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A former Liberal MPP who served as a cabinet minister under premier Kathleen Wynne says he is supporting several federal Liberal candidates in the Toronto area but will vote for the Conservative candidate in his home riding of Richmond Hill.

Reza Moridi held the provincial seat of Richmond Hill from 2011 until 2018 when he was defeated by PC candidate Daisy Wai. Considered a pillar of the Iranian-Canadian community, Moridi stated in an interview with a local Farsi-language publication that he won’t vote for Liberal candidate and incumbent Majid Jowhari, himself a fellow Iranian Canadian.

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“For the first time in nearly 30 years in Canada I will vote for Conservative Party candidate Mr. Costas Mengakis,” Moridi said to Shahrvand, a publication serving Toronto’s Iranian community.

Moridi is supporting six other Liberal candidates in neighbouring ridings.

The schism between Moridi and Jowhari comes down to Iranian politics, with Jowhari being seen as too close to the theocratic and dictatorial regime in Tehran. Shortly after being elected in 2015, Jowhari gained media attention after helping arrange a meeting between then foreign affairs minister Stephane Dion and members of the Iranian-Canadian community.

While other MPs invited people with a broad range of views, including those who are critical of the regime in Tehran, Jowhari was noted for inviting people close to the Iranian government and hostile to human rights campaigners.

At a recent all-candidates meeting in Richmond Hill, Jowhari was loudly and roundly booed over his close association with the government in Tehran.

blilley@postmedia.com