Tories drop Quebec candidate who said massacre survivor was playing 'victim game'

A man is silhouetted walking past a Conservative Party logo before the opening of the Party's national convention in Halifax on Thursday, August 23, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

Liberal candidate Nathalie Provost said she wants to see Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre call out “shameful” comments by Conservative candidate Simon Payette who accused her of playing the “victim game” in her quest for stronger gun regulations.

The Conservative party confirmed late Friday afternoon it has dropped Payette as a candidate — just the latest in a slew of candidates shed by the Liberals and Conservatives this week over contentious comments ahead of Monday’s nomination deadline.

“This individual’s conduct is completely inappropriate, and cannot be excused,” said Conservative spokesperson Sam Lilly. “He will not be a candidate.”

Provost had survived the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre, when a gunman brimming with hatred for feminists killed 14 women and injured as many others, later becoming a prominent Canadian gun-control advocate and now a star Liberal candidate.

Provost said she was left speechless by some of the comments that tarnish the memory of her classmates subject to the worst mass-murder of women in Canadian history.

“I have no words to describe correctly how I feel,” Provost said in an interview. “I cannot understand how those people who are running be MPs can make such remarks and think that they will be able to represent Canadians in the House of Commons.”

Payette left a series of comments on Provost’s Facebook page in French beginning Thursday night and into Friday, often taunting her to participate in a live debate with him.

In one post, he wrote that he would look her “straight in the eye” as he tears up Bill C-21, the gun control law passed under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, in Parliament under a Conservative majority.

He said he would then use the bill as toilet paper every time he uses the bathroom in Parliament.

“It will be uncomfortable but I will do it to bring justice to all the country’s sport shooters,” he wrote in French.

Provost is running in the Châteauguay—Les Jardins-de-Napierville riding, but Payette was seeking office in the district of Berthier—Maskinongé in the Mauricie area.

Bill C-21, passed by the Liberals in 2023, froze sales of handguns, hiked penalties for firearm trafficking and ushered in other rules designed to tamp down on firearm violence.

The Conservatives and some gun owners staunchly opposed it, arguing it was a political wedge that ultimately hurt lawful gun owners.

Both parties have seen candidates dropped this week due to controversial comments, a growing list that notably includes former Liberal candidate Paul Chiang, who bowed out on Monday after suggesting a rival candidate could be turned over to Chinese officials for a bounty.

The Conservatives had also lost Mark McKenzie, who had joked that Trudeau should be executed, and Stefan Marquis, whose online posts included claims that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was provoked by the expansion of NATO.

The Elections Canada deadline for candidates to submit their nomination papers to get on the ballot is April 7, after which point political parties cannot replace their candidates.

Payette could not be immediately reached on Friday.

-- With files from Catherine Morrison in Ottawa.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 4, 2025.