The president of Montreal’s Société-Saint-Jean-Baptiste said his meeting with a member of France’s far-right Front National party on Thursday was conducted under false pretenses.
In a statement, Maxime Laporte said the party’s Loup Viallet presented himself as a leader of a non-governmental organization promoting Francophonie internationally.
Laporte said the meeting, while informal, was organizing unexpectedly.
Viallet refuted that account of the meeting on social media, saying the meeting had been scheduled a week in advance, the two had a two-hour-long discussion and Laporte knew which political party he was representing.
The Front National has been criticized for its nationalistic stances and xenophobic rhetoric.
Its leader, Marine Le Pen, visited Quebec in March 2016 when no members of any major political parties agreed to meet with her.
- With files from The Canadian Press
