National Post (National Edition)
U.S. move ‘will affect our debate,’ Tory leadership candidates say
Immigration issues now get higher profile
OTTAWA • As backlash continues over a Trump administration immigration ban on citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, some Conservative Party leadership candidates are suggesting the policy creates a new backdrop to their federal leadership race — with schisms on immigration coming under an even brighter spotlight.
“Issues around immigration are ones that countries around the globe are focused on,” Kellie Leitch told the National Post Monday. “This is a very serious issue ... I know that Canadians want to talk about this issue, and I know our party membership wants to talk about this issue.”
“I do think Trump’s moves on immigration will affect our debate,” former MP Chris Alexander said in an email. He said Canada “remains a model” on its “strong and principled” immigration policy. “Recent U.S. moves will only make us more attractive by comparison.”
Public outrage has followed the Trump policy, including demonstrations at major U.S. airports and in some Canadian cities.
Leitch’s ideas to vet immigrants for “Canadian values” had already been scorned from some who believe her rhetoric enables xenophobic attitudes — a criticism oft launched at Trump.
Competitor Michael Chong made that connection Monday.
“Demagogues and wannabe demagogues, playing to fears and prejudices, have created the space for hate to grow,” he said in an email. “The politicians espousing these policies may do it in a genteel fashion that sounds acceptable, but check out the comments on their social media platforms and you will find cesspools of hate.”
Alberta MP Deepak Obhrai went a step farther, appearing to link the Trump policy to a shooting at a Quebec City mosque Sunday evening that killed six.
“Anti Muslim sentiment just arrived in Canada in a horrible way,” he tweeted Sunday. In another post, Obhrai said, “targeting Muslims for the acts of a few does not fight terrorism” and included the #MuslimBan hashtag, which some use to describe the Trump policy.
Although she said immigration policy will be a “game-changer” in the 2019 federal election, Leitch wouldn’t speculate on how Trump’s policies will affect the remainder of the leadership race, saying Canadians should focus on supporting the Quebec victims.
Her campaign manager, Nick Kouvalis, also took a softer tone Monday, apologizing for a Twitter exchange in which he had called a political scientist a “cuck” — derogatory slang often used by “alt-right” supporters in the U.S. — for criticizing the campaign.
Ontario MP Erin O’Toole, meanwhile, picked this weekend to attack the race’s newest candidate, Kevin O’Leary, for not having Conservative-enough ideas. O’Toole also labelled the Trump policy a “blanket ban” that’s “unfair” and “ineffective.”
Like Trump, O’Leary is a reality TV star and businessman, so comparisons abound — but their policies differ significantly. O’Leary told the National Post he thinks the Trump policy has a “short sighted approach,” but conceded it’s a “U.S. internal matter.”
Saskatchewan candidate Andrew Scheer argued Canada shouldn’t make “radical changes to our refugee and immigration system in reaction to policy changes in other countries.”
Of the 14 total candidates, 13 are slotted to spar at an unofficial debate in Halifax Saturday.
A new leader will be chosen May 27.