Canadian values controversy
As part of her leadership race campaign, Leitch sent out an email survey to subscribers making the suggestion of anti-Canadian value screening in order to gauge response from voters. In response, many Conservative Members of Parliament and strategists are criticizing Leitch for her position.[28] Michael Chong, a Conservative MP for Wellington-Halton Hills and an opponent of Leitch in the leadership race, spoke out against Leitch’s proposal, saying that it, “does not represent our Conservative Party or our Canada”.[28] Despite the censure, Leitch has stood by her proposal. In a September interview with the Canadian Press, Leitch made the following statement in response to the backlash she had been receiving: “I don’t think it’s intolerant to believe in a set of values that we expect everyone to share here and include those people who are coming to visit or immigrate to Canada”[29] Former staffers of Leitch have criticized the approach she has taken throughout the leadership campaign. Andrew McGrath, a former press secretary to Leitch when she was in cabinet, responded to her overnight pitch with disappointment on social media. "You were status of women minister,” McGrath posted to Leitch on Twitter. “Shame on you.”[30]
Leitch proposed screening visitors, refugees and immigrants for "Canadian values" initially not specifying what that would entail, but later detailed out what it would mean. This process would include face to face interviews by trained immigration officers with 100% of immigrants, rather than the 10% or so that happens now, with questions pertaining to their views on whether Canadian law should be only set of laws that applies to all Canadians, hate speech, violence, and equality between genders, sexual orientation, religious & political views.[31]
Leitch’s policy stances also faced similar controversy and criticism back in October 2015 during the federal election, where she and fellow Conservative MP and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander pledged support and funding to establish a tip-line for Canadians to call in regards to what they called “barbaric cultural practices".[32] Leitch has since made an effort to apologize for her role in the proposed legislation, saying that she regrets her decisions.[33] For many, including Conservative strategist Chad Rogers, Leitch’s proposed immigrant screening seemingly follows the same rhetoric, and Rogers goes as far as calling on Leitch to withdraw from the Conservative leadership race.[28]
In a November 9, 2016 interview with Toronto Life magazine, Leitch would not confirm nor deny that her proposed Canadian values test would apply to Catholic immigrants who opposed Canada's acceptance of same-sex marriage, and stated that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was "for Canadian citizens." In the same interview, she cited the belief that gays should not be sentenced to death as an example of one such Canadian value.
