Kellie Leitch supports aspects of Donald Trump’s platform for Canada
Following Donald Trump’s presidential election win in the United States, Canadian Conservative party leadership contender Kellie Leitch hopes to bring aspects of his platform to Canada.
“Tonight, our American cousins threw out the elites and elected Donald Trump as their next president,” Leitch, a pediatric surgeon, said in an e-mail shared by Andrew McGrath, a former press secretary on Leitch’s staff. “It’s an exciting message and one that we need delivered in Canada as well. It’s the message I’m bringing with my campaign to be the next Prime Minister of Canada.”
As one of Ontario’s Conservative MPs, Leitch is well known for her controversial proposal to screen immigrants for “anti-Canadian values,” according to CBC News.
When asked to elaborate on the topic, her campaign manager, Nick Kouvalis, told Yahoo Canada News that it was important that immigrants hoping to become Canadian citizens are tolerant and believe in equality between men and women. Even though she has outlined the criteria for “anti-Canadian values,” Leitch has not yet provided any information on how additions to the screening process would be implemented.
Leitch is one of the 12 candidates running for Conservative party leadership. With a goal to become the next Prime Minister of Canada, Leitch said during her leadership campaign launch, “We are going to win this leadership race. We are going to defeat the Trudeau Liberals in 2019.”
Despite her agreement with Trump on immigration policies, according to an article published by The Globe and Mail, she never endorsed his candidacy nor what he has said about “women or people with disabilities or others.” She is, however, ready to work with him “on issues of common concern.”
Leitch believes that her common ideological ground with Trump will allow for smoother trade discussions between the United States and Canada.
“I know he’ll respect me and when he talks tough on NAFTA, I can push back and say no, for the benefit of all Canadians, we need to have free trade with the United States,” Leitch said in an interview with CTV.
Many other Conservative MPs disagree with Leitch’s stance on immigration, including MP Michael Chong, another member of parliament in the running for the Conservative leadership.
“Kellie’s policy of singling out newcomers to Canada for special ‘values’ screening by government is a losing strategy,” said Chong in an article from CTV. “As Conservatives, we should not support any move to police people’s thoughts or subject anyone to an ideological purity test.”
A poll for the Toronto Star, conducted in September by Forum Research Inc., shows that 67 per cent of Canadians believe newcomers should be screened for “anti-Canadian values.” The Conservative Leadership race will conclude on May 27, 2017.
Photo courtesy of Alan Levine via CC-BY-2.0.