Nova Scotia Liberals drop candidate after alleged inappropriate comments

Nova Scotia Liberal candidate Matthew MacKnight (Nova Scotia Liberal Party)

HALIFAX -- The Nova Scotia Liberals say they have dropped a candidate after he allegedly made inappropriate social media commentary.

A news release from campaign chair Chris MacInnes said the "highly inappropriate" comments from Pictou East candidate Matthew MacKnight were brought to his attention Monday.

MacInnes does not say what the comments were, but said they were unacceptable and run contrary to the values of the party.

He said after a thorough review, the party decided MacKnight could no longer stand as a Liberal candidate.

MacInnes said he informed MacKnight of the decision Monday afternoon.

A tweet from Global News reporter Steve Silva on Monday evening said he asked the Liberal party about a tweet from MacKnight's account, and hours later the candidate was ousted.

He linked to a photo of the alleged tweet, which had MacKnight purportedly calling someone an expletive and using the hashtags .downsyndrome and .stupidcustomers on May 28, 2013. The context of the tweet was not clear.

MacKnight was not immediately available for comment.

Last week, Premier Stephen McNeil defended his decision to reinstate his communications director who pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman in 2014.

McNeil said Kyley Harris deserved "a second chance" after being handed a conditional discharge for striking a woman in the face during a domestic argument on May 9, 2014.