In the last 2 yrs the Conservative Party of Quebec has gone from a fringe party to jockeying for 2nd place in the polls.
Here’s a long thread about how the party’s leader and numerous candidates have spread misinformation about COVID-19 and amplified conspiracy theorists.
tl;dr
cbc.ca/news/investiga…
Et en français
ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/19014…
Let’s start with leader, Eric Duhaime. Here he is sharing an article from Becker News. Per @MBFC_News, the site is "far-right biased" & engages in "the promotion of right-wing propaganda and conspiracies, and frequent publication of misleading and false information.”
Here is Duhaime promoting an article from National File. Per @MBFC_News: “we rate National File an extreme right Tin-Foil Hat Conspiracy website”
Here is Duhaime calling Didier Raoult a “great scientist.” Raoult was reprimanded by the French Medical Council for advocating hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID, despite no evidence. The institute Raoult runs was cited for “serious ethical breaches.”
Most Conservative Party events are emceed by Anne Casabonne, ex-actress and candidate in Iberville. Her past spreading misinformation is well documented. Here is a since-deleted tweet promoting the use of ivermectin. There is no evidence it is an effective treatment for COVID.
Kim Beaudoin, candidate in Saint-Hyacinthe, promoting a Facebook page run Samuel Grenier, identified by @antihateca and @UNESCOPREV as a conspiracy theorist.
Myriam Cournoyer, Drummond Bois Francs, has regularly retweeted a contributor to Le Harfang, a white nationalist publication.
Cournoyer also appeared in a video by conspiracy theorist Samuel Grenier.
Robert Daigle, Rouyn-Noranda-Témiscamingue, used his Facebook page to post links from several different conspiracy sites. A sample:
(Note Steeve L'Artiss Charland has ties to Quebec's far right)
Chantal Dauphinais, Beauharnois, taking part in an event organized by conspiracy theorist Samuel Grenier. They were printing up and handing out an article that was riddled with inaccuracies about COVID-19.
Karim Elayoubi, star PCQ candidate. Far-right conspiracy theorist Andre Pitre posted a video by Gilbert Thibodeau that contained racist comments & suggested a consulting firm helped organize the pandemic.
Elayoubi’s response: “Excellent show.”
(DM for link to show)
Elayoubi is also a fan of Alexandre Cormier-Denis, well known white nationalist who advocates the Great Replacement, a racist conspiracy theory.
Elayoubi's tweets have since been deleted. They were retrived using the Wayback Machine.
Marie Josée Hélie, Taschereau, sharing links to the widely discredited advocacy group Réinfo Covid.
For more on the group, see:
ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/18395…
ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/18393…
Hélie also posted a video in which she exaggerates the risk of COVID vaccines and downplays the numbers of deaths from the disease, repeating the widely debunked claim that basically only people with underlying symptoms die of COVID.
reuters.com/article/uk-fac…
Ian Lavallée, Les Plaines, has shared links to multiple conspiracy sites on his Facebook page. Here he is sharing articles by Mel Goyer, who is among the leading conspiracy theorists in Quebec, per @UNESCOPREV
He told me he posted them to start a conversation.
Stefan Marquis, Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques, here sharing a segment from Sud Radio, known for peddling far-right conspiracy theories. Guest is Olivier De Senaillac is leader of a group that has consistently spread disinformation about COVID.
Serge Noël, Maskinongé, offering an innacurate interpretation of hospitalization figures.
@McGillOSS has a handy explainer on what's wrong with drawing the conlusion that Noël did: mcgill.ca/oss/article/co…
Maxym Perron-Tellier, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, here citing a leading figure in the anti-vax movement in the U.S. Dr. Gold was sentenced to prison for taking part in the Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill.
abcnews.go.com/US/dr-simone-g…
Perron-Tellier also compared the vaccine mandate to rape and anti-Semitic laws in WW2 France.
Marie-Renée Raymond, René-Lévesque, is a member of a Facebook group called "Matane, everyone against the vaccine passport and the fake pandemic."
Among the things she shared here was an artcle from a QAnon-inspired website.
Michel Tardif, Bellechasse, defending a video that was debunked by Radio-Canada for containing a bunch of disinformation on COVID.
Stéphane Turmel, Fabre, pushing ivermectin, a conspiracy theorist and the debunked claim that COVID vaccines cause immunodeficiency.
fullfact.org/health/februar…
Also, for some reason, his official candidate page is friends with a racist conspiracy theorist.
I should note that these are samples of what was found on the social media accounts of these candidates.
What was the reaction of the Conservative Party of Quebec to this all? Basically they said the line candidates can't cross is spreading hate or inciting violence.
"We are happy to see that none of these 16 candidates crossed that line," the party said.
They added: "Our candidates come from different professional backgrounds and have a diversity of opinions, which reflects Quebec society."
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