Ignatieff boots Quebec candidate who called Aboriginals ‘featherheads’
Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff is facing a brewing controversy after it emerged a Liberal candidate who founded a white supremacy group in Quebec made racist comments about Aboriginal people, calling them “featherheads” and questioning the validity of Aboriginal rights.
(Photo: Former Liberal candidate Andre Forbes called Aboriginal people “featherheads”)
APTN National News
OTTAWA-Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has booted a Quebec candidate who founded a white supremacy group and called Aboriginal people “featherheads.”
Ignatieff issued a statement Wednesday afternoon saying Andre Forbes would no longer be the candidate in Manicougan.
“As soon as I was apprised of past comments made by the Liberal candidate in Manicouagan…I immediately asked my staff to inquire about their validity,” said Ignatieff, in a statement. “As a result, Mr. Forbes has been informed he is no longer a candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada. Mr. Forbes’ comments have no place within the Liberal Party of Canada.”
The NDP released a list of his quotes on Wednesday morning.
Forbes questioned the work ethic of the Innu in an interview with Le Soleil in 2002.
“We all know that Aboriginals will not keep their job,” he said.
He also used a racist term to describe Aboriginal people.
“Do you know how much a featherhead costs?” Forbes told L’actuality in 2004. “For you it’s 25 grand; for a prisoner 50 grand; for an Indian 100 grand.”
Forbes also called the issue of Aboriginal rights “heinous politics.”
Ignatieff was hit with the issue Wednesday morning and he told reporters during a campaign stop in Quebec that he would take “decisive action” on the matter.
“The reported remarks of this candidate are utterly unacceptable…they do not reflect Liberal values,” said Ignatieff.
Forbes was the founder and president of the Association for the Rights of Whites in Sept-Iles.
This is the second time in recent days that a Quebec candidate’s disparaging remarks about Aboriginal people have landed their party leaders in controversy.
Incumbent Bloc Quebecois candidate Yvon Levesque was forced to apologize after he told a Quebec news website that his NDP opponents Cree heritage would be a liability with voters in the riding of Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou.
NDP candidate Romeo Saganash said Levesque should apologize to all Quebeckers for implying they were racist.
Forbes is reportedly an active member of the group Metis Cote-Nord.
