Prime Minister Stephen Harper was forced to play defence on two fronts Thursday, after it was revealed that one of his candidates once praised the Tamil Tigers, and a "bizarre" allegation surfaced that the Tories tried to stage an "ethnic costume" photo-op.

"Our position on the Tamil Tigers has been strong and unequivocal," Harper told reporters Thursday in Beaupré, Que. "This is the party that listed the Tamil Tigers (as a terrorist group); previous governments have refused to do so, and our position on that is not going to change."

The Conservatives insisted their candidate in Scarborough Southwest, Ragavan Paranchothy, had no to ties to the Tamil Tigers.

Paranchothy was asked and "confirmed" that "he in no way, shape or form was a sympathizer or supporter of the Tamil Tigers," Harper's spokesperson Dmitri Soudas told reporters Thursday.

"If that had been the case . . . he would not have been a candidate for the Conservative party," Soudas said.

The Globe and Mail reported that Paranchothy, a journalist with Tamil Vision International, changed his first name to Gavan after being nominated to run for the Conservatives last month.

The newspaper said as a host of a television program he referred to the Tiger militants as "strong and faithful people who stood guard for the Tamils, fought for freedom and peace."

The Globe and Mail said Paranchothy is part of a small group of Toronto-area Tamils, some of whom have links "to a Tamil Tigers remnant organization, who recently forged political ties with the federal Tories and the Ontario Progressive Conservatives."

‘Ethnic costume' issue

Harper scoffed at the "ethnic costume" flap, saying the allegation was "absolutely bizarre."

Answering reporters' questions at the end of his speech on Thursday afternoon, the Conservative Party leader brushed aside suggestions a Conservative campaign worker had appealed for supporters to wear "ethnic costumes" to a Toronto-area campaign rally Harper plans to attend later in the day.

"We have never done that," Harper said.

"You've been to our rallies, we have great representation. We're getting better support than ever across all cultural communities in this country and that is not how we do business. So I just think that is bizarre and that is not our approach."

The Tories had distanced themselves from the e-mail since it came to light on Wednesday -- insisting that the volunteer who emailed the appeal to the Canadian Arab Federation is no longer working for their campaign -- but that didn't stop Liberal Party Leader Michael Ignatieff from addressing the point.

Ignatieff, who was in Gatineau to support the election efforts of local Liberal candidate Steve MacKinnon, said the damage was already done.

"Let me make clear, when I have meetings I don't arrange people in ethnic costumes behind it. These are not costumes, for heaven's sakes. This isn't Disneyland," he said, calling the request both "entirely inappropriate" and insulting.

"Canadians who come from other lands want to be recognized as Canadians first, last and always and that's how I'll approach them," he added.

Ignatieff was taking his campaign bus to a Liberal candidate barbeque at the municipal fire hall in St. Isidore Thursday. The eastern Ontario community is in the heart of a riding formerly held by longtime Liberal cabinet minister Don Boudria. The largely French-speaking riding was won by Conservative Pierre Lemieux in 2006 and again in 2008.

With his eye on the same traditionally Liberal-held ridings that Ignatieff toured in the morning, Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe is treading similar territory to Ignatieff on Thursday, with a whole day of campaigning planned for the city across the river from Ottawa. Duceppe started at a breakfast with supporters before attending an event with the Gatineau incumbent candidate Richard Nadeau.

In the face of strong local campaigns by MacKinnon and the NDP candidate Francoise Boivin -- who was herself a one-time Liberal MP for Gatineau -- Duceppe is hoping to at least hold on to the seat his party won in Gatineau in the last two elections.

By the evening, however, Duceppe plans to be in a sports bar watching the opening game in the Montreal Canadiens-Boston Bruins NHL playoff series.

NDP Leader Jack Layton plans to catch the game too, with a hometown crowd at La Cage aux Sports in Montreal's Bell Centre. Before the puck drops, however, Layton will spend the day attending events in city including an appearance at Schwartz's deli before he heads to a campaign rally in the late afternoon.

Far removed from the spotlight shining on the leaders' televised debates, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May continues her campaign on the West Coast. She starts the day with a pair of appearances in Saanich, before heading to Pender Island for an all-candidates meeting in the afternoon followed by an evening meet-and-greet in Cordova Bay.

The Green Party had its own issues Thursday, after a Surray, B.C. candidate resigned over a posting about rape.

Alan Saldanha posted "If rape is inevitable, lie back and enjoy it" as a favourite quote on his Facebook page.

With files from The Canadian Press