Dr. Leslyn Lewis, candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, made a stop in Yellowknife on July 7 as part of a summer tour through much of Western and Northern Canada to promote her candidacy.
Lewis attracted close to 25 people to the Multiplex to lay out many of her main concerns and to hear from potential supporters for her leadership bid.
A pro-life and anti-carbon tax candidate, as well as a lawyer and businesswoman of Jamaican descent, Lewis was voted in as a Member of Parliament for the riding of Haldimand-Norfolk in Ontario in 2020. She said she despairs that Canadians are losing faith in their democratic institutions with low voter turnout in some elections; faulted a “biased” national media; contended that national debt is piling up under the present federal leadership; and argued that social divisions are being purposely inflamed by politicians, particularly over Covid vaccines.
“We need to get our fiscal debt in order and we also need to focus on social divides that are breaking our country apart,” she said. “Wokism and cancel culture are destroying our society.”
Northern concerns
On issues specific to the North, Lewis said she intends to address the costs of housing construction and the conditions of cramped quarters experienced by many families in Nunavut.
She also said the Nutrition North food subsidy program is “broken” and needs to better benefit consumers. She also maintained that there needs to be a bigger military presence in the Arctic to offset Russian encroachment.
Her biggest message to Northerners seemed to be that her campaign will ensure that they are not forgotten or “devalued” in a Lewis government.
“People ask me why are you going to places like Nunavut and the Northwest Territories when the numbers are so much smaller there for conservatives,” she said. “But I think we need to do politics differently. We need to show there are regions that they matter — not by words and virtue signaling but by actually showing up and caring about issues that matter to individuals within this territory.”
Lewis said she would support economic and resource development to the detriment of some who would rather see the NWT be protected from mineral extraction.
“We have to focus on making sure that we can bring jobs to this region and that we push back against special interest groups who want regions like the North to be mere provincial parks and vacation spots,” she said. “There are a lot of resources in this territory and we have to ensure the territory’s sovereignty is strong.”
For about 45 minutes, Lewis answered more than a dozen questions that included her opposition to the influence of international organizations like the World Economic Forum and World Health Organization; her support of improved energy security and domestic oil and gas production; her belief in free votes on issues of conscience, such as abortion; and her support of government subsidized day care.
Supporter of ‘freedom truckers’
Lewis was a defender of the freedom trucker convoy to Ottawa last February that brought much of downtown Ottawa to a standstill. She received applause when she promised to change the rules for when the Emergency Measures Act can be invoked.
The Liberal government enacted the controversial measures that expanded police powers to remove trucker protesters from the Parliament precinct.
“We need a two-thirds majority to do it,” she said, noting that it currently only requires a simple majority vote.
“We cannot have a government that does not follow due process and it has really caused a lot of consternation for many Canadians.”
She also promised to introduce a parental bill of rights that would protect parents’ ability to raise their children according to their own values in response to a question about “age appropriateness” of sex education in some schools.
National media
Part of her discussion also centered on the national news media, which she called a “propaganda arm” for the Liberal government and a serious problem. She said she supported defunding the CBC.
“One of the first things that a totalitarian regime does is control the media, control the message and push out propaganda,” she said.
Tina Korcyki attended Lewis’s presentation with her husband Jack. She said she has never voted or supported conservatives until Lewis’s candidacy. On July 7, Korcyki said she felt like she was being heard.
“She presented as I expected and knew she would,” she said. “I like what she has to say and I believe she will do what she says she will do. I’m glad she came to Yellowknife and did not ignore us.”
Korcyki said she likes that Lewis will take on difficult national topics, including the need to get Canadian oil and gas products to international market and that she is pro-life.
“I thought I was pro-choice but I have come to believe that while every woman has a choice, if I had to make a choice I wouldn’t be able to abort a baby,” she said. “She made me feel that it is OK to believe what I believe.”
The Conservative leadership election takes place on Sept. 10.