Bernier’s tweets evoke nasty memories

Given the results of the last federal election, it’s clear that most Canadians reject the racial and religious nastiness that dominated the Conservative’s campaign.

That’s when former prime minister Stephen Harper and several of his cabinet ministers stoked fear and resentment against Muslims in hopes of scaring enough people into voting for them.

Remember the fight over the niqab — the face covering that some women Muslim wear? Harper and his acolyte Jason Kenney (now leader of Alberta’s official opposition) were determined to go all the way to the Supreme Court even though they kept losing in lower courts, to force a woman to take off her niqab while taking the oath of citizenship.

And there was the tip line introduced late in the campaign, which the Conservatives said would make it easier for people to report the “barbaric cultural practices” of their neighbours. Calling the police had always been an option, but it seems the Conservatives needed another opportunity to smear people who didn’t conform to their idea of how Canadians should behave.

Of course, the scare tactics didn’t work. Instead, Justin Trudeau’s “sunny” Liberals won a decisive majority.

So wouldn’t Conservatives be smart to put all that behind them? You would think so. But Quebec Conservative MP Maxime Bernier revived the dreaded boogey men of that 2015 campaign when he tweeted last week that Trudeau’s policies have led to “extreme multiculturalism” which leads to “ghettoes” and “tribes,” words that evoke lawlessness and chaos. Bernier had already been booted out of the Conservative caucus for causing trouble and his tweets were not endorsed by Conservative leader Andrew Scheer.

But there are other prominent Conservatives who seem to hew to the same line. Premier Doug Ford of Ontario showed his colours when he blamed Trudeau for “illegal asylum seekers” crossing the border from the U.S and crowding Toronto shelters. They weren’t illegal and they have a right to seek asylum. And if more people are seeking asylum wouldn’t that be Donald Trump’s fault? He’s the one who is making people desperate to leave.

In Alberta, Jason Kenney, leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP), has found it necessary to publicly warn members that “those who express hateful views to entire groups of people” will not be allowed to run for candidate nominations. The warning came after it was revealed that at least three would-be candidates had publicly aired anti-Islamic and homophobic views. One was even endorsed by some UCP MLAs.

The UCP has an intense vetting process that seems to be working overtime and has booted some would-be candidates because of their extreme views.

Even campaign managers have been caught up in the controversy. Craig Chandler, who once accused the Earls restaurant chain of supporting terrorists because it purchased beef from Creekstone Farms, an American company that also offers halal meats for Muslim customers, successfully managed the nomination campaign for Tanya Fir, who will be running as a UCP candidate in Calgary. Kenney is wilful enough that he might be able to cap the bozo eruptions. He certainly needs to if the party is to avoid the fate of the Wildrose Party in the 2012 election. It was widely expected to win until it was revealed that one of its candidates had publicly stated that all gay people would burn in a “lake of fire” after they died. Wildrose leader Danielle Smith did not show the candidate the door, but defended his right to hold personal views.

A week later, her party went down to defeat. Now that he is a provincial politician, Kenney has carefully avoided talking about the nastiness of the 2015 Conservative federal election campaign and his role in it. But Bernier’s recent tweet storm brought it all to the fore again. Which leads me to wonder: is it just a coincidence that Kenney has attracted so many UCP would-be candidates with views that hearken back to that campaign?