Conservatives Drop Mark McKenzie Over Death Penalty Comments, Including Joke About Trudeau

The Conservative Party of Canada dropped Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore candidate and city councillor Mark McKenzie on Tuesday over controversial comments that surfaced on the campaign trail.

In a podcast from February 2022, before he was a politician, McKenzie expressed support for the death penalty and appeared to include then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on a list of people who should be executed.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was asked about McKenzie during a campaign stop in St. John’s, N.L.

“We fired him. He’s gone,” Poillievre said. “Unacceptable.”

McKenzie made the questionable comments on the Mark and Chris Podcast, a segment of which was obtained by the Star.

“I’m also in favour of public hangings. I think they need to bring that back,” McKenzie said on the episode. “I want the public hanging because it’s longer.”

“I think they should bring back the electric chair as well, but again, only if you’re like a million per cent positive.”

In the podcast, McKenzie called for Canadian serial killer Paul Bernardo to receive the death penalty.