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
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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.
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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.
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