Green candidate in Ontario resigns over anti-Muslim pig-carcass posting on social media

The federal Green party has accepted an election candidate’s resignation over a social-media post in which he mused about sending pig meat to devotees of Muhammad.

Erik Schomann stepped down as the party’s nominee for the Ontario riding of Simcoe North shortly after the National Council of Canadian Muslims urged the Greens to drop him.

In a statement, the party said it has zero tolerance for sexism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, misogyny, homophobia or hate speech of any kind.

The council pointed out an old photo of Schomann, helping roast a pig, that referred to the controversy over a Danish newspaper’s 2005 publication of cartoons depicting Muhammad, the founder of Islam.

The misspelled caption of the posting said, “We sent the left-overs to Denmark in support of the protestors of the Muhammed comic.”

The council stressed the importance of free speech but said someone who promises to mail pieces of a pig carcass lacks the necessary integrity and moral commitment for public office.

It noted a pig’s head was left at the Quebec City mosque where a deadly shooting later took place in 2017.

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