Brown, Poilievre trade shots over niqab ban as Conservative leadership race heats up

Conservative management candidate Patrick Brown launched an assault Monday on his opponent Pierre Poilievre, accusing the Conservative MP of supporting “discriminatory insurance policies” that concentrate on immigrants.

Poilievre, the MP for the Ottawa-area using of Carleton thought-about the front-runner within the race, pitched new insurance policies Monday that he stated will make it simpler for expert immigrants to observe their professions in Canada. He vowed to tackle what he known as “money-grabbing gatekeepers” who decide whether or not an immigrant is certified to work in Canada.

However Brown, the present mayor of Brampton, Ont., stated Poilievre “has no credibility asserting any kind of coverage which largely impacts minority communities reminiscent of immigration as a result of he is by no means publicly stood towards insurance policies that disproportionately influence them.”

Brown accused Poilievre of supporting the proposed “niqab ban” at citizenship ceremonies and a hotline to report “barbaric cultural practices” reminiscent of sexual slavery or “honour” killings — two parts of the 2015 Conservative election platform. Critics stated these coverage positions had been a part of a cynical try to mobilize anti-immigrant votes, whereas supporters stated they had been meant to guard Canadian values of secularism and gender equality.

Some Conservatives have cited the social gathering’s previous assist for these insurance policies to elucidate its lacklustre assist amongst some immigrant communities within the 2019 and 2021 federal election campaigns.

A post-election report ready for former social gathering chief Erin O’Toole zeroed in on the social gathering’s poor efficiency with so-called “ethnic voters.” The report’s writer, former Conservative MP James Cumming, concluded the social gathering stumbled within the 2021 marketing campaign in must-win areas just like the Larger Toronto Space and larger Vancouver partly due to lingering resentment over the “niqab ban” and the hotline.

Poilievre was a cupboard minister when the previous Conservative authorities first pitched these concepts forward of the 2015 contest. Brown stated Poilieve’s affiliation with these proposals may very well be a legal responsibility within the subsequent common election.

“Reasonably than making this essentially the most welcoming nation to immigrants on this planet, he has fortunately pushed rhetoric that solely tried to divide individuals moderately than carry them collectively,” Brown stated.

“The truth is, Mr. Poilievre has enlisted a marketing campaign spokesperson who was the architect of the 2015 Conservative federal election marketing campaign. This is identical marketing campaign which platformed these two abhorrent insurance policies and misplaced the Conservatives the 2015 common election.”

Poilievre has recruited Jenni Byrne — a former senior staffer to ex-prime minister Stephen Harper and the social gathering’s 2015 marketing campaign supervisor — to steer his management workforce.

Brown stated he’ll “proudly struggle towards these incursions on spiritual freedom.” He vowed additionally to focus on Invoice 21, Quebec’s controversial secularism regulation, which forces public servants to take away spiritual garb whereas on the job.

“I’ve by no means shied away from combating towards intolerance and by no means will. Each Canadian chief ought to really feel the identical means,” Brown stated.

A marketing campaign spokesperson for Poilievre didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Brown’s assaults.

At a marketing campaign announcement in Markham, Ont., Poilievre stated he’d be a champion for expert immigrants who wrestle to observe their professions in Canada as a result of provincial governments or regulatory our bodies typically take 18 months or extra to certify {that a} new immigrant can really work of their chosen discipline.

It is a longstanding concern for immigrants with superior levels. Lots of them come to Canada to work in professions like engineering, medication and regulation solely to seek out there are hurdles to clear, like testing, licensing and research necessities — insurance policies which can be supposed to make sure foreign-trained professionals are simply as certified as their Canadian equivalents.

Whereas the licensing of pros is strictly provincial jurisdiction, Poilievre stated he’d use federal spending powers to encourage provinces to do the certification work quicker.

Calling it a “60-day assure,” Poilievre stated that, if elected, he would give extra money to provinces and territories that compel occupational licensing our bodies to grant immigrants licences to work inside 60 days of getting the appliance.

He is additionally proposing what he is calling “merit-based licenses,” which might enable immigrants to work of their career after passing a “expertise and competence” take a look at moderately than finishing extra coursework.

Requested about Brown’s latest entry into the management race, Poilievre stated the Brampton mayor “will say and do something” to get elected.

Poilievre stated Brown’s previous assist for a carbon tax can be disqualifying. Brown backed a worth on carbon emissions when he was the chief of the Progressive Conservative Occasion of Ontario.

“He and I disagree on his carbon tax,” Poilievre stated.

“I can not perceive that viewpoint. Proper now, Canadians are paying upwards of $1.70 a litre. Many Canadians really feel like they can not even have the liberty of mobility as a result of it is too costly to gasoline up their autos and get the place they are going. I’ll eliminate the tax. I’ll pursue know-how not taxes, outcomes not income.”