Conservative Party leadership candidate Kellie Leitch says she is 鈥渄isappointed鈥� by disapproving comments from Interim Leader Rona Ambrose over her controversial proposal to screen immigrants for 鈥渁nti-Canadian values.鈥�
The proposal has drawn accusations of 鈥渄og-whistle politics鈥� from Tory leadership hopeful Michael Chong and prompted comparisons to Donald Trump. Last week, Ambrose that she 鈥減ersonally鈥� doesn鈥檛 support screening and doesn鈥檛 know 鈥渨hat that would look like鈥� in application.
In an interview on Question Period Sunday, Leitch said she鈥檚 reached out to Ambrose over the public criticism.
鈥淚鈥檓 disappointed that an interim leader would engage themselves in the leadership race,鈥� Leitch said.
Leitch did not confirm whether she planned to file a formal complaint to the party and said her campaign is 鈥渉aving a discussion鈥� with Ambrose鈥檚 office as well as with the party.
鈥淲e鈥檒l see where that discussion takes us. And as I mentioned before, Canada is a place where we have disagreements and we come to thoughtful resolution of them, and I鈥檓 confident that we will in this case as well,鈥� she said.
Leitch was asked to clarify particular aspects of the contentious proposal, which became a talking point last week after she asked constituents in an email survey if they鈥檇 support screening immigrants for 鈥渁nti-Canadian鈥� values.
The survey did not identify the purported values. Leitch has since named four 鈥淐anadian values鈥� that she believes 鈥渢he majority of Canadians鈥� support: hard work, generosity, freedom, and tolerance.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 such a stretch to then ask if people believe in the equality of women and if women have equal rights. If you have a different sexual orientation, are you respected here?鈥� she said.
Asked what would happen to someone who doesn鈥檛 support gay marriage or believes women should cover their hair for religious reasons, Leitch said she did not want to 鈥渢rivialize鈥� her idea by talking specifics.
鈥淚鈥檓 not going to go point by point, issue by issue, and trivialize this issue. I think we as Canadians share a certain set of values, and I鈥檓 looking forward to having a discussion with Canadians about that,鈥� she said.
In a recent interview, Chong accused Leitch of dog-whistle politics, which is described as a type of political speech using code words that appear to mean one thing to the general population but have a different meaning for a targeted audience.
Leitch called the accusation 鈥渇undamentally false.鈥�
鈥淔or myself, I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 intolerant to have a discussion about Canadian values that we hold dear. And I look forward to having the discussion with the other leadership candidates as well as with my colleagues who are in the party, and Canadians,鈥� she said.
Idea is 鈥榰nworkable鈥�
Leitch鈥檚 idea has been criticized by other former and current politicians including former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and fellow Conservative leadership candidates Maxime Bernier and Tony Clement.
Speaking with Question Period, Clement called Leitch鈥檚 proposal 鈥渦nworkable鈥� and 鈥渦ndesirable.鈥�
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to have government bureaucrats in Ottawa or elsewhere trying to decide what makes a future Canadian a good Canadian or a bad Canadian,鈥� he said.
Clement has said that, if elected, he would support increased screening at borders to weed out individuals with connections to terrorism. Clement said the difference between his proposal and Leitch鈥檚 idea is 鈥渁 matter of substance.鈥�
鈥淲hat I want to screen for, and our national security agencies want to screen for, is past activity of terrorism behaviour, past radicalization and consorting with terrorist organizations. So that鈥檚 the real issue,鈥� he said.
In an earlier interview, Leitch attempted to distance her 鈥渁nti-Canadian values鈥� screening idea from the controversial barbaric cultural practices tipline she helped front under the former Conservative government.
鈥淚 recognize that it may be easy to paint the discussion about Canadian values in that light, but my intention that day when we made that announcement was to stand up for victimized women and girls,鈥� she said.
