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VANCOUVER – The B.C. election got off to an ugly start Tuesday when an NDP candidate was forced to quit over inflammatory statements about aboriginals.

New Democratic leader Adrian Dix accepted the resignation of Kelowna-Mission candidate Dayleen Van Ryswyk, saying she made unacceptable comments in Internet postings involving the compensation for First Nations.

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On the 2009 forum, a user named Dayleen wrote in a thread entitled “Strip Them of the Status Card.”

“It’s not the status cards, it’s the fact that we have been paying out of the nose for generations for something that isn’t our doing. If their ancestors sold out too cheaply, it’s not my fault and I shouldn’t have to be paying for any mistake or whatever you want to call it from MY hard earned money.”

Another one of the posts compares the benefits afforded to aboriginal people with claims other abused groups could be making.