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- Banner hung outside the Constituency Office of MP Kellie Leitch. Photo: Bayshore Broadcasting.
February 2017
I think it’s disgraceful how intolerant most progressives can be regarding anyone who doesn’t share their opinions. MP and Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch has been taking a lot of heat for stance on screening immigration and refugee applicants for what she referred to as “anti-Canadian values.”
Now in the wake of the shooting at the Quebec City mosque, the usual self-righteous hate-mongers are already coming out of the woodwork again. A banner was hung outside Leitch’s Constituency Office, listing the names of the six men who died and imploring her to resign. How is Leitch to blame for this reprehensible act?
Are those who hung this banner saying that Leitch supports not only Islamophobia, but murder?
Oh right, you must be Islamophobic or xenophobic if you support properly screening anyone who wishes to settle in Canada, refugee or not, to ensure they subscribe to Canadian values and the freedoms that western liberal-democracies like Canada enjoy.
Progressives claim those who subscribe to Canadian values simply don’t want “brown people” coming to Canada and settling in our communities.
Canadian values includes, among other things, obeying the provisions of the Canadian Criminal Code and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Immigrants to Canada need to understand that things like murder, polygamy, assault (including spousal) and female genial-mutilation are illegal. We want immigrants to understand that women have equal rights to men and are free to go out unaccompanied and wearing what they choose to wear, not just what men tell them they must wear; that homosexuals are not stoned or thrown off buildings and that gay marriage is legal; that our laws come from our democratically elected governments, not from religious doctrine.
Screening for Canadian values is not about keeping “those people” out of Canada; it’s about keeping out those who may wish to do harm to Canadians and the freedoms we enjoy.
By definition, almost all refugees are escaping violence, discrimination and persecution, either religious or cultural, in their home countries? Even those not escaping persecution may still want to leave certain ideologies or restrictions behind.
By not properly screening those who wish to settle in Canada, we are risking the safety of those same refugees/immigrants by admitting to Canada the same dangerous people and/or ideologies they were trying to escape from in the first place.
Remember that Afghan immigrant Mohammad Shafia murdered his three daughters, along with his first wife, because the girls wanted to enjoy the same liberal, western freedoms that other Canadian women enjoy.
Of course, ensuring immigrants/refugees understand that Canadians do hold certain values won’t necessarily prevent similar tragedies or terrorist acts, but that’s no reason not to have highly trained immigration officers using detection and interrogation skills, trying their best.
Canada has a duty to provide a safe haven for those coming to our country, but it equally has a duty to ensure the security of those already here.
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A slightly altered version in response to an editorial that appeared in the Barrie Examiner on 3 March 2017:
Firstly, while I’m not a decided Leitch supporter, I don’t object to her either. Secondly, I did find the video awkward and painful to watch. It looked like a Saturday Night Live parody video done by high school film students.
That said, I think it’s disgraceful how intolerant most progressives can be regarding anyone who doesn’t share their opinions, including your editorial writer. MP and Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch has been taking a lot of heat for stance on screening immigration and refugee applicants for what she referred to as “anti-Canadian values.”
Oh right, you must be Islamophobic or xenophobic if you support properly screening anyone who wishes to settle in Canada, refugee or not, to ensure they subscribe to Canadian values and the freedoms that western liberal-democracies like Canada enjoy.
Progressives claim those who subscribe to Canadian values simply don’t want “brown people” coming to Canada and settling in our communities.
Canadian values includes, among other things, obeying the provisions of the Canadian Criminal Code and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Immigrants to Canada need to understand that things like murder, polygamy, assault (including spousal) and female genial-mutilation are illegal. We want immigrants to understand that women have equal rights to men and are free to go out unaccompanied and wearing what they choose to wear, not just what men tell them they must wear; that homosexuals are not stoned or thrown off buildings and that gay marriage is legal; that our laws come from our democratically elected governments, not from religious doctrine (eg: Sharia Law).
These aren’t just Kellie’s opinions; they are also the opinions of our legal and human rights courts.
Screening for Canadian values is not about keeping “those people” out of Canada; it’s about keeping out those who may wish to do harm to Canadians and the freedoms we enjoy.
By definition, almost all refugees are escaping violence, discrimination and persecution, either religious or cultural, in their home countries? Even those not escaping persecution may still want to leave certain ideologies or restrictions behind.
By not properly screening those who wish to settle in Canada, we are risking the safety of those same refugees/immigrants by admitting to Canada the same dangerous people and/or ideologies they were trying to escape from in the first place.
Remember that Afghan immigrant Mohammad Shafia murdered his three daughters, along with his first wife, because the girls wanted to enjoy the same liberal, western freedoms that other Canadian women enjoy.
Of course, ensuring immigrants/refugees understand that Canadians do hold certain values won’t necessarily prevent similar tragedies or terrorist acts, but that’s no reason not to have highly trained immigration officers using detection and interrogation skills, trying their best.
Canada has a duty to provide a safe haven for those coming to our country, but it equally has a duty to ensure the security of those already here.
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The original editorial that prompted the above response:
Leitch video an awkward exercise in intolerance
By Dave Dawson, Orillia Packet & Times
Could Kellie Leitch become Canada’s next Prime Minister? Leitch, a doctor who has railed against elites while also boasting she has 22 letters after her name, is the most provocative of the 14 candidates vying to become the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Earlier this week, Leitch, a long-time MP representing neighbouring Simcoe-Grey, released a video to explain her controversial plan to screen would-be immigrants and refugees for Canadian values.
In the amateurish, awkwardly phrased eight-plus minute video that features strange camera angles and odd zooms and pans expected in a high-school project, she says Canadians have pleaded with her to take this stance. “Canadians are proud of their country and they are proud of their unified Canadian identity. They are proud of shared values like hard work, generosity, freedom and tolerance, equality of individuals and quality of opportunity… Canadians want a leader who will protect and promote our unified Canadian identity and these shared values.”
In fact, she says, it’s why she’s running for the leadership. She’s not running with a grand plan to better the country but rather to keep out those who don’t share her views. She says “Canada is a place where we can each choose how we wish to live in freedom and with tolerance and to prosper together.” Apparently, however, we can only choose to live in a way in which Ms. Leitch decrees to be Canadian.
Lost in the ridiculous rhetoric is a valid concern. Currently, only 9 to 15% of immigrants and refugees receive a face-to-face interview as part of the screening process. She believes every single candidate should be subject to a personal interview – a point of view that was recently expressed by the Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence. It’s worthy of discussion.
But it’s the second part of her proposal – to screen for “historic Canadian values” – that reveals her true values. She said newcomers must be asked: “Do they support the ideas of hard work, generosity, tolerance and freedom? Do they believe men and women are equal? Do they agree violence has no place in political disagreements?” She reiterated what makes Canada strong is that “we are a tolerant society. Newcomers to Canada are already tested on their knowledge of these values. Under my proposal, we’ll ensure they agree with them as well.”
Being forced to agree to a point of view as a condition of settlement is the antithesis of everything it means to be Canadian – it’s not an example of tolerance or freedom. And it certainly isn’t the “common sense” solution Leitch claims it is. What it is is a way to keep undesirables – as defined by Leitch – out of the country. It’s why she implored those watching her video not to listen to critics or the media.
We should not be surprised. Let’s not forget it was Leitch, during the 2015 federal election campaign, who espoused a snitch line people could call if they suspected “barbaric cultural practices” were happening in their neighbourhoods.
Like her leadership campaign, her embarrassing video is a train wreck; it’s difficult to avert your eyes. Maybe that’s good, because it should not be ignored. It’s a telling example of what you can expect from her leadership: a disjointed, populist fiasco created by an elitist pretending to be anything but. Could she become our next PM? Let’s hope not.
