First Nations leaders in B.C. say this ad, placed by B.C. Liberal candidate Bill Bennett in an East Kootaney newspaper, is a slight at his native opponent, NDP candidate Troy Sebastian. (Kootenay Advertiser)

The president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs wants a B.C. Liberal candidate in the East Kootenays to apologize for a campaign ad Grand Chief Stewart Phillip says is a backhanded slap at First Nations and his NDP opponent — a member of the Ktunaxa First Nation.

"All he has to do is to issue a statement saying that it was not his intent to offend First Nations or aboriginal people and that he would issue a public apology," Phillip said Thursday.

Bill Bennett placed the ad in a free weekly newspaper as part of his candidacy for the May 12 provincial election. The ad reads, "You want someone who pays taxes and is concerned about how the money is being spent," underneath a photo of Bennett and his family and a slogan that reads, "He's one of us."

Bennett defended his choice of words Thursday.

"I would not have ever seen how anyone would ever see that as racist," he told CBC News. "I am an ordinary guy. I work. I pay taxes. I recreate on the weekend doing things that people in the Kootenays like to do."

When asked if the ad was intended as a slight against First Nations people who live on Indian reserves and are legally exempt from paying some taxes, Bennett said, "That's not the way it was intended."

'Backhanded slap' was intentional: grand chief

But that's not what Phillip and other aboriginal leaders in B.C. or the NDP think.

"There is no question in my mind, and in the mind of many native people I have spoken to, that this is a backhanded slap against First Nations people," Phillip told CBC News on Thursday morning.

Phillip said he was not surprised by the comments because Bennett had a reputation for "bombastic and bizarre behaviour" and was not known as a defender of First Nations rights.

Bennett was forced to step down from a junior cabinet post in 2007 after admitting he sent an email full of profanities to a constituent.

Bennett's chief rival in the Kootenay East riding is NDP candidate Troy Sebastian, a member of the Ktunaxa First Nation who lives on the Saint Mary's Indian Reserve.

Sebastian said the ad indicates Bennett is desperate to hold onto the seat he has won twice before — most recently in 2005 by just over 700 votes.

"What I see it as is just another sign that the wheels have fallen off the Liberal campaign," said Sebastian. "It shows the Liberal candidate is arrogant and completely out of touch with people in the community."