OTTAWA—On the night before the federal election kicks off, the Green Party of Canada said it would not stop its members from pushing for Quebec separatism in parliament.

The party was reacting Tuesday to an interview on Quebec’s QUB Radio with Montreal-area MP Pierre Nantel on Tuesday.

Nantel, who is running for the Greens after he was booted from the NDP for secretly meeting with Green Leader Elizabeth May in August, told the radio station that he would vote to separate if there was a sovereignty referendum in Quebec.

Speaking in French, he said “we should separate quickly.”

Asked why he isn’t running for the Bloc Québécois, Nantel said he believes he should push for Quebec interests at the federal level while the province remains a part of the country.

In a statement to the Star Tuesday evening, Green spokesperson Rosie Emery said any MP representing the party would be allowed to espouse separatist views because the unity of Canada is “not one of the party’s core values.”

“Although the Green party has the utmost respect for the unique culture of Quebec, it does not support the sovereigntist movement,” Emery said in an emailed statement. “However, (the Green party) does not whip votes and individual MPs are allowed to express their own opinions on this matter. Since our position on Quebec sovereignty is not one of the party’s core values, candidates who support the movement are not screened out by our vetting process.”

It is the second time this week that the Greens have had to explain how they manage the political views of the people that run under the party’s banner.

Earlier this week, the CBC published an interview in which Elizabeth May said she could not prevent her MPs from raising anti-abortion views in Parliament.

The party later clarified that this would not happen, because access to abortion is considered a core Green value, so the party says it screens out candidates who are anti-abortion.