Prime Minister Paul Martin dismissed renegade Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish from caucus Thursday, after she made a string of controversial anti-American remarks.

"I told her that even though I respect her right to express her viewpoint, I cannot, as leader of our party and of our caucus, tolerate her behaviour," Martin told reporters in a short statement outside Parliament on Thursday afternoon. "It is unacceptable."

Her ejection from the governing Liberals reduces their number to 134 Liberal seats. Parrish will now sit as the second independent member of the House, alongside the 99 Conservative, 54 Bloc Quebecois and 19 New Democrat MPs.

Martin said he informed Parrish of his decision a few minutes before making the announcement public.

Rumours of a possible dismissal have been floating for some time. They picked up currency on Wednesday, after Parrish gave The Canadian Press a particularly fiery interview in which she went beyond her typically outspoken comments on U.S. President George W Bush and added a pointed criticism of the prime minister.

Vowing to never be silenced by Martin, Parrish said she has no regrets.

"Every time he gets up and reprimands me, be it ever so gentle, it just feeds it and he looks like he can't control me, which he can't," she said.

Parrish added that she had no loyalty to the Liberal team. She was specific about Martin:

"If he loses the next election and he has to resign, I wouldn't shed a tear over it."

"I have absolutely no loyalty to this team -- none."

That comment, rather than her anti-American sentiments, seemed to be her undoing. "In politics loyalty is everything so Mr. Martin had no choice but to do what he did," CTV's Craig Oliver said.

Oliver said there was one final step Martin could take to keep Parrish from running in the next election. He could "refuse to sign her nomination papers, which means she could not even run as an official Liberal candidate."

Many of Parrish's colleagues apparently supported her in her criticism of Bush, "but when she started saying she felt no loyalty toward Martin or the government...those remarks undercut the leadership of the Liberal party desperately," Oliver said.

Parrish was also seen this week in a promotional ad for the CBC comedy show This Hours Has 22 Minutes, released Wednesday, smiling as she stomped her foot on a doll representing U.S. President George Bush. The full segment will air Friday night.

She said the whole thing was done in the spirit of fun, but few were laughing, including Conservative MPs who accused her of trying to further damage Canadian-American relations.

This isn't the first time Parrish has gotten in hot water for venting her criticism of the Bush administration.

Recently, the Ontario MP made headlines when, reacting to Bush's second-term win, she said she was "dumbfounded" so many Americans had voted for the "war-like man."

During a scrum outside the House of Commons last year, Parrish notoriously said, "Damn Americans ... I hate those bastards." She also referred to the U.S. as the "coalition of the idiots" during a protest on American missile defence.