VANCOUVER—A vocal opponent of the B.C. education policy aimed at preventing discrimination against LGBTQ staff and students has been confirmed as the Conservative Party of Canada’s candidate in the riding where the Trans Mountain pipeline ends.

Heather Leung, an occupational therapist, won the Burnaby-North Seymour nomination last week, officially trouncing Wayne Marklund, Antje Wilson and David Liu, according to a party spokesperson.

The Burnaby resident will face off against incumbent Liberal MP Terry Beech, Green Party science and innovation critic Amita Kuttner and veteran NDP member of parliament Svend Robinson, the first openly gay federal politician.

Leung, who has tried her hand at politics several times, has been vocal in the past about her socially conservative values, which include opposition to the province’s sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) policy in schools, abortion rights and medically assisted dying.

However, the Conservatives’ media spokesperson told Star Vancouver the party has been “clear” on such topics time and again.

“These are not debates we’ll be reopening. Our focus will be on making life more affordable for Canadians so they can get ahead not just get by,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

Star Vancouver issued multiple requests — including emails, phone calls and Facebook messages — to Leung for comment, without response, over a period of six days. After reaching the riding association via Facebook on Sunday, the president responded saying Leung was on a family trip to Seattle and therefore unavailable.

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Leung most recently ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for Burnaby’s city council, where her platform included a focus on affordable housing and banning the sale of marijuana in the municipality.

In 2014, she launched an unsuccessful run for the city’s school board as a vocal opponent of SOGI. During that campaign, she served as the spokesperson for Burnaby Parents’ Voice, a citizen group formed to oppose the policy.

Leung also signed the nomination papers for Laura-Lynn Thompson, a former Christian TV host and outspoken critic of the SOGI policy, in Thompson’s failed independent bid for school board last year, the Burnaby Now reported.

Thompson would go on to be the newly-minted People’s Party of Canada candidate in February’s contentious Burnaby South federal byelection, where she garnered roughly 10 per cent of the vote. Now Thompson, a New-Westminster resident, will be running for the populist PPC in the Red Deer-Lacombe riding in the upcoming federal election.

But according to the Burnaby Now, in October 2018, Leung “repeatedly refused” to say whether she still held anti-SOGI views, and argued her past political involvement with the issue had nothing to do with her bid for a city council seat at the time.

As of Sunday, the “About me” section on Leung’s website stated: “Based on my conviction of my Christian faith, I believe life begins at conception. I believe the life span of every person is in God’s hand. Therefore, I am against abortion and medically assisted suicide. I am pro-life and pro-palliative care.”

Psalms 22 and 139 are quoted following this statement.

The website also lists an event sponsored by Right Now — a national advocacy group that seeks to nominate and elect anti-abortion politicians. Right Now’s event notes the group has identified the riding as “strategic” in the upcoming federal election, and is hosting a free training “on how to help its pro-life candidate” at a Burnaby public library on June 3.

On its website, Right Now says that, in order to elect “pro-life” politicians, average Canadians must mobilize to vote at local nomination meetings and provide training to campaign volunteers across Canada.

“It is only when we have a majority of pro-life politicians in our legislatures that we’ll see pro-life legislation passed in our country,” the website reads.

Star Vancouver reached out to Right Now but they were not immediately available for comment.

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Leung, who currently works in a care facility, has been a Burnaby resident since 2003 and is married with three children, according to her website. She is concerned about housing affordability for the younger generation as well as protecting youth in the “war on drugs.”

“In order to retain families to stay in cities like Burnaby, Heather will work with the provincial and local governments toward affordable housing and safe and healthy neighbourhoods for children to grow, learn and play,” the website states.

Correction - May 27, 2019: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said Heather Leung unsuccessfully ran for school board trustee in 2011.

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