SAINTE-THERESE, Que. - Mario Dumont says the witch hunt against his candidates in the Action democratique du Quebec has gone too far.
Dumont raised the complaint on Friday after revelations in the Quebec election campaign that one of his candidates committed crimes when he was a teenager. ADQ candidate, Eric Dorion, went through rehabilitation 15 years ago and has been a model citizen since, Dumont said.
"These witch hunts on the distant past of people has really gone overboard," Dumont told reporters while campaigning near Montreal.
Earlier in the campaign, Dumont had to drop a candidate who said violence against women is exaggerated and compared pay equity to apartheid.
Dumont threw some mud of his own, suggesting legal trouble has struck Liberals that hasn't surfaced in the campaign.
"Inside the government there are people who have had their own misfortune and to my knowledge Mr. Charest has not put out a press release saying where on the freeway it happened," Dumont said, referring to members of the legislature who have been guilty of drunk driving.
It's a quiet day on the campaign trail as Dumont, Liberal Leader Jean Charest and Parti Quebecois Leader Andre Boisclair attend the funeral of Daniel Tessier, a Laval police officer who was shot last week.
Boisclair stopped in Montreal on his way to the funeral to promise a tax credit for public transit monthly pass holders.