Burnaby North-Seymour candidates sizing up chances after Leung turfed
Credit to Author: Matt Robinson| Date: Sun, 06 Oct 2019 00:29:41 +0000
Green and NDP candidates in the Burnaby North-Seymour riding, where Heather Leung was booted Friday from the Conservative Party over homophobic comments, say they might now pick up votes from Tory supporters left without a party candidate.
Svend Robinson, the NDP candidate and a former MP, said he found it hopeful and heartening that people across party lines stood up to reject hatred after Leung’s comments surfaced.
“Whatever the political impact, it’s a good thing that she no longer has the support of the Conservative Party. That’s a positive thing, and it’s a hopeful message that our community rejects that — even across the political board,” said Robinson, who was Canada’s first openly gay MP.
In a video that appears to be from 2016, Leung said conversion therapy provides hope to those living “the perverted homosexual lifestyle.”
Robinson called messages like that “destructive.”
“What kind of message is that telling young people? It’s telling them first of all that you’re perverted. Secondly, that you can change your sexuality. And the message it gives to parents is if your kid is struggling with their sexuality or their gender identity, because this also applies to trans kids as well, find somebody that can convert them.”
As to where the former Conservative candidate’s votes will now go, Robinson said “that’s the big question, isn’t it?”
He said he has received “many calls from conservatives in the constituency” telling him Leung’s comments did not reflect their values and stating they would back him on election day.
Green party candidate Amita Kuttner said they thought Leung’s canning “changes things a lot.”
“There’s always the strategic vote argument … that if you don’t vote for us, you’re going to be stuck with a Conservative. And now that doesn’t really work.”
Kuttner said many Conservative voters in the riding were concerned about the environment and believed it was possible the Greens would receive some of their votes.
“I think we will disagree on some things, but we’ll also agree on others. And what we like to do as Greens, our primary mandate, is to be representatives for our community and our constituents before party line.”
Kuttner, who identifies as non-binary and pansexual, said they were disturbed by what they saw in Leung’s video.
“I was glad to see the Conservatives denounce her candidacy because those views really don’t belong in public discourse and I would much rather talk about legitimate issues in policy,” they said.
Liberal MP and candidate Terry Beech said the matter did not change much for his campaign.
“My electoral strategy has always been work as hard as you can, try to help people, and let the chips fall as they may,” he said.
Beech questioned whether Andrew Scheer, the leader of the Conservatives, had known about the video for a long time and had been OK with it. “Personally I think it shows a total lack of leadership. I think it also shows a lack of experience.”
The Conservative Party of Canada did not respond to a request for comment. Nor did Rocky Dong, the People’s Party of Canada candidate.
On Friday the Conservative Party issued a statement that it had “no tolerance” for the types of offensive comments made by Leung.
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