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Parti Québécois candidate ousted for anti-Muslim remarks

Parti Québécois Leader Jean-François Lisée said he was disgusted by the candidate's comments. Mario Beauregard/The Canadian Press

The Parti Québécois has shown one of its candidates the door for posting anti-Muslim comments over the span of several years on social media.

Pierre Marcotte was supposed to be formally named Wednesday — which marks the seventh day of the election campaign — as the PQ candidate for the Drummond-Bois-Francs riding.

In a blog post on xaviercamus.com, screen captures show Marcotte’s postings on his Facebook page from 2015.

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“Islam is dangerous,” he wrote. “We have to ban this religion the way we ban pitbulls and sawed-off rifles.”

He also recommended immigrants “be obligated to eat a few good slices of bacon” in order to move to Canada.

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Marcotte also took aim at politicians, calling Québec Solidaire co-spokesperson Manon Massé a “femi-nazi” in 2017. In another post, he claimed the left-leaning party had been “infiltrated by Islamists.”

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He also accused Quebec Liberal Party Leader Philippe Couillard of “rolling out the red carpet” for the Islamic State.

When asked about Marcotte’s views on the campaign trail, PQ Leader Jean-François Lisée said he was disgusted by the comments.

“We fundamentally disagree with some of his opinions, his writings,” Lisée said.

After Marcotte was ousted from the party, the leader also admitted the PQ didn’t properly vet the would-be candidate.

“There is someone who didn’t do their work over the past six days,” he said.

— with files from The Canadian Press

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