Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 16/11/2016 (1406 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

To the utter shock and dismay of many — but not all — on Nov. 9, Donald J. Trump was declared the next president of the United States of America. Over the next few years, the elite — political scientists, pundits, party insiders, and journalists — and the public will collectively attempt to figure out how the hell this happened. Was it leveraged racism and bigotry, blatant lies or a legitimate olive branch extended to millions of suffering Americans abandoned by elites in Washington?

Literally moments after Trump was declared victorious, I received an email at 2 a.m. from my friend and former boss, Member of Parliament and Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch. The email read:

"Tonight, our American cousins threw out the elites and elected Donald Trump as their next president. It’s an exciting message and one that we need delivered in Canada as well... It’s why I’m the only candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada who is standing up for Canadian values. It’s why I’m the only candidate who will ensure that every visitor, immigrant and refugee will be screened for Canadian values."

I want to be clear: this message is nothing short of a shameful attempt to capitalize on xenophobia.

I was surprised when Leitch made the decision to champion the "Canadian values" position. It was only last April when she appeared on CBC’s Power and Politics, tearfully saying that if she could go back in time she would not have made the controversial announcement proposing a new "barbaric cultural practices" hotline during the 2015 general election. She said in the interview that, at the time of the announcement, she was not talking about race, but about protecting kids, and that the message was "overtaken." Now, as indicated in the Conservative leadership debate on Nov. 9, she wants to screen every single immigrant and refugee for so-called "Canadian values."

One has to wonder: what happened? Did Leitch’s team show her a favourable poll? Did she decide to double down after realizing she wouldn’t be able to shed her public persona from the barbaric cultural practices hotline announcement? Or was it an attempt to seize on Trump’s momentum and recent success?

I have been a loyal and active member of the Conservative Party of Canada for nearly a decade. I’ve volunteered and worked for members of Parliament, cabinet ministers, and former prime minister Stephen Harper. Last year, I even went so far as to put my name on a ballot and run for election.

LIAM RICHARDS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch touts screening immigrants for “Canadian values.”

I feel compelled to say xenophobia is not a conservative value. It is an incredibly poisonous, pervasive and recurring societal problem. A societal problem that, as demonstrated by Trump, can be taken advantage of.

Capitalizing on xenophobia is opportunistic and incredibly dangerous. We need only remember Canada’s refusal in 1939, under Liberal prime minister Mackenzie King, to accept 907 Jewish refugees aboard the St. Louis seeking sanctuary from Nazi Germany, an act that was politically acceptable at the time because of a combination of a recession, rampant xenophobia and anti-Semitism.

While Canada has not officially apologized, I believe most reasonable people today can agree it was a national tragedy. But even if Parliament were to issue an apology, what have we actually learned from this dark spot on Canadian history? Fast-forward nearly 80 years, and it is once again politically advantageous to proliferate Canadians’ fear of new immigrants in order to win elections.

Now, don’t get me wrong: like many Canadians, I support adequate, proactive measures to ensure that our immigration system is safe. This includes issuing background checks on immigrants for criminal records and ties to terrorism. There are also values, views and practices, for example, toward women that are absolutely unacceptable and incompatible with Canadian society.

Leitch is saying we need to screen immigrants and refugees for so called anti-Canadian values presumably in order to protect Canadian society. However, we have impartial and fair justice and law enforcement systems for that very reason. If someone immigrates to Canada and commits a crime that violates the Criminal Code, the authority on what our society deems morally reprehensible, like all Canadians they will be punished accordingly if found guilty. It is a principle of fundamental justice that all people are innocent until proven guilty — Leitch’s proposal flies in the face of that.

People immigrate to Canada because of our values of freedom and democracy, and the rule of law. Conservatives can, have and will continue to win elections by showing Canadians a positive and inclusive vision of freedom, personal responsibility, small government and respect for law and order.

This message does not make you an out-of-touch elite. It makes you principled.

I invite all people, including my conservative colleagues, to actively denounce any candidate — even a friend — who attempts to divide Canadians by capitalizing on xenophobia.

Kyle Mirecki is a third-year student in the Robson Hall faculty of law.