Candidate Dismissed For Racist Remarks

 OTTAWA, CANADA - The Liberal Party of Canada has dropped one of its Quebec candidates for next month's federal election for making disparaging remarks about Indians.

Party leader Michael Ignatieff issued a statement saying Andre Forbes was no longer representing the Liberals in the southeastern Quebec constituency of Sept-Iles, the Toronto Star reported.

The socialist New Democratic Party earlier issued a statement saying Forbes was the past leader of the Association for the Rights of Whites who in a 2004 newspaper interview referred to Indians as "featherheads."

Additionally, the NDP quoted Forbes as telling the newspaper Le Soleil in 2002 aboriginal people were given preferential treatment over whites by governments.

In announcing Forbes' termination as a candidate for the May 2 election, Ignatieff said such comments "have no place" in the Liberal Party.

"We categorically condemn any comments that seek to divide Canadians on the basis of their culture or ethnicity," the leader's statement said.