Wellington-Halton Hills MP Michael Chong, who is running for Conservative Party leader, spoke with the Wellington Advertiser after the French debate in Quebec on Jan. 17.
The following is a synopsis of his thoughts on some key leadership debate issues.
Screening new Canadians for “Canadian values,” which was suggested by fellow candidate Kellie Leitch.
“Canada already has the most robust screening system for refugees and immigrants in the world, but suggesting or proposing that we add another screen for anti-Canadian values is not practical or workable and is simply a proposal that plays to people’s fears about immigrants and refugees and, as I said, will give the next election to the Liberals, as it did the last.
“We need to learn the lessons of the last election, which is that Canadians rejected the politics of fear and the politics of division and will not vote for a party that plays to those fears.”
Supply management for farmers (some candidates suggested they want it eliminated).
“First off, I support supply management. It’s vitally important to Wellington County. We have over 400 farms in this county that depend on supply management and we have to protect that sector in order to ensure that we protect these farms.
“Secondly, if we’re concerned about the cost of living for households, food is not the problem; food has never been cheaper in history … the real challenge with the cost of living for households is not food, it’s the price of housing and income taxes.
“That’s why my economic plan is focused on not only reducing income taxes but also privatizing CHMC (Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation), which would return housing to more affordable levels in the long term.”
National defence and terrorism
“It’s a multi-faceted approach we need to take. I think we need to combat ISIS in the Middle East with an air campaign and not on the ground.
“I think the current government’s plan that has put Canadian soldiers on the ground in Iraq is foolish. I think history demonstrated that whenever western powers have put ground forces in the Middle East, it leads to disaster.
“I think our role in combating ISIS is in the air and I think that’s the first change we need to make. The second is that we need to continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the millions of displaced people in that region and we need to continue to work through diplomatic channels with our allies.
“Here at home, we need to counter homegrown terrorism. The terrorism that we’ve had in recent years is not coming from immigrants, it’s coming from native-born Canadians and we need to put in place measures to insure that radicalization is being countered and ensure that our intelligence agencies and police forces have sufficient resources to counter that threat.”
