Conservative Party of Quebec Leader Éric Duhaime is distancing himself from a member of the party's executive branch after he published an opinion piece claiming there was no genocide against Indigenous people in Canada.

The party's policy commission president André Valiquette published the article in Québec Nouvelles last year, arguing Indigenous people largely benefited from the European colonization of their land.

"It is not racist to say that one civilization brings more than another," Valiquette wrote in the article.

"It was also Western civilization, that curiosity about others, that helped Indigenous people learn about their own history."

André Valiquette volunteers with the party's policy commission, a party spokesperson said. (The Conservative Party of Quebec)

When asked on Saturday if he agreed with what Valiquette wrote, Duhaime said he didn't.

"I don't share [those views], they don't represent the policies of the party," the leader said. "But he has a right to say it as a columnist."

Valiquette serves as the president of the party's political commission, according to its website. Press secretary Cédric Lapointe said Valiquette helps the party "on policies" as a volunteer, but wouldn't reveal the extent of his involvement in the official party line.

CBC News attempted to reach Valiquette multiple times, but he never responded. At a campaign event on Saturday in Montreal's West Island he also again refused to comment. 

"He backed up his personal analysis on this issue, which should be encouraged in a free and democratic society," added Véronique Gagnon, the president of the party's communications commission, in an email.

Duhaime told reporters on Friday he was "too busy" to attend any commemorations for the second annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, not wanting to hold off meeting with the mayor of Quebec City with the election just days away.

It was declared a federal statutory holiday last year just days after the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation confirmed the discovery of roughly 200 potential burial sites, likely of children, on the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

The Coalition Avenir Québec was the only party that attended a Truth and Reconciliation commemoration on Friday, when Leader François Legault visited the site of a former residential school in Saint-Marc-de-Figuery, Que., in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region.

Liberal party Leader Dominique Anglade said she would have gone to the march in Montreal, but was told organizers preferred not to have any candidates attending. Meanwhile Québec Solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said he wanted Indigenous voices be front and centre that day, while Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said scheduling got in the way. 

Duhaime has also said his party doesn't agree the day should be a statutory holiday in Quebec, making it the only major party in the election on board with the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).

"We need to work, we can't take days off too often, we already have a lot of days off," Duhaime told reporters on Thursday.

Tom Young, a radio icon in Saint John for more than 50 years, has died. He was 75.

Young was best known as the host of the long-running show Talk of the Town on CFBC as  well as The Afternoon News on News 88.9 Saint John, News 91.9 Moncton, and News 95.7 Halifax.

Young was born in 1942 and grew up in the Toronto area, quitting school after Grade 10 to join the military. He started his broadcasting career in military radio in what was then West Germany.

Longtime CHSJ news director Brian McLain met young in 1978, when he was scouted to join CFBC in Saint John.

Tom Young, right, played a charity hockey tournament with fellow radio broadcasters Donnie Robertson, centre, and Mark Lee. (Submitted by Jody Kliffer)

"He was a force of nature, a whirlwind, and charismatic on the radio," McLain said.

In 1976, during the Groundhog Gale, CFBC was the only radio station that remained on the air.

With Young at the helm, "it became like a command centre," said McLain.

"That was one of the highlights of his career, and it put CFBC on the map."

'Tom was the guy'

Todd Veinotte, who produced Young's afternoon news show and took over as host after his retirement, remembered Young as "the guy, back in the 1970s and into the 1980s."

"He was the boss — he brought in the numbers. He was CFBC."

While Veinotte and Young had "many disagreements" over the years, Veinotte said, "he taught me some important lessons — mainly, to never pretend to be anyone other than yourself, and never pretend you know something that you don't."

Tom Young, pictured here with former premier Shawn Graham, was well-known as a radio host in southern New Brunswick for nearly five decades. (Submitted by Trish Hamilton)

"He would drag himself into the studio no matter what. I remember one time he even had a bunch of teeth replaced, and he was just in agony, and he still dragged himself in and gave 100 per cent. He was an old-school radio guy, a pro."

Young could seem gruff to callers who ventured opinions on his Talk of the Town show, but Veinotte remembers the broadcaster's sense of humour.

"He was hilarious, always joking. He always used to say: 'never give the listener an opportunity to change the dial.'"

Young signed off for the last time in August 2011.

His "legacy was massive in southern New Brunswick," said Veinotte.

Mayor, town councillor

In addition to his radio career, Young's lifelong interest in politics led him to municipal governance. 

He served as the mayor of Renforth from 1989 to 1992 and later for several terms as a Rothesay town councillor.

As a politician,"even if something was unpopular, he would stick to his guns," McLain said. "I remember going to his home and seeing the books on his shelves were all about politics and history.

"He came across as the everyday sort of guy, but he actually read very widely."

Young was known for his keen interest in local affairs, particularly politics. (Submitted by Trish Hamilton)

A softer side

Although blunt and uncompromising at work, at home Young was a soft-hearted family man.

"Everyone saw him as a tough, mean guy that never smiled, but his family knew him in another light," son Tyler Young said, adding that with him and his two sisters, Young "had a heart of gold."

He and his wife, Diana, were married for nearly 50 years. They moved after their retirement to St. John's, N.L., in order to be close to their four grandchildren, who were "his whole world," his son said.

Tom Young died Monday in a St. John's hospital of complications from knee surgery last week. 

"Some people were just made to be something," said Tyler. "And he was made to be a radio announcer."

No funeral will be held, according to Young's wishes.