Liberals drop Rod Loyola as Edmonton candidate with less than a month to go before polls open

The Liberals have dropped Rod Loyola as an Edmonton-area candidate in the federal election race, the latest dismissed from party ranks since the campaign began.

In a statement to CBC News Friday, party officials confirmed that Loyola is out of the running.

"Mr. Loyola is no longer our candidate for Edmonton Gateway," a party spokesperson said in the emailed statement.

The party did not comment on its reasons for parting ways with Loyola.

The party's decision to drop him as a candidate comes after the National Post reported they had found a video in which he appears to be praising Hezbollah and Hamas at an anti-NATO protest. Both are listed as terrorist groups in Canada.

Loyola has not responded to request for comment.

Loyola's time campaigning under the Liberal banner was brief.

Loyola, a longtime Alberta NDP MLA, formally announced his campaign in the newly formed Edmonton Gateway riding nine days ago and held his formal launch party on Saturday.

Loyola recently resigned his seat in the Alberta legislature to run in Edmonton Gateway to run for the Liberals.

He was first elected in 2015, and won his third term representing the provincial riding of Edmonton-Ellerslie two years ago. Loyola's resignation from the Alberta legislature took effect in late March and will trigger a byelection.

Party officials have not commented on their plans to find a replacement for Loyola.

He is the latest candidate to be booted from the Liberal Party's roster, with less than a month to go before Canadians head to the polls.

The party cut ties with Thomas Keeper in Calgary-Confederation last week over his failure to disclose a stayed domestic assault charge from 2005.

Court records show that Keeper was charged with common assault on June 6, 2005. The complainant was Keeper's wife at the time, according to divorce records.

Toronto-area Liberal incumbent Paul Chiang withdrew from the Liberal race after he faced controversy for suggesting people turn a Conservative candidate running in a nearby riding into the Chinese consulate to collect a bounty.

Prior to the writ being dropped, the Liberals also announced Nepean MP Chandra Arya wouldn't be permitted to run for the seat again.

The Conservatives have also dropped a number of candidates since the race began.

Don Patel, who was campaigning for the Tories in Etobicoke North, is out of the running after engaging with a comment on social media that suggested that some people should be deported to India and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should "take care" of them.

Mark McKenzie in southwestern Ontario was ousted over what the party described as "unacceptable" comments and Stefan Marquis in Montreal was dropped after he shared conspiracy theories on social media.

The Conservatives also recently revoked the candidacy of Lourence Singh in New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville.

According to Elections Canada rules, political parties have until Day 22 of the campaign to replace candidates. That would give parties until April 6 to find a new person to place on the ballot.