Amid calls his candidate for Brantford-Brant; incumbent Will Bouma, resign over anti-gay statements in a religious periodical he oversaw, Conservative Leader Doug Ford is standing by him.

Ford suggests the allegations were fabricated.

”Anyone who knows Will — and knows his family — knows that those are not his views,” says the Tory leader.

”He had no involvement, I repeat, he had no involvement in this article.”

Bouma, an executive on the Christian Reform Church committee that published Youth Messenger magazine before his election in 2018, distanced himself from the religious periodical.

”My views are clear, I support the rights of all of my constituents regardless of orientation,” Bouma said on Twitter.

”I had no involvement in writing these articles.”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says even though Bouma’s daughter is gay, ”it doesn’t excuse anything” in a magazine he helped to run.

The Liberals Steven Del Duca, who recently fired two candidates for past remarks about gays, says Ford should drop Bouma immediately.