B.C. Liberal election ad offends First Nations, grand chief alleges

The B.C. Liberal candidate in the East Kootenays is under fire for a newspaper ad that one aboriginal leader called a backhanded slap at aboriginals and his NDP opponent — a member of the Ktunaxa First Nation.

The ad for Bill Bennett reads, "You want someone who pays taxes and is concerned about how the money is being spent," underneath a photo of Bennett and his family and a slogan that reads, "He's one of us."

The NDP and B.C. aboriginal leaders are livid over the ad, which appeared in a free weekly newspaper, but Bennett defended his choice of words on Thursday.

"I would not have ever seen how anyone would ever see that as racist," Bennett told CBC News. "I am an ordinary guy. I work. I pay taxes. I recreate on the weekend doing things that people in the Kootenays like to do."

When asked if the ad was intended as a slight against First Nations people who live on Indian reserves and are legally exempt from paying some taxes, Bennett said, "That's not the way it was intended."

'Backhanded slap' was intentional: grand chief

But that's not what Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, the president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, thinks.

"There is no question in my mind, and in the mind of many native people I have spoken to, that this is a backhanded slap against First Nations people," Phillip told CBC News on Thursday morning.

Phillip said he was not surprised by the comments because Bennett had a reputation for "bombastic and bizarre behaviour" and was not known as a defender of First Nations rights.

Bennett was forced to step down from a junior cabinet post in 2007 after admitting he sent an email full of profanities to a constituent.

Bennett's chief rival for the Kootenay East riding seat in the May 12 provincial election is NDP candidate Troy Sebastian, a member of the Ktunaxa First Nation who lives on the Saint Mary's Indian Reserve.

Sebastian said the ad indicates Bennett is desperate to hold onto the East Kootenay seat, which Bennett has won twice before, most recently in 2005 by just over 700 votes.

"What I see it as is just another sign that the wheels have fallen off the Liberal campaign," said Sebastian. "It shows the Liberal candidate is arrogant and completely out of touch with people in the community."