Kellie Leitch, Member of Parliament (MP) for Simcoe-Grey and national Conservative leadership candidate, spoke to students on Sept. 26 in the first of the Carleton Conservatives’ leadership speaking series.
Leitch, who spoke at the Georgetown Sports Pub on Bank Street, has recently been in the media spotlight for advocating for additional screening for immigrants, regarding anti-Canadian values.
The event featured a question-and-answer period for attendees, where Leitch expanded upon the “values test” she proposes and supports. She criticized Justin Trudeau for his remarks on Canada not having a “core identity.”
Leitch shared her idea of values at the core of Canadian identity, which include hard work, generosity, freedom of religion, equality of opportunity, and tolerance.
Leitch also answered questions from the audience about getting back the youth vote, Russia, Atlantic representation and economy, foreign policy, the Keystone pipeline, the military, and unions.
Niall McCallum, a Carleton graduate student in mechanical engineering, said he will not be supporting her in the leadership race, but he does respect her candidacy.
“I really don’t like how she’s starting off her race with immigration as the main issue,” McCallum said. He said immigration has proven to be good for the economy and that Leitch is not starting off on a good foot by focusing on immigration.
“I would like to see more of a talk on climate change, on reducing the budget, issues that we can all agree on without being so divisive,” he said.
Joe Lioce, a second-year public affairs and policy management student, said his perspective on Leitch changed after the event because of how she explained Canadian values.
“The media tried really to portray the way that she was approaching the Canadian values as being xenophobic and she made her case,” Lioce said. “She was really emphasizing the Canadian identity and part of that identity is things like freedom, hard work, and, like she emphasized, tolerance.”
Adam Bradley, president of Carleton’s Conservatives and a fourth-year political science student, said his club hopes to have every national Conservative leadership candidate out to speak with students.
“We saw the leadership race coming—longest leadership race in history,” Bradley said. “It’s a perfect time to get people to come speak to you.”
Bradley said his club’s speaking series is a good way to engage with local youth and see what issues affect them.
“We [did not have] a successful time in the last election with the youth vote, and we hope to change that, and something like this is a good first step,” Bradley said.
Carleton’s Conservatives will be hosting Michael Chong as their next guest in the leadership series on Oct. 18 in Mike’s Place.
