OTTAWA - Advisory: Story contains offensive language

A company that supplies knives, flashlights and other equipment to the Canadian armed forces referred to Muslims as "rag-headed, heathen bastards" on its website as recently as Sunday when the federal government complained.

Gear Up Motors' website was replete with other jabs at women and Liberals and mocked official bilingualism and concerns about global warming.

But with Canadian troops risking their lives in Afghanistan, the passage about Muslims was the most likely to raise alarm.

"Jihad? I'll give you a jihad you miserable, rag-headed, heathen bastard!" said a caption posted over a photograph of a rifle-toting John Wayne.

Liberal MP Scott Brison said such prejudiced and "xenophobic" comments are contrary to the values Canadian soldiers are trying to promote abroad and potentially injurious to troops in Afghanistan, where the vast majority of the population is Islamic.

"This type of disgusting vitriol from a Canadian military supplier is certainly not going to help our brave Canadian men and women in uniform in places like Afghanistan and has a real potential to endanger them," he said in an interview.

The federal government was unaware of the website until The Canadian Press drew it to the attention of the Prime Minister's Office late Saturday. By mid-day Sunday, much of the offending material, including the John Wayne photo and caption, had been removed from the company's web site after the company had been contacted by the Prime Minister's Office.

Gear Up's home page still prominently asserted: "We are a proud supplier to the Canadian Armed Forces" for which it supplies "edged weapons, hand-held lighting and NVG filters for a variety of applications." And it still urged browsers to "Support our troops worldwide."

But the website had ceased to display the Candian Armed Forces' coat of arms.

Repeated attempts to contact company owner Stanley Pioro were unsuccessful.

After reviewing federal contracts, a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Sunday there's little the government can do because Gear Up is a private company, has fulfilled its contractual obligations and is not doing any ongoing business with the military.

"We have sent a request to them to remove any logos or copyrighted material from the Canadian Armed Forces from their website," said Kory Teneycke, Harper's communications director.

"We're doing what we can to distance ourselves from this company . . . We're obviously not pleased that they would characterize Canadian soldiers or our mission in that way."

Teneycke said he understands that the offending material was posted on the company's website only 10 days ago, long after the contracts with the federal government had expired. Nevertheless, he called the slur against Muslims "completely inappropriate."

"I think the chances that this company will be doing business with the military in the future would be very much in question as a result of this," he predicted.

He doubted that members of the military, which includes people of all faiths, including Muslims, would approve of Gear Up's messaging.

"Our soldiers are there to help the people of Afghanistan and are doing a heck of a job. They're not over there risking their lives because they hold the Afghan people or their faith in low esteem."

The company has been in the news recently after Green Leader Elizabeth May complained that Gear Up Motors was given a contract two years ago to supply army-issue knives, replacing longtime supplier, Grohmann Knives, located in Defence Minister Peter MacKay's Central Nova riding.

May is running against MacKay.

MacKay has said that Gear Up Motors won a competitive bid for the knife contract, offering a comparable product for a lower price. He has defended the bidding process and criticized May for appearing to suggest he should "rig the procurement process in favour of a local contractor."

Gear Up Motors, based in Richmond, Ont. just outside Ottawa, sells all terrain vehicles, dirt bikes and consignment hunting rifles, in addition to military equipment. It is located in former defence minister Gordon O'Connor's riding and appears to have won its first contract in 2006, when O'Connor was still in the post.

Until Sunday, jokes and sarcastic broadsides were sprinkled throughout the website amid pictures of the vehicles the company sells.

"Gear Up Motors is proud to be a fluently bilingual organization. We speak English and American," the company declared at one point.

A disclaimer that was obviously intended to be humourous included: "Not tested on animals - we use Liberals."

The website also included a "fairie tale" that took a poke at women.

"One day, long, long ago, there was a woman who surprisingly did not whine, bitch or nag. But this was a long time ago . . . And it was just for one day. The end."

And it ridiculed those who are concerned about global warming.

"Stop climate change: Donate to the 'Stop the Earth's Rotation' Foundation, administered by Gear Up Motors. You will not receive equal value in carbon credits."

It still includes so-called "words of wisdom."

"If you give a man a fire, he will be warm for that day. If you set a man on fire, he will be warm for the rest of his life."