Leslyn Lewis, who is vying to become the next leader of the Conservative Party, brought her message of hope, unity and compassion to Moose Jaw as part of her Western Canada road tour.
Lewis, the MP for Haldimand-Norfolk in Ontario, held a rally at the Moose Jaw Wildlife Clubhouse on April 4 and spoke to about 100 people of all ages. She presented her vision for the country and then took more than a dozen questions from the floor.
Some floor topics focused on globalism, The Great Reset, universal basic income, digital ID, combating indoctrination in the school system, the leadership race, abortion and euthanasia, the carbon tax, democracy, and electoral reform.
This is the second time Lewis is pursuing the leadership position of the Conservative Party. She finished third during the leadership race in 2020, while Erin O’Toole won that contest.
Lewis is running again because the issues that were important to her two years ago are still present — and are more magnified today, she explained. The country’s cohesive fabric is torn, provinces are threatening to leave Confederation, and debt has reached $1.1 trillion.
“We are paying $300 million a day interest on our loans. That is unconscionable. Think of the future of our children,” she said. “We … need to do something about that.”
Canada’s social fabric is splitting because of contentious issues while friends and family refuse to speak to each other, Lewis continued. She accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of using the pandemic to create fear and divide people instead of working to heal the trauma.
Instead, she argued that policies are needed to unite the country.
“When I ran for leader, that was one thing I wanted to do. I wanted to be a uniter. I wanted to be a bridge-builder,” Lewis said.
There were many recent opportunities to build bridges, such as with the trucker convoy in Ottawa, she continued. She visited with the participants and found it was the most peaceful protest she had witnessed. However, many protestors attempted to contact their MPs for support but received none.
She also pointed out that all Trudeau needed to do was meet with them. Instead, he called them racists, misogynists and part of a fringe. This, she thought, was not how leaders should govern.
“A leader has to be a leader for everybody, whether or not they voted for you, whether or not they believe in what you believe in,” said Lewis.
As a bridge-builder, Lewis would support business owners who struggled during the pandemic, support young people struggling to purchase a home, and create policies to ensure parents can raise their children with the desired morals and values. She would also defend people of faith to ensure the government can’t impose a values test on them to receive grant funding.
There is plenty of alienation in Canada, especially in Western Canada, where people feel disrespected and a separation movement is afoot, Lewis continued. The federal government has imposed policies “meant to cripple the West,” particularly with anti-oil and gas bills.
These policies need to be repealed since they favour foreign businesses over local ones, she remarked. Meanwhile, Canada needs to build pipelines so it can ship its ethically and sustainably produced oil and gas overseas.
“Europe is buying 40 per cent of their oil from Russia and financing a Russian dictatorship. We need to get our products to market,” Lewis said, “and I say we do that by building the pipelines. We can go up to Churchill (Man.), get our product to tidewater and make sure we are enriching this nation.”
Lewis believed it is important to help people regain hope after the past few years. She noted that many Canadians have lost trust in the legacy media and governments, so rebuilding trust needs to occur. She also criticized the use of cancel culture to solve problems.
“I am not a career politician. I am someone who felt a calling … (to) give my life to serving Canadians, to rebuilding this country,” she added. “… I am going to dedicate my life fighting for this country, cost it what it may.”
Lewis will next head to Alberta during her leadership road trip.
