A whistle stop in Guelph Wednesday by Federal Conservative leadership hopeful Pierre Lemieux resulted in an unexpected discussion with Roman Catholic Cardinal Thomas Collins.
Lemieux arrived at Williams Fresh Cafe on Edinburgh Road shortly after Collins who was waiting in line for his order. It doesn’t appear Collins was there to meet or hear Lemieux speak at the scheduled event. The two men chatted briefly before Collins grabbed his coffee and slipped away.
Collins didn’t stick around for the speech but would likely have agreed with Lemieux’s vocal opposition to abortion and same sex marriage – views that coincide with official policies of the Catholic Church.
Collins has publicly criticized the Trudeau government for enacting Bill C-14, the so-called “Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide” bill and Liberal government funding of “sexual and reproductive health programs” that among other things support abortion rights in developing countries.
“I have a message to those who value life from the moment of conception to natural death and who are pro-family and have those types of social conservative values,” said Lemieux. “You are needed in the party.”
Lemieux said that social conservatives have been discouraged from expressing their views by the media, the opposition and even members of Conservative Party.
“You will be described as intolerant and discriminatory,” he said. “I am here to tell you that if you have those same values as I do you have a rightful place in Canadian society and in our party. If you have those values and you aren’t in the party then the party is too small. “
Lemieux spoke about his 20-year leadership role in the Canadian military where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He retired from the military and was elected as a Conservative MP in the Ontario riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell in 2006. He held that seat until being defeated in the 2015 federal election.
He shares parts of his platform with most of the other 13 leadership candidates. He is concerned about immigration and refugees. He advocates for doubling defense spending to meet NATO requirements. He wants to proceed with pipeline projects, eliminate carbon taxes and reduce taxes overall.
“I am pro-life, pro family, pro freedom of speech and I am social conservative,” said Lemieux. “Saying those things among the 14 candidates makes me different.”
He wants to re-open the abortion debate especially in relation to gender selective abortions that often favour male children over females.
“Most Canadians oppose gender selective abortions but the issue has never been debated in the House of Commons,” he said. “Why can’t we talk about this? We need conservative leaders that have the courage to talk about life issues.”
He believes Liberal bills such as C-16 and motions such as M-103 are granting “special rights to special people” and are threatening freedom of speech.
“The writer of M-103 spilled a lot of ink and didn’t devote one single word defining Islamophobia,” said Lemieux. “I feel I should be able to have a legitimate concern about Islam but under this loose term the Liberals would call me Islamophobic.”
He criticized Bill C-16, the gender expression and identity bill for promoting Liberal ideology.
“They have invented new transgender pronouns that we are compelled to use and the concern is that this infringes on our freedom of speech,” said Lemieux. “If you fail to comply you could find yourself in front of the Human Rights Commission.”
He believes the Conservative Party needs a leader that will define the party’s social conservative identity.
“All the leadership candidates say we have to defeat the Liberals in 2019 yet some of the leadership candidates are voting for Liberal ideological bills and motions,” he said. “What are we doing when we do that? We are making Canada more Liberal.”
