Brett Thoms
Campbell’s Bay May 29, 2022
The federal Conservative Party leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis visited the Pontiac at the Church of Faith, Praise and Prayer in Campbell’s Bay on a campaign stop.
Lewis, who is an MP representing Haldimand-Norfolk in Ontario, is known for her . . .
social conservative stances. She came in third place during the 2020 conservative leadership race that was ultimately won by Erin O’Toole. The event had between 30 and 40 people in attendance.
The pastor of the church, Sharon Rivest, welcomed Lewis after a prayer.
Lewis explained that her platform centered on lifting COVID-19 vaccine mandates for air travel, reducing the national debt and unifying the country.
Her remarks heavily focused on social conservative issues like opposition to abortion, medically assisted suicide and measures meant to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
“I’m the only candidate that is pro-life in the race right now,” she said.
She discussed her opposition to measures taken by the federal government to break up last winter’s trucker protests in Ottawa, such as the freezing of the protestor’s bank accounts.
Lewis stated she was also opposed to carbon taxes and said in their place she would work towards the widespread adoption of green technologies in order to reduce emissions.
She made a point of stating that she would introduce “parental rights legislation” that would mandate that teachers and schools disclose if students expressed different sexualities or gender identities to their parents.
After her prepared remarks she answered questions from the audience.
THE EQUITY asked if Lewis believed the federal government should play a role in intervening against Bill 96 and Bill 21.
On Bill 96 she expressed sympathy for the law stating that she “understood the desire to keep [French] culture alive” and added, “it had the potential to create alienation among anglophones.”
She stated that the Government of Quebec should improve the bill but did not state whether or not she supported federal intervention against it.
“Bill 21 is more clear,” she said. “A person should be able to express their faith without being penalized by the state.”
“That right is entrenched in our constitution,” said Lewis.
Other questions from the audience centred on the Conservative Party of Canada being too liberal, Lewis’ experience as a publicly Christian politician and multiple questions centering on how COVID-19 was dealt with over the past two years, among others questions.
Lewis then made a plea for the audience to purchase Conservative Party memberships in order for them to participate in the leadership race.
The deadline to join the party in order to participate in the leadership election is June 3. The vote will be held by ranked ballot, meaning that every voter gets to order their candidate by preference.
As candidates are eliminated each round, votes are allocated to other candidates in the order they were selected by each voter until one candidate has achieved over 50 per cent of the vote.
This final vote will be held on September 10.
