MONTREAL—After a tumultuous six months slipping in the polls, the Coalition Avenir Quebec ejected one of its candidates over the weekend because of controversial comments he made on Twitter.
Kamal Lutfi took to the social networking site to say, amongst other things, that separatists are racist. On Sunday afternoon, party leader Francois Legault announced that Lutfi no longer had the right to represent the CAQ in the Chomedey Riding.
According to Legault, the man’s comments went against the party’s values.
According to the man’s Tweets, he claimed to have been the victim of racism when he worked at le Mouvement Desjardins. He described sovereignists as hateful toward him because of his ethnic origin and suggested that they are intolerant to different cultures.
Legault said in a statement that those comments "are exactly opposite to the Coalition Avenir Quebec's values and political orientations."
The leader apologized to anyone that Lutfi may have offended.
Standing a distant third in the polls, the CAQ unveiled five new candidates on Monday in preparation for a late-summer election that could be announced as soon as next week.
Jean-Marc Lacoste will represent the party in the riding of Bertrand, Étienne Boulrice will stand in Hull, David Monette will carry the CAQ flag in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, François Rebello was selected for the Sanguinet ballot and Bernard Flebus will be the caquist in Rouyn-Noranda-Témiscamingue.
