A Liberal candidate who had raised concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine joined the ranks before looking to defend the party’s colors for next October’s election.
• Also read: More candidates from visible minorities than ever
• Also read: The Parti Québécois presents 22 candidates
Rita Ikhouane, running for Gouin in Montreal, is now properly vaccinated, a mandatory requirement for all Quebec Liberal Party candidates.
But as of early October last year, Ms Ikhouane, who was then running in Montreal’s local elections, was not fully vaccinated.
In an interview with Radio-Canada, she said she wanted to “take it with me [son] Time and think without feeling it[elle] did something wrong.”
banished
The leader of his city party, Balarama Holness of Mouvement Montréal, who was asked to respond at the time, had been unaware of Ms Ikhouane’s vaccination status and had barred her from public training events, but without rejecting his candidacy.
Ms Ikhouane was also defeated in Côte-des-Neiges, where she ran for councillor, with just 7.7% of the vote.
However, his view of the vaccine has since changed.
“I realize that the pandemic has taken on a larger scale than we initially thought,” she explains in an interview with our Bureau of Investigation.
She claims she is not against the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I like to think about everything that has to do with my health, I like to take my time. I’ve always been like this. It has nothing to do with the vaccine or not,” she said.
Two cans
Ms Ikhouane says she was vaccinated twice and received the second dose in late October or early November.
She says she had no intention of running for the Liberal Party at the time.
“It wasn’t on my radar yet,” she said. I got vaccinated while doing community service. »
“The vaccine has proven itself. This allows us today to have a semblance of normal life,” she continues.
She will face a tough opponent in Gouin as the riding is currently in the hands of Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, Québec solidaire parliamentary leader and co-speaker.
Do you have any information about this story that you would like to share with us?
Do you have a scoop that might be of interest to our readers?