OTTAWA -
A Liberal candidate in Quebec who once described aboriginal people as "featherheads" and questioned their work ethic was dumped by his party Wednesday as news of his past activities came to light.
The Liberals swiftly jettisoned Andre Forbes, a faint-hope candidate in a northern Quebec riding where they placed a distant third in the last election and finished nearly 36 percentage points behind the Bloc Quebecois.
Forbes got the boot just hours after leader Michael Ignatieff was questioned about the candidate's previous role as founder of a group called the Association for the Rights of Whites.
"The reported remarks of this candidate are utterly unacceptable," Ignatieff said. "They do not reflect Liberal values."
Ignatieff said he would "take decisive action this very day" if the reports about Forbes's past proved true.
Word of the candidate's former activities came courtesy of the NDP, which compiled a list of statements he made years ago about aboriginals and other minorities.
Opponents wondered how the Liberals could have missed those details in its background checks, especially since Forbes has been nominated as a candidate since 2009.
Forbes is also a member of Metis Cote-Nord, a group that has denounced "special treatment" for minorities. A letter from the group, published in January 2009 with Forbes as the contact person, asks: "If our Metis community was made of Muslims, homosexuals or of an association of old ladies making moccasins out of caribou skin, would Hydro-Quebec consult with us? Yes."
"Mr. Forbes' comments have no place within the Liberal Party of Canada," Ignatieff said in a news release.
"We categorically condemn any comments that seek to divide Canadians on the basis of their culture or ethnicity."
It was a rare bump in a Liberal campaign that, so far, has had a fairly smooth ride -- a stark contrast to the Tory election caravan, which has been besieged with questions about the party's screening tactics at its campaign rallies.
For a third straight day Wednesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was questioned about why people with perceived links to the Liberals or NDP are being kicked out of his events.
His reply: Because the rooms are too crowded.
"Far more people come out to hear us than the other guys have," Harper said during an event in Markham, Ont., a vital battleground for the Conservatives.
"I think we're having good success getting people to come out. As I say, I think it's better when you're turning people away than when you can't get people to come."
Several of the people who were booted from Conservative rallies -- one because of an NDP bumper sticker on his car, another for having attended a climate-change event -- have said they simply wanted to hear Harper's message.
In the case of 19-year-old Awish Aslam -- who reportedly broke into tears after she and her friend had their name tags torn up before they were escorted out -- it was because of a photo on her Facebook page that featured a grinning Ignatieff.
The prime minister's spokesman apologized for that incident. But the Liberals ridiculed their rivals as democracy-stifling control freaks in a spoof ad that likens Harper to a Facebook stalker.
All but lost amid the steady trickle of recriminations were Wednesday's policy pronouncements.
The Liberals and Conservatives spent the day trolling for votes on each other's turf -- with Ignatieff appealing to rural farmers and Harper making a pitch to multiethnic Toronto.
Ignatieff promised to establish a national food policy to assure sustainable farm incomes, fund research and innovation, and open new markets.
Campaigning on the theme "Rural Canada Matters," Ignatieff also promised to improve rural health care, bolster broadband for faster Internet, and protect local postal service in rural areas.
The promises were aimed at winning back seats in rural areas that have largely gone to the Conservatives in recent years.
Harper was after traditional Liberal voters, wooing immigrants in the Toronto area. It was already his third stop in the electorally fertile region in less than two weeks.
His promise of loans to help new immigrants cover the cost of getting their foreign credentials recognized in Canada was aimed, he said, at helping foreign-trained workers better integrate into the Canadian workforce.
It was also aimed at a riding that was once solidly Liberal, but narrowly claimed in 2008 by rookie Tory MP Paul Calandra.
"These bridge loans will make it easier for new Canadians to find jobs that take full advantage of their experience and expertise," Harper said.
"The loans will enable them to participate in and contribute fully to the growth of the Canadian economy."
Conservative hopes for a majority government will likely depend -- at least in part -- on the party's ability to make gains in the area around Toronto.
NDP Leader Jack Layton was in Prince George, B.C., where he recycled a promise from the 2006 and 2008 campaigns on programs to help keep seniors at home and out of hospitals or long-term care facilities.
