Perhaps unsurprisingly, heightened immigrant screening and a call to protect Canadian values were at the heart of Kellie Leitch’s official campaign launch Saturday afternoon, where the Conservative MP said she would not back down from a conversation she says is “just common sense.”

“I’m not afraid to say what I think and stand up for what I believe,” Leitch said. “A discussion of our Canadian values is not racist, xenophobic or anti-immigrant. And we should not be afraid or bullied by political correctness to have this discussion.

“While it’s easy for some to trivialize this conversation, to paint this discussion in a negative light, I refuse to go down that path.”

Although Leitch announced her entry into the now crowded Tory leadership race back in early April — the first Conservative to do so — the MP for Simcoe-Grey hosted Saturday’s event in Collingwood, Ont. to mark the occasion.

Leitch delivered a half-hour-long speech inside the Historic Gayety Theatre, standing behind a podium with a sign that read “Canadian Values” and in front of a screen projecting a giant Canadian flag. The event was live streamed on her campaign website and on Facebook Live.

Leitch told the crowd that immigration has become “a more urgent issue now than ever before.”

“Because of the wars in the Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, more and more people are trying to come to Canada,” she said.

“Let me clear — immigration is a good thing for this country…Canada has been built by immigrants,” she added. “But what is troubling is that fewer and fewer of the people who come to Canada get a face-to-face interview with an immigrant officer.”

In fact, fewer than one in five people get face-to-face interviews with an official from the department of immigration, Leitch said.

In large part that’s a result of the pressures facing immigration officers to meet quotas, which she said causes them to “gloss over” applications.

Leitch also said current screening focuses on security and “economic matters” — and overlooks screening for Canadian values. She listed freedom of religion, tolerance, prosperity, and equality of women as some examples of the values “at the core of our Canadian identity.”

“The significant decline of face-to-face interviews distracts from the concept of nation-building,” she said. “This is unhealthy and dangerous for our nation as a whole.”

Leitch asserts polls and her conversations with Canadians show “more screening is necessary.”

“It’s not just a large number of Conservatives, but a majority of Canadians,” she said. “People across party lines want more screening, not less.”

Leitch caused a firestorm when she first proposed screening immigrants for “anti-Canadian values” at the end of the summer.

Her leadership rival, Michael Chong, accused her of using “dog-whistle politics”, and Rachel Curran, director of policy for Stephen Harper, described it as an “Orwellian path”.

Weeks later, she dropped the controversial “anti” prefix but hasn’t wavered on her commitment to the screen.

“I found the initial reaction to my discussion of Canadian values to be astounding, and for me, it was a tipping point,” Leitch said Saturday. “I could, as most Conservatives do, talk only about the debt, deficits and tax cuts. And while these policies are also important to discuss, they cannot be our only focus.”

While the Conservative leadership contender still offered no details on what her screening plan would involve, she did clarify that in some cases immigrants would be required to “receive more education on our Canadian values and expectations” before being granted any permanent resident status.

Leitch also took the opportunity Saturday to rail against the Liberal government for “spending at a reckless rate” and declared as prime minister she would “implement a clear policy to fix this problem.”

“I will cap government spending,” she said. “Ministers and public servants will have to do more with less every year. It’s more than possible and it is necessary. The Government of Canada must live within its means, like you do at home.

“This must be done.”

Leitch, who has been a member of Parliament since 2011, previously served as labour minister and minister of status of women under the former Conservative government. She is also a part-time orthopaedic surgeon and was awarded the Order of Ontario in 2010.