct in recent days.

Former Liberal candidate Paul Chiang, running in the Greater Toronto Area, withdrew from the race after suggesting his Conservative opponent, Joe Tay, be handed over to the Chinese consulate in exchange for a bounty.

The NDP dismissed a campaign volunteer this week after a video surfaced showing the person — who is also an OnlyFans creator — making what the party called “disrespectful” comments about the Holocaust.