User blog comment:Brandon Rhea/THE CHOSEN ONE: Chapter Two release/@comment-20644-20090217021434

Whether or not Lucas says it's canon is relevant only from his personal canon standpoint. I recall it being mentioned in the ROTS novelization, so that's basically canon. It's not Lucas's canon, but it's canon. That quote was also from 1997, before he wrote the ROTS screenplay. He may have changed his mind since then, considering he did write it in ROTS.

As for deleted scenes, they may be canon or they may not be. The Wookieepedia article on canon says they're both G-canon and non-canon, so who knows lol.