Over the weekend we learned about two unfortunate incidents involving Conservative leadership candidates that underscore why Canadian values matter now more than ever.

Deepak Obhrai, an Alberta MP, received a flurry of racist emails telling him to leave the country and go back to where he came from.

Obhrai came here in 1977 from Tanzania – likely before some of his less than inclusive correspondents were even born. Before he was a politician, Obhrai worked as an accountant and business owner.

He’s been a valuable contributor to our society for decades. If anyone feels uncomfortable living in the same country as Obhrai, they should get the hell out of here, not him.

Meanwhile, provincial police were called after what appeared to be an attempted break-in at Ontario MP Kellie Leitch’s home. I have family in the area Leitch lives in and I know there’s been a recent string of garage break-ins right around there, so make of this what you will. But this happened, according to her campaign, shortly after someone publicly offered to reveal Leitch’s address to anyone upset with her.

Leitch advocates screening prospective immigrants for anti-Canadian values. Obhrai, along with other candidates, does not agree with that policy.

It’s a topic that riles people up. Leitch stirred the pot further by likening her plan to Donald Trump’s “extreme vetting” of Muslim immigrants.

You can understand why both candidates might be subject to attacks online and worse. People want to silence them. So where do we go from here?

Is this all Leitch’s fault? Is she the villain for even suggesting, in a campaign questionnaire sent out back in August, such a values test?

Far from it. Let’s not blame the victim here.

Leitch has started an important conversation. Those observers calling her all the names in the book need to consider two things:

First, a Forum Research poll showed a clear majority of Canadians like the idea. This includes 87% of Conservative supporters, 59% of NDPers and 57% of Liberals. Canadians support her. No wonder she’s not backing down.

Second, take a look at Leitch’s definition of Canadian values. Here’s what she told the media in September: “Screening potential immigrants for anti-Canadian values that include intolerance towards other religions, cultures and sexual orientations, violent and/or misogynist behaviour and/or a lack of acceptance of our Canadian tradition of personal and economic freedoms is a policy proposal that I feel very strongly about.”

Who’s against this? What’s wrong with developing our screening methods with this inclusive philosophy in mind?

Bizarrely, some MPs and pundits have said this can’t even be done. That’s nonsense and they know it.

CSIS has already acknowledged Syrian refugee applications that raised a “red flag” were put aside. And we can define red flags however we please.

Obhrai doesn’t agree with Leitch’s specific proposal. But it’s not as if he’s against defining values in general.

“Sharia law is incompatible with Canada,” he said at a leader’s debate last week.

Living in downtown Toronto, I regularly speak with new and not so new immigrants who’ve come from all over the world, specifically because they have views like Obhrai’s. Or Leitch’s. Many of them were attracted to Canada precisely because of our collective values. Not in spite of them.

Instead of intimidating anyone who broaches the subject of values and shutting down the conversation, we need to broaden it and hone it to make sure our policies reflect the Canadian consensus. If we don’t, we’re letting everyone down.

Not least of all the people who come here to share our values.

- Furey is the national comment editor for the Sun papers. Find him at furey.ca