NDP says Hamilton MPP was removed for being a member of an Islamophobic Facebook group

The Ontario New Democratic Party says it kicked out longtime Hamilton MPP Paul Miller following a "pattern of troubling behaviour" that indicated he may "harbour Islamophobic, homophobic and racist views."

A statement from Lucy Watson, the party's provincial director, said that during its vetting process, it discovered the Hamilton–East Stoney Creek member of provincial parliament was a member of the Facebook group Worldwide Coalition Against Islam. 

"Any other candidate and any other caucus member — in any context and attempting to run for any reasonable party — would be disqualified for ever having been a member of an Islamophobic, racist group," read the statement released Wednesday afternoon.

Miller told The Canadian Press on Wednesday that he was removed over a Facebook post he claimed he hadn't written. 

The MPP said the post was "offensive" to the general population, but he didn't elaborate on its specific content.

He reportedly said he does not write his own Facebook posts and the post at the heart of the issue may have been written by a former staffer.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath announced last week that Miller would not be allowed to run for the party in the June 2 election and the party was kicking him out of caucus.

Miller previously told CBC he was aware of the information Horwath referred to, but declined to share any details about it, saying only that it's "totally fabricated and false."

"It's nothing criminal or anything like that," he said at the time. "I've been advised by my lawyer not to say anything."

Miller did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

CBC News has not independently verified Miller's membership in the Facebook group.

The NDP's statement also references a 2018 complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal by staff member Todd White, which alleged Miller had bullied employees, made racist, sexist and homophobic comments, and abused office resources to campaign.

White was an active party volunteer, and, at the time, chair of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.

The matter was "satisfactorily resolved," according to the NDP, but Watson pointed to the alleged racist and homophobic remarks.