Head 'shot off' remark in poor taste: Dix

Social Development Minister Kevin Krueger said Dix should keep his head down or risk being shot at.

"If there ever was a guy who shouldn't put his head up to get it shot off — as the soldiers refer to it — it's Adrian Dix," said Krueger.

Dix said the comment would be inappropriate at any time, but is particularly ill-advised in the wake of the shooting of U.S. politician Gabrielle Giffords and 19 other people in Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 8.

"I think that those comments have no place in Canada and they don't meet the standard for a senior cabinet minister in any government," said Dix. "I think we could do without that kind of talk."

Krueger said later his choice of words was thoughtless and said he had written a letter to Dix expressing regret for the statement.

The minister was being interviewed on radio station CIFM about plans for a new sterilization unit for surgical tools at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.

The hospital has had a chronic tool-contamination problem for the past year and the NDP has been critical of the government's handling of the issue.