Conservative leadership candidate Michael Chong released a statement Friday afternoon criticizing his opponent Kellie Leitch over her campaign’s exploration of a “Canadian values” screen for immigrants and refugees, accusing Leitch of “dog-whistle politics.”

“Recently Kellie Leitch asked in a questionnaire whether immigrants should face additional screening for ‘anti-Canadian values’, suggesting that some immigrants are ‘anti-Canadian’,” Chong says in the statement.

“This suggestion, that some immigrants are ‘anti-Canadian’, does not represent our Conservative Party or our Canada. In order to win in 2019 we need to build a modern and inclusive Conservative Party that focuses squarely on pocket book issues that matter to Canadians, and not on issues that pit one Canadian against another.”

On Thursday, the Canadian Press reported that Leitch’s campaign sent supporters the following question: “Should the Canadian government screen potential immigrants for anti-Canadian values as part of its normal screening for refugees and landed immigrants?”

Chong noted that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former director of policy, Rachel Curran — who’s joining Harper at his new consulting firm — had labeled it dog-whistle politics.

“The language and context that Kellie used has led key Conservatives, including Prime Minister Harper’s former Director of Policy, to criticize this move as the worst of dog-whistle politics.‎ Conservatives need to unite around a fiscally conservative agenda that is inclusive of Canadians from diverse backgrounds,” Chong said.

Later Friday afternoon, Leitch issued her own statement, explaining that the question was one of many she sent as part of an ongoing process of grassroots engagement.

“In my bid to become Prime Minister of Canada, I will be putting forward policies that will make Canada safer, stronger and that will enhance a unified Canadian identity,” she said.

“Screening potential immigrants for anti-Canadian values that include intolerance towards other religions, cultures and sexual orientations, violent and/or misogynist behaviour and/or lack of acceptance of our Canadian tradition of personal and economic freedoms is a policy I feel very strongly about. Oftentimes, debating and discussing these complex policies requires tough conversations — conversations that go well beyond media soundbites and simplified labels.”

Leitch said Canadians can expect to hear more from her on the topic in coming months.

In the final weeks of the federal election campaign last October, Leitch came under fire after announcing a reelected Harper government would set up a barbaric cultural practices tip line.

After telling CBC’s Rosemary Barton in April that she regretted the decision, she backed away from that in an interview the Saskatoon StarPhoenix conducted earlier this week and published Friday.

“The campaign is over, I’m not going to point fingers at people, but at the end of the day I made the announcement that I did because I care about young people, I care about women and girls and my track record with respect to protecting young people can’t be questioned,” she said.

“All Canadians would want to protect young women and girls from any atrocity, and we didn’t articulate it clearly that day. The important part of the message was overtaken, and I take responsibly for that.”