MONTREAL – A Parti Quebecois candidate from Montreal has been forced to withdraw from the Quebec election campaign after sharing an anti-Islamic photo on social media.
PQ leader Pauline Marois confirmed Thursday morning that Jean Carrière would no longer be running in the riding of LaFontaine.
Carrière came under fire for posting a black and white photo earlier in the year that showed the model Heidi Klum in a state of undress and provocatively lifting her middle finger, along with the words “F— Islam.”
The photo was posted to his Facebook page in January. In the same month, he also updated his status with a statement supporting the leader of a far-right political party in France.
Along with a photo of the president of the Front National, Carrière wrote “Vive Marine Le Pen.”
He told French-language broadcaster Radio-Canada on Thursday that he had shared the image because he considered it feminist, but did not clarify his reasons for publishing the Le Pen post.
On Thursday afternoon, Carrière took to Facebook to explain his actions.
He began by confirming his resignation, blaming the media for its attacks on the young who “only wished to serve their nation.”
“I have been treated like a xenophobe, a token black, a racist,” he wrote.
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“And yet, I am nothing like this.”
He went on to suggest that he understood that there were two types of Islamists: moderate and radical.
“I am fighting and have fought evil in the world,” he noted.
“With the photo, I was sharing my disgust of certain religious practices that oppress women and men, all done in the name of religion.”
The Parti Quebecois MNA for Argenteuil, Roland Richer added a supportive comment to Carrière’s post, which was later deleted.
In it, he said that he was sorry that Carrière had to resign and that he didn’t deserve it.
“Hold your head high my friend,” he wrote.
“You have my esteem and admiration.”
The riding in the north of Montreal has been a Liberal Party stronghold since 1985. It includes the neighbourhood of Rivière-des-Prairies, which is known for its high concentration of Italian and Haitian communities.
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