Kellie Leitch

Friday September 1, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 1, 2017

Andrew Scheer unveils full shadow cabinet leaving Kellie Leitch off front bench

May 30, 2017

Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer unveiled his full shadow cabinet Wednesday notably leaving fellow leadership candidate Kellie Leitch off his party’s front bench while promoting others to key critic posts in the House of Commons.  

May 19, 2017

Pierre Poilievre, an MP from the Ottawa area, was given the Finance critic role ahead of Quebec MP Maxime Bernier, who finished second in the Conservative race. Bernier, who announced publicly months ago that he wanted the finance role, has been given a senior critic role on the Innovation, Science and Economic Development file as CBC reported Tuesday. 

Leitch’s leadership campaign, which saw her finish sixth in the race, drew criticism and accusations of intolerance for vowing to strengthen the vetting process for new immigrants. The former cabinet minister also pledged to screen all new immigrants for “Canadian values,” drawing widespread criticism, including from some of her fellow leadership candidates.

February 7, 2017

Brad Trost, the Saskatchewan MP who finished fourth in the leadership campaign, was also left off the shadow cabinet list. Trost did not serve as a minister under prime minister Stephen Harper and campaigned on social conservative values that opposed the “gay lifestyle” and abortion.

Another leadership candidate, Deepak Obhrai, was also left out of Scheer’s shadow cabinet. Obhrai served as the parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs in the Harper government. (Source: CBC News) 

 

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Thursday February 16, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 16, 2017

Liberal MP’s anti-Islamophobia motion set for debate on Wednesday

Members of Parliament will debate a motion to condemn Islamophobia and track incidents of hate crime against Muslims in the House of Commons next week.

Motion 103 was tabled by Mississauga, Ont., Liberal backbencher Iqra Khalid last fall, but will be discussed in the  aftermath of last month’s mass shooting at a Quebec City mosque. It calls on government to “condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination.”

The text of the motion also asks the government to:

  • Recognize the need to quell the increasing public climate of hate and fear.
  • Request the heritage committee study how the government could develop a government-wide approach to reducing or eliminating systemic racism and religious discrimination, including Islamophobia.
  • Collect data to contextualize hate crime reports and to conduct needs assessments for impacted communities and present findings within 240 calendar days.

The motion, scheduled for one hour of debate on Wednesday, has generated a backlash online, with petitions garnering thousands of signatures opposing the motion.

January 31, 2017

Some critics have mischaracterized M-103 as a “bill” or a “law” rather than an non-binding motion.

Some have warned that Canada is moving towards criminalizing Islamophobia or even to the implementation of Islamic law, called Shariah, in Canada.

Barbara Kay, a columnist for the National Post and contributor to The Rebel Media, said she worries about M-103’s potential impact on freedom of expression and special protections for a single religious group.

“There are a lot of countries in Europe where criticism of Islam, even if not entrenched in law as a hate crime, are being interpreted by police and law enforcement, social workers — the whole spectrum of the state apparatus. They have been internalized by those within the public service as wrong, and if not criminal then absolutely morally wrong, and therefore Muslims are a group that must be protected from this very offensive speech,” she said in an interview with CBC.

Kay said anti-hate speech laws have traditionally targeted human beings, not ideas. She questioned the need to single out Islamophobia, and argued there are more hate crimes against Jews than Muslims in Canada. (Source: CBC News) 

Corner Brook, Newfoundland

Monday February 7, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Monday February 7, 2017

Kellie Leitch’s immigration policy could damage Conservative Party: Peter MacKay

Peter MacKay, one of the people who helped create the modern Conservative Party, says positions on immigration from one leadership candidate may damage the party’s brand.

MacKay was asked what he thought about Kellie Leitch’s policy to screen immigrants for what she terms “Canadian values.”

 The question of what are Canadian values is far from clear, MacKay said.

September 7, 2016

“When you drill down into that type of discussion the first question that comes to mind is, who makes that decision? And what is that bar going to be? And how possibly could somebody coming from a country that has no understanding of what it means to be a Canadian meet that criteria?”

The former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party helped unite the party with the Canadian Alliance to become the Conservative Party. He decided not to run for the leadership last September and has rarely weighed in on the race since announcing that decision.

He says he’s concerned for the long-term health of the party.

“As somebody who has invested a lot of time and effort into building this party and putting us in contention and somebody who cares deeply for the country, you need competitive parties. You need, in my estimation, a Conservative party that is vying for government,” he explained.

“I do worry about certain positions that have been staked out. Having been through a leadership contest, I know that the rhetoric sometimes gets heated, but it does pose the risk of causing brand damage for the Conservative Party,” MacKay added. (CBC News) 

 

Tuesday October 25, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Tuesday October 25, 2016 Steven Blaney kicks off Conservative leadership campaign with proposed niqab ban Quebec MP Steven Blaney is running for leadership of the Conservative Party, and his first major policy position is a ban on the niqab and a promise to invoke the notwithstanding clause if courts strike down his new measures. The former minister in the cabinet of Stephen Harper said he will introduce legislation that would forbid the Islamic face-covering while voting and taking the oath of citizenship. He also said that the prohibition would extend to people working in the federal public service. "We are a country that is built on immigration, but we have to be sure that those new Canadians we welcome are understanding of how we live. We don't want our country to become like the country they left," Blaney told reporters Monday. "We fully welcome you, but we want you to respect who we are.Ó The measures are necessary, Blaney said, to "ensure the sustainability of our integration model" and to protect women's rights. The proposal revives a controversial debate from the last campaign, when Harper himself suggested the niqab should be banned from the public service. His party enacted policies to prevent women from wearing a niqab while taking the citizenship oath, and promised to create a "barbaric cultural practices" tip line. Those two proposals led some to accuse the party of engaging in identity politics and fuelling anti-Muslim sentiment. Zunera Ishaq, a Muslim woman, went to court to challenge the government's ban, and, in the middle of the campaign, the Federal Court of Appeal cleared the wayÊfor her to wear the head covering. (Source: CBC News)Êhttp://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/steven-blaney-conservative-leadership-niqab-ban-1.3818673 Canada, Conservative, party, niqab, assisted suicide, end of life, conservative, leadership, Kellie Leitch, Steven Blaney, culture, race, religion, stephen ha

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday October 25, 2016

Steven Blaney kicks off Conservative leadership campaign with proposed niqab ban

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Saturday October 8, 2016 Conservative leadership hopeful Brad Trost questions Andrew Scheer about social conservatism Saskatchewan Member of Parliament and Conservative leader hopeful Brad Trost says his policies make him a true social conservative choice. "I've got about five or six policy platform items that will be of interest to social conservatives," Trost said in Ottawa on Monday. Trost wouldn't go into detail what his policy platform planks will be but would only say "euthanasia, abortion and a couple of other issues," will be included. "These are things I believe. When you see my policy platforms they will demonstrate they are social conservative proposals that are not only popular inside the Conservative party but the general public.Ó First elected in 2004, Trost has been vocal on many issues, including same-sex marriage. Recently, Trost's campaign started running ads with a picture of two fingers side by side, with the message "Marriage is the union of one man, one woman.Ó He's also taking aim at fellow Saskatchewan MP Andrew Scheer, who also recently entered the leadership race. Trost says that comments he's read of late leads him to believe Scheer is not a true social conservative. When Scheer launched his leadership campaign last week, he indicated that abortion and same-sex marriage were issues he considered resolved within the party and he would not re-visit them. "I don't think he's taking a pro-life stand in this campaign," said Trost. "I'm not sure if Mr. Scheer is a social conservative. That's something he's going to have to deal with. One of the social conservative groups referred to his statements the other day as pro-abortion.Ó In response to Trost's latest volley, Scheer simply said "no comment.Ó Trost also sounded off on Harper's time as Prime Minister, saying the he doesn't believe Harper was a social conservative either. (Source: CBC News) http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada

October 8, 2016

Quebec MP Steven Blaney is running for leadership of the Conservative Party, and his first major policy position is a ban on the niqab and a promise to invoke the notwithstanding clause if courts strike down his new measures.

The former minister in the cabinet of Stephen Harper said he will introduce legislation that would forbid the Islamic face-covering while voting and taking the oath of citizenship. He also said that the prohibition would extend to people working in the federal public service.

Friday October 10, 2014

October 10, 2014

“We are a country that is built on immigration, but we have to be sure that those new Canadians we welcome are understanding of how we live. We don’t want our country to become like the country they left,” Blaney told reporters Monday. “We fully welcome you, but we want you to respect who we are.”

The measures are necessary, Blaney said, to “ensure the sustainability of our integration model” and to protect women’s rights.

The proposal revives a controversial debate from the last campaign, when Harper himself suggested the niqab should be banned from the public service.

Friday December 8, 2006 PM: Same-sex issue closed The last major threat to same-sex marriage rights in Canada was soundly defeated in the House of Commons today, with MPs sending the message that they donÕt want to revisit the emotional, divisive debate. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he heard the message and will respect it. ÒWe made a promise to have a free vote on this issue, we kept that promise, and obviously the vote was decisive and obviously weÕll accept the democratic result of the peopleÕs representatives,Ó Harper said. The question put to MPs was whether they wanted to see legislation drafted to reinstate the traditional definition of marriage, while respecting the existing marriages of gays and lesbians. That Conservative motion failed 175-123. In the tense Commons, MPs watched each other carefully to see how the other would vote. Some Liberals cheered as prominent Tories voted to let sleeping dogs lie. Some Conservatives applauded Liberals who did the opposite. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) Canada, same-sex marriage, gay marriage, civil union, marriage, dinosaur

Friday December 8, 2006

Zunera Ishaq, a Muslim woman, went to court to challenge the government’s ban, and, in the middle of the campaign, the Federal Court of Appeal cleared the way for her to wear the head covering. (Source: CBC News)

2016-10-25tearsheet

 

Wednesday September 7, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday September 7, 2016 Kellie Leitch defends 'anti-Canadian values' survey question Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch is defending a contentious survey question from her campaign team that asked supporters what they think about vetting would-be immigrants and refugees for "anti-Canadian values.Ó The survey made headlines on Thursday, with at least one Conservative strategist calling for her to withdraw from the race. "Canadians can expect to hear more, not less from me, on this topic in the coming months," Leitch wrote in an emailed statement. "Screening potential immigrants for anti-Canadian values that include intolerance towards other religions, cultures and sexual orientations, violent and/or misogynist behaviour and/or a lack of acceptance of our Canadian tradition of personal and economic freedoms is a policy proposal that I feel very strongly about.Ó The rest of the survey, which was sent to those who signed up for news from the Leitch campaign, gauges support on a variety of issues, including electoral reform, corporate tax cuts and the legalization and regulation of marijuana for recreational use. One question refers to denying citizenship to someone who recants the pledge to the Queen after taking it; another asks about incarcerating terrorists instead of providing "therapy and counselling.Ó "Oftentimes, debating and discussing these complex policies requires tough conversations Ñ conversations that go well beyond media sound bites and simplified labels," wrote Leitch. "I am committed to having these conversations, to debating theses issues, and I invite Canadians to give their feedback.Ó (Source CBC News)Êhttp://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/leitch-responds-survey-question-1.3746470 Canada, Kellie Keitch, Conservative, Party, leadership, dog whistle, immigration, Donald Trump, wall

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 7, 2016

Kellie Leitch defends ‘anti-Canadian values’ survey question

Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch is defending a contentious survey question from her campaign team that asked supporters what they think about vetting would-be immigrants and refugees for “anti-Canadian values.”

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday May 4, 2016 Citizenships of about a dozen people at risk after auditor general report Immigration officials are looking at revoking the Canadian citizenship of about a dozen people after the auditor general found the government isnÕt doing enough to root out fraud in the citizenship system. Michael FergusonÕs report uncovered instances of people with serious criminal records and others using potentially phoney addresses among those who managed to secure Canadian citizenship thanks to holes throughout not just the Immigration Department but the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency as well. The cases flagged represent just a fraction of the nearly half a million people whoÕve become Canadian citizens in the last two years, but that doesnÕt mean improvements arenÕt necessary, Immigration Minister John McCallum said Tuesday. ÒThe vast majority of the cases are clear but we are not happy if even one case is fraudulently obtained and that is why we are vigorously implementing the recommendations of the auditor general,Ó McCallum said. Recommendations related to improving information sharing between departments will be implemented by the end of the year, McCallum said. Another suggestion Ñ that officers be given more power to seize fraudulent documents Ñ is currently in a bill being debated in the House of Commons. Among the cases caught by Michael FergusonÕs team: four people who were granted citizenship despite having criminal records that would render them ineligible, and two who were approved despite having committed crimes after passing a criminal-background check. The audit also revealed it took seven years for officials to cotton on to the fact a single address had been used by at least 50 different applicants during overlapping time periods. Of the 50, seven became Canadian citizens. A review of 49 cases where an individualÕs address had been flagged as problematic concluded that in 1

May 4, 2016

The survey made headlines on Thursday, with at least one Conservative strategist calling for her to withdraw from the race.

“Canadians can expect to hear more, not less from me, on this topic in the coming months,” Leitch wrote in an emailed statement.

“Screening potential immigrants for anti-Canadian values that include intolerance towards other religions, cultures and sexual orientations, violent and/or misogynist behaviour and/or a lack of acceptance of our Canadian tradition of personal and economic freedoms is a policy proposal that I feel very strongly about.”

September 22, 2015

September 22, 2015

The rest of the survey, which was sent to those who signed up for news from the Leitch campaign, gauges support on a variety of issues, including electoral reform, corporate tax cuts and the legalization and regulation of marijuana for recreational use.

One question refers to denying citizenship to someone who recants the pledge to the Queen after taking it; another asks about incarcerating terrorists instead of providing “therapy and counselling.”

“Oftentimes, debating and discussing these complex policies requires tough conversations — conversations that go well beyond media sound bites and simplified labels,” wrote Leitch.

“I am committed to having these conversations, to debating theses issues, and I invite Canadians to give their feedback.” (Source CBC News)

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