Ousted Bloc MP Maria Mourani quits party, earns praise from Kenney and Parizeau

A Montreal-area MP who was ousted from the Bloc Quebecois caucus on Thursday will sit as an independent and leave the party.

Maria Mourani made that announcement, on Friday, one day after Bloc leader Daniel Paillé expelled her for voicing her opposition to Quebec's proposed values charter that would essentially ban all public employees from wearing overt religious symbols at public institutions.

"To me, this is a shock to be treated like this," Mourani said in a press conference, according to CTV News.

She also suggested, again, that the charter will hurt the independence cause -- which she very much believes in.

"If there’s a [strategy] all this, to me, it’s not a good one," she said.

"To me, for years, the independence movement has been trying to include (everyone).

"Is that time over and done with now? The nationalist movement in Quebec?"

[ Related: Quebec MP Maria Mourani removed from Bloc Quebecois caucus for opposition to values charter ]

Mourani's battle has won praise from some unlikely sources.

On Thursday, Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney tweeted this:

Kenney's Twitter picture is of him with a Sikh head scarf — supposedly in support of religious minorities in Quebec who are opposing the charter.

According to Postmedia News, the picture appears to be from when Kenney visited the Golden Shrine Temple in Amritsar in January.

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau also tweeted support for his fellow Quebcois MP:

[ Related: Brian Mulroney offered Senate seat to Jacques Parizeau ]

And on Friday, Lisette Lapoint — a former PQ member of the National Assembly and the wife of former Premier Jacques Parizeau — published this tweet in support of Mourani.

According to the Globe and Mail , that translates to: "The `Believe or Die' of the current leader of @BlocQuebecois recalls bad memories. We are with you, courageous Maria Mourani!"

The Globe is also now reporting that, in a subsequent interview with a Quebec radio station, Lapointe said that her husband — who is still a separatist — backs Mourani as well.

(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)

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