The Never-Ending Shame of Canada's Trump Kellie Leitch

It's hard to believe, it's like a scene from a bad horror movie, or a return to Harperland,

But it seems Kellie Leitch is determined to become Canada's Donald Trump.

For although her dog-whistle plan to screen immigrants for "anti-Canadian values" has been roundly condemned.

She just doesn't care.



And she's still trying to defend the indefensible.  

Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch isn’t backing down from her proposal to screen new immigrants for “anti-Canadian” values, despite criticism from within her own party.

“It’s not intolerant to believe in a set of values that we expect everyone to share,” Leitch said in a phone interview from Quebec City, where she is taking French lessons. “I think that being respectful of other religions, cultures (and) sexual orientations are Canadian values.”

Even though Leitch has never been a defender of our Canadian values, and even dumb Cons like Maxime Bernier have come roaring out to say that her plan won't work...



Conservative leadership candidate Maxime Bernier said he doesn’t agree with Leitch’s idea and thinks it would be ineffective in preventing possible terrorists from entering the country. 

“People who want to come in our country, usually they believe in Canadian values,” Bernier said Wednesday. “If you have somebody that wants to come as a terrorist, he will say that he believes in Canadian values. So it is unworkable.“

While others like Michelle Rempel are mocking her on Twitter. 

Rempel’s broadside, which began as an earnest solicitation of thoughts on Canadian values, turned into a scathingly silly Twitter conversation about Canadian and anti-Canadian values reminiscent of last week’s Twitter takedown in the US presidential campaign of a Donald Trump surrogate who warned too many Mexican immigrants would lead to “taco trucks on every corner.”

Or running over her with a taco truck, or a halusky truck.

Rempel said that her grandmother came to Canada as a peasant from Slovakia. “We likely should have value-tested her halusky,” she Tweeted. Halusky is an East-European noodle dish.

Or retweeting the criticisms of others.


And although, as we all know, Rempel isn't exactly a poster girl for our precious Canadian values.... 



Surely Leitch must understand that she's just given her a chance to pose as the future of the Harper Party.

And made a wild and dangerous enemy... 



But then as the ex-Con Brent Rathgeber points out, Leitch is only playing her ghastly Trump-like game because she can't escape her shameful past. 



From Leitch’s point of view, there’s no real risk now in doubling down on “Canadian values.” She knows she will never shake the stigma of promoting the barbaric practices snitch line during the election. She is defined by it now. The media and her opponents will never stop reminding people of it.

Resigned to a political career forever associated with xenophobia, she has nothing to lose by pandering to xenophobes. The strategy will certainly help her raise money — but if it’s successful, it will profoundly tarnish the Conservative party brand for the long term, much as Trump has tarnished the GOP.

And as others are also warning, her attempt to channel the xenophobia of Donald Trump could end up killing the Cons.



As a physician, Dr. Leitch has the power to save a life. But as a politician, she and people like her will be the death of the Conservative Party.

A party that tackles Canada’s real issues the way a good doctor considers a patient’s health has a bright future. One that simply wants to survey the population, the better to sell them drugs they don’t need for illnesses they don’t have, not so much.

Which is of course the good news.

Stephen Harper's monstrous legacy has come back to haunt the Cons.

Rona Ambrose's attempts to renew the Harper Party are failing miserably...



And needless to say we will use all of this to tar the Cons with the bigot brush.

Make it clear their values are too anti-Canadian to govern Canada.

And help bury them forever...