MONTREAL - A lawyer from Quebec City says she was dumped as a federal New Democratic Party candidate because she is transgendered.
Micheline Montreuil alleges she was told by an NDP official her sexuality hindered party attempts to woo new Quebec candidates into the fold.
"They just said I do not fit in the NDP anymore,'' the prominent family and labour lawyer said in a phone interview Saturday.
"They also told me... that many people who wish to be a candidate for the NDP do not wish to have their name associated with the name of Micheline Montreuil, because I am transgendered.''
In a letter, the party told her she lost the candidacy for statements she made in media interviews, her difficulty maintaining support in the local riding association and for not working in a team, she said.
Montreuil, nominated last spring to carry the party banner in the provincial capital riding of Quebec, disagrees with the allegations in the letter.
But she said a chat with an NDP member has caused her the most concern.
Montreuil declined to discuss details of the conversation, but alleges there are other "unpleasant'' reasons for her dismissal, which must be "corrected'' within the party.
She has not ruled out taking legal action.
Raymond Guardia, co-chair of the party's Quebec election planning committee, said Montreuil's removal has nothing to do with her sexuality.
"It is simply not true,'' he said Saturday.
"If that was an issue in our party then she wouldn't have been nominated in the first place.''
Initially, Quebec party members applauded her arrival, but soon realized she was not a team player, he said.
"The mandate of the planning committee is to prepare for the election and ensure that the team we're putting forward is the best team in the interests of the party and its objectives,'' Guardia said.
"What we have witnessed since her nomination is that she has been a bit of a lone player, and as we get ready for an election we need candidates who aren't playing alone.''
Guardia said Riviere-des-Milles-Iles NDP candidate Francis Chartrand was also recently removed from his post.
He said Chartrand's nomination was revoked for statements he made that did not coincide with the "goals and objectives of the New Democratic Party.''
Federal NDP leader Jack Layton was not available for comment Saturday, but said in a statement he supports the committee's decision to "withdraw certain candidates.''
He called the committee "democratic'' and said it must make decisions in the best interests of the party.
In September, the NDP scored a huge upset when former Quebec environment minister Thomas Mulcair won a byelection in the Montreal riding of Outremont.
He is the party's only Quebec MP.
In the January 2006 federal election, the NDP finished fourth in the riding of Quebec.
Meanwhile, if Montreuil heads to court, it wouldn't be the first time.
Last month, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled the Canadian Forces discriminated against Montreuil in 2003, when it passed her up for a job as a grievance officer.
The tribunal ruled Montreuil's sexuality was the real reason she didn't get the position and awarded her $40,000.
She won a similar case in 2004 when the same tribunal ruled against the National Bank for failing to hire Montreuil as a customer service representative.
