Montreal-area PQ candidate steps aside after anti-Islam Facebook post

ST-NICOLAS, Que. – A Parti Quebecois candidate is out of the provincial election campaign after posting a graphically worded anti-Islamic message on his Facebook page.

Jean Carriere stepped aside after the photo started to make rounds on social media Wednesday.

The photo is of a half-naked white woman holding up her middle finger with the words “(expletive) Islam.”

Carriere told a Radio-Canada journalist he posted the photo because he felt it was pro-feminist.

He was running in the Montreal riding of Lafontaine, considered a Liberal stronghold.

PQ Leader Pauline Marois confirmed today that Carriere had withdrawn his candidacy.

“Mr. Carriere called us this morning and said he would (withdraw) his candidacy and I accepted this proposal,” Marois said Thursday.

For his part, Carriere took to his personal Facebook account to blast the media for his hasty departure.