Conservatives Drop 5th Candidate as 3 Liberals Exit the Race

(Left) A man is silhouetted walking past a Conservative Party logo in Halifax on Aug. 23, 2018. (Right) A stagehand works on the stage in between presenters at the 2023 Liberal National Convention in Ottawa on May 4, 2023. The Canadian Press/Darren Calabrese; Justin Tang

The Conservative Party dropped its fifth candidate this week, while the Liberals lost three either through dismissal or resignation.

The Conservative Party confirmed in the afternoon of April 4 that it had removed Simon Payette, its candidate for the Quebec riding of Berthier—Maskinongé, citing his conduct as the reason.

Earlier that day, Payette had argued during an interview with Le Nouvelliste, a Quebec newspaper, that Liberal candidate Nathalie Provost “uses her cause to evoke pity.” Provost, who is running for the Quebec riding of Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville, is one of the survivors of 1989 École Polytechnique massacre, and has been a vocal advocate for gun control.

The Conservative Party said Payette’s conduct “is completely inappropriate, and cannot be excused.”

“He will not be a candidate,” a Conservative campaign spokesperson told The Epoch Times in a statement, though they did not specify the conduct in question.

The Epoch Times sought comment from Payette, but did not immediately hear back. He is the fifth Conservative candidate to be removed, with all dismissals occurring this week.

Payette’s ouster came shortly after the federal Liberal Party removed Rod Loyola, the candidate for the Alberta riding of Edmonton Gateway, following the resurfacing of comments he made about Hamas and Hezbollah at a 2009 rally in Edmonton, which were brought to public attention by the National Post.

In the video, published on YouTube on April 6, 2009, Loyola speaks before performing three songs with another demonstrator, saying they want to “build a counter-hegemonic culture.”

“Organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas really are trying to stand up for their people, and that needs to be recognized,” Loyola says in the video. “These are movements for national liberation, not terrorists.”

The video was published by Radical Citizen Media, an organization that describes its purpose as documenting “progressive social movements and citizen engagement” in Edmonton. The video description says the rally’s message was “Canada out of Afghanistan and say no to NATO on its 60th birthday.”

The Liberal Party confirmed Loyola’s dismissal, but did not provide a reason for the decision.

“Mr. Loyola is no longer our candidate for Edmonton-Gateway,” said the party in a one-line statement to The Epoch Times on April 4. Loyola no longer appears as a candidate on the party’s website.

Loyola, who came to Canada from Chile in the 1970s, served as an Alberta NDP MLA since 2015, representing the electoral district of Edmonton-Ellerslie until he resigned his seat last month.

In a statement published on April 4, Loyola said he told the Liberal Party he does “not need to apologize for a hip hop segment that had at its thrust the need to stand with the oppressed, nor for affirming their right to live in peace, security, and sovereignty.”

“I did not think that an intro at a hip-hop segment 16 years later would get me ‘cancelled’ after close to a decade of serving as an elected representative at the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, but here we are,” Loyola wrote.

“I want to be clear: I unequivocally condemn brutal killings, terrorism, and abduction - whoever does it. What was perpetrated by Hamas on October 7 was completely unacceptable and heart breaking - the loss of innocent life irrespective of race, faith or creed is a loss to humanity.”

He said that Israel’s actions in response “amounts to collective punishment upon a people who are already systematically subjugated, which will never be justified, acceptable or inline with human rights.”

The former Liberal candidate posted a picture on social media the same day, advocating for “a path towards peace so we can build a secure and democratic state of Palestine.”

Loyola says he intends to run as an independent candidate in the same riding.

Other Liberals Exit Race

Loyola’s dismissal comes the same week Liberal incumbent MP Paul Chiang dropped out of the federal race in the Ontario riding of Markham-Unionville, following backlash over comments he made suggesting his former rival, Tory candidate Joe Tay, be turned over to China for a bounty.

Tay is a Canadian citizen and one of several pro-democracy activists targeted by Hong Kong authorities, who have issued international bounties on Tay and other activists.

Chiang announced his resignation late on March 31. Liberal Party leader Mark Carney had faced calls from the federal Conservatives and the NDP to remove Chiang from the race. Carney rejected the calls, saying Chiang had a “terrible lapse in judgment,” but that it was a “teachable moment” and Chiang had acknowledged his mistake.

When asked on April 4 why his party had dropped Loyola but not Chiang, Carney did not directly answer, but said Chiang’s decision was “correct.”

“With respect to Mr. Chiang, he has resigned, that was the correct decision, and Mr. Loyola is no longer a candidate,” Carney said during a policy announcement in Montreal.

The Liberals dismissed another candidate last month. Thomas Keeper, who was running for the Calgary Confederation riding, was let go for failure to disclose information, the party said, without providing details on the information in question.

“Certain information was not disclosed to the party, and Mr. Keeper is no longer a candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada,” a Liberal campaign spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an April 4 statement.

CBC reported last week that Keeper had a 20-year-old domestic assault charge that was stayed six weeks after it was laid. The allegations against Keeper were first reported by Juno News. The Epoch Times sought comment from Keeper, but did not immediately hear back.

The Liberal Party on April 1 named Corey Hogan as its new candidate for the Calgary Confederation riding. Hogan is the vice-president of communications and community engagement at the University of Calgary.

Conservative Dismissals

Loyola’s removal also comes the same week the Conservative Party dropped four of its candidates, two from Ontario, one from Quebec, and another from British Columbia.

Former Conservative candidate Mark McKenzie from the southwestern Ontario riding of Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore, was removed from the race on April 1 for comments he made on a 2022 comedy podcast in which he expressed support for the death penalty and jokingly suggested it be applied to former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The Conservative Party called the comments “clearly unacceptable,” and confirmed in a statement that McKenzie had been removed from the race.

On the same day, Stefan Marquis, Tory candidate for the Montreal riding of Laurier—Sainte-Marie, said the party had removed him from the race over unspecified posts he had made on social media platform X. The party did not respond to requests for comment on Marquis’ dismissal.

Later that day, the Conservative Party confirmed to the media it had dismissed candidate Lourence Singh from the B.C. riding of Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville, but did not provide a reason for the decision.

On April 2, the party confirmed the removal of a fourth candidate, Don Patel, who was running for the Ontario riding of Etobicoke North.

The party cited Patel’s alleged endorsement of a social media comment suggesting that certain unidentified persons, whom the comment describes as “non-sense people,” be deported to India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi would “take care” of them. Patel appears to have reacted to the comment with a “care” emoji.

“Endorsing such a statement is clearly unacceptable” a Conservative campaign spokesperson told The Epoch Times in a statement. “The Conservative Party will always stand up for the safety and security of Canadians.”