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The Liberals have revoked the candidacy of Edmonton-area candidate Rod Loyola over a video in which he defended the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah at a 2009 anti-NATO protest.
National Post had sent the video to the Liberal campaign on Thursday seeking its response to the comments. After multiple requests for a response over several hours, the campaign finally responded Thursday evening that Loyola was out.
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“Mr. Loyola is no longer our candidate for Edmonton Gateway,” wrote Liberal campaign spokesperson Isabella Orozco-Madison in an email.
Loyola, then a rapper with a group called People’s Poets, said in the 2009 video taken at an anti-NATO protest that Hamas and Hezbollah, both listed terrorist organizations in Canada, should be lionized, not condemned.
“Organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas really are trying to stand up for their people and that needs to be recognized. These are movements for national liberation, not terrorists,” said Loyola — under the stage name Rosouljah — at the start of the set.
Loyola, an NDP member of Alberta’s legislative assembly since 2015, said earlier this week that he was leaving provincial politics to help Liberal Leader Mark Carney secure a federal mandate.
“(Carney) is the man of the hour that we need, especially to stand up to Donald Trump south of the border,” said Loyola at his campaign launch on Monday.
Loyola has drawn criticism for the past for his public support of autocratic Latin American political strongmen including Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro.
More to come…
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