OTTAWA

The Liberal candidate in the Bourassa byelection appeared to contradict his party leader Saturday, questioning whether Justin Trudeau really wants to legalize marijuana.

In a debate on the CPAM 1410 radio show Grasse Matinee, Conservative candidate Rida Mahmoud asked Emmanuel Dubourg about Trudeau's idea to legalize marijuana. Mahmoud said the proposal doesn't reflect the priorities of the Bourassa riding, which is rife with crime.

"Justin Trudeau is about to have three kids, do you really think someone like that has the priority to legalize marijuana so there's more drugs on the streets?" Dubourg responded in French. "The Conservatives, the federal health minister, just started a program to supervise the largest distribution network of marijuana in Canada.

“I bet (Stephen Harper) doesn't even know where Montreal North is, he hasn't even bothered to come visit this riding!"

Dubourg didn't respond to media requests to elaborate on his comments, made two days before the federal byelection in the Montreal riding.

A former member of the Quebec legislature, Dubourg left provincial politics last summer to run for the nomination for the seat vacated by former Liberal MP Denis Coderre, who left federal politics to become Montreal's mayor.

Trudeau made an appearance at a rally in Toronto Centre for candidate Chrystia Freeland on Saturday and hasn't responded to Dubourg's comments.