VANCOUVER—Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he was “disgusted” at the rhetoric on refugees Monday night at what might be the last Burnaby South all-candidates debate.

Moderator Stephen D’Souza, executive director of Burnaby Community Services, asked the six candidates in attendance how they will support refugee claims and whether they will be a national and global champion for people applying for refugee status.

The six candidates were Singh, the Liberals’ Richard Lee, Conservative Jay Shin, Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) and independent candidates Valentine Wu and Terry Grimwood.

Singh was the last to respond to the question and said he was “disgusted by some of the values being espoused.”

“We’re talking about refugees. We are talking about people who are fleeing danger,” Singh said. “These people are fleeing death. These are people who are fleeing dangerous situations.”

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There was a swell in the crowd of people chanting “Canadians first” while he was speaking, with one person yelling “terrorist.” Singh reminded the crowd that Canada was founded on immigration.

Just prior to Singh’s comments, the PPC’s Thompson, a former Christian radio host, responded to the question by saying Canadians need to know who refugees are.

“We need to understand that there are some people who enter our country who might not share our values,” Thompson said, pointing to the case of 13-year old Marissa Shen who was murdered in Burnaby’s Central Park in July 2017.

The killing shook the Burnaby South community. Police subsequently announced that 28-year-old Ibrahim Ali had been charged with first-degree murder. Ali is a Syrian national with permanent residency who moved to Burnaby, was employed and had a family in Canada. The allegations in the case are still being tested in court.

“Not all refugees would do such a heinous act, but surely we need to know who is coming into our country when you are letting 40,000-50,000 people illegally jumping the borders,” Thompson said.

Her comments sparked a feverish response from the crowd, both loud cheers from avid PPC supporters and jeers from other audience members.

After a messy split with the Conservative party last August, Maxime Bernier — MP for Beauce, Que., and a former cabinet minister — launched the PPC, aiming to the right of the Conservative party, issuing a rally cry against Canada’s “extreme multiculturalism” and vowing to tighten up borders to new immigrants. The party officially launched last month, according to Elections Canada, and raised roughly $330,000 in three days.

Thompson was one of Bernier’s first picks for a candidate. He has said he intends to run candidates in all 338 ridings in October’s federal election. Political experts say three upcoming byelections — in Burnaby South, York-Simcoe and Outremont — will be a test run to see how the party may fare in October and potentially signal a shift in Canadian values.

At Monday’s Burnaby South debate — which was based on the theme of social inclusion — the Conservatives’ Shin highlighted that he came to Canada as an immigrant. He noted that immigration is key to Canada’s growth but insisted he is against illegal border crossings.

“What I’m against is illegal immigration … putting a strain on our immigration process and making it difficult for proper immigrants who come here and populate this country.”

Liberal candidate Lee said the federal government has been taking the safety concerns related to refugees “very seriously.”

“The government is taking action to strengthen some of the ideas on security issues,” Lee said. “We know that we cannot give a free ticket to anyone with refugee status but a true refugee needs help.”

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Independent candidate Wu called for increased safety measures and noted it’s important not to confuse people who don’t support current refugee policies as being “anti-refugee.” Grimwood, the other independent candidate, said refugees should be settled in rural Canada.

A third all-candidates debate was scheduled for Tuesday but was cancelled. It is unclear whether there will be another ahead of the highly anticipated Burnaby South byelection on Feb. 25.

With files from Alex Boutilier and Wanyee Li

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