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OTTAWA — The federal party leaders have spent the first days of the election campaign talking policy, as they’d like, and dismissing and defending candidates over old social-media posts, which they’d rather not.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer on Friday urged Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau to denounce controversial comments by an already-turfed Liberal candidate in Montreal, accusing the party of trying to keep anti-Semitic messages hidden from Canadians.

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“I’d like to hear from Justin Trudeau why people who hold anti-Semitic views feel that their home is in the Liberal Party of Canada,” Scheer said Friday in Mississauga, Ont., after making an announcement about public transit.

Scheer grappled with questions about past controversial statements by his own candidates — one who was fired, and two who apologized and remain with the Conservative team.

Last month, the Liberals dropped Hassan Guillet as a candidate in the Montreal riding of Saint-Leonard-Saint-Michel after B’nai Brith Canada, a Jewish advocacy group, uncovered a series of old statements he made on social media that B’nai Brith described as anti-Israel and anti-Semitic.