Liberal party drops Edmonton candidate after video where he sympathized with terrorist groups emerges

Rod Loyola is out as a Liberal candidate days after he launched his campaign. (CTV News Edmonton)

Rod Loyola is no longer the Liberal Party of Canada’s candidate in Edmonton Gateway in the upcoming federal election.

Loyola launched his campaign last Saturday after he stepped down as an Alberta NDP MLA.

A party spokesperson confirmed to CTV News Edmonton that “Mr. Loyola is no longer our candidate for Edmonton Gateway.”

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The Liberal party did not say why Loyola was removed. The move came after a video from 2009 emerged where Loyola sympathized with two terrorist organizations.

In an anti-NATO protest with People’s Poets, Loyola voiced his appreciation for Hezbollah and Hamas.

“Organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas really are trying to stand up for their people and that needs to be recognized,” he said. “These are movements for national liberation, not terrorist.”

Canada listed the two groups as terrorist organizations years before Loyola’s statements.

Loyola released a statement on Friday.

“I did not think that an intro at a hip-hop segment 16 years later would get me ‘cancelled’ after close to a decade of serving as an elected representative at the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, but here we are,” he said.

“I want to be clear: I unequivocally condemn brutal killings, terrorism, and abduction - whoever does it.

“As I told the Liberal Party yesterday, I do not need to apologize for a hip hop segment that had at its thrust the need to stand with the oppressed, nor for affirming their right to live in peace, security, and sovereignty.”

Loyola said he will now run as an independent in the new riding of Edmonton Southeast, the same area as Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi.

The federal election is on April 28.