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Andrew Scheer attempts to clear “misconceptions” about the Conservative party.

10-15-2019

Naveed Waraich a long time Conservative Supporter and the host of a TV program, “Vancouver with Naveed Waraich”  had an opportunity to sit down for an interview with the Conservative party Leader Andrew Scheer.

And rightly he should have not let this opportunity go. Earlier on June 21, at the Eid Dinner hosted by The Canadian-Muslim Vote, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Conservative Muslims to get involved in the next election campaign.

“Even though it is going to make my life as Liberal leader a little bit more difficult”, “I want you to encourage Conservative Muslims to get out and help their local Conservative candidate, to go knock [on] doors, to donate to the Conservative party, to attend a rally for the Conservative leader…“I want you to make Muslim volunteers important to the Conservatives” he added “So that never again would any mainstream party in Canada think it’s a good idea to stoke fears and divisions against Muslims or any other group of Canadians.”

Naveed Warraich started the interview by raising the issue of affordability.

Andre Scheer replied, “I really appreciate this opportunity to speak to you and your viewers about our policies. First and foremost we have to recognize that Justin Trudeau’s tax hikes have made life much less affordable. It's really increase the cost of living and as you mentioned it's threaten a lot of jobs in the construction industry.

We are committed to reworking the stress test,  stressed test has had a very negative impact on many aspects of the Housing Industry.

We are also going to bring back 30 year mortgages for first-time home buyers so that's going to make it much easier for many people to purchase a home.

W are also going to prioritize infrastructure spending to open up new areas for development that's a big part of the housing cost right now. It is a fact that it takes so long for new homes to be able to be approved and then built. We will work with municipalities to streamline that process which means more affordable homes and more construction jobs and we know from the trucking industry to the construction industry so many small businesses are hit hard by that carbon tax we're going to scrap it.

Countering the Liberal narrative for strategic voting and stoking fears, Naveed Warraich raised the issue of fairness in immigration policies and sponsorship of parents.

Scheer replied, “Thank you very much that question, allows me to dispel some of the rumours and lies that liberals like to tell.  Our party believes in Immigration we are an open and inclusive party under the previous considered a government with then minister of immigration Jason Kenney we had some of the highest levels of immigration to Canada in a generation.

People shouldn't make their vote based on what liberals say because liberals don't tell the truth and they break the promises.

With regards to outside interference in Canadian elections, Scheer said, “It is important that Canadians make their minds up, The decision of who is going to be the Prime Minister is based made by Canadians based on Canadian policies and decisions that we are going to make will impact people living in this country and that's why it's incredibly important that our national security agencies deal with this look into it protect Canadian them and protect the Integrity of this election system.

We believe the immigration system must be based on fairness orderliness and compassion.  When I speak with Canadians and they say hey it took me two or three years to come to Canada and I see someone crossover illegally into back from upstate New York that's not fair .

My message to you is, it is not fair, we're going to close the loophole thats allowing people to come into Canada illegally.  So we can prioritize resources to process applications for people who are coming to Canada legally and there will be a path for permanent residency, for students, for temporary foreign workers.

We are also going to ensure that there's a component for family reunification and to ensure that Canada continues to do its part to help with Refugees.

As it is very specifically to Muslims,  I'm very proud of the fact that it was the Conservative Party of Canada that had the first Muslim Member of Parliament.  We value people from all over the world. In Our Party we don’t look at your faith, the color of your skin.

If you believe in Freedom and prosperity and balanced budgets and low taxes and if you do then  you're welcome to join our party, we are continuing to be an open and inclusive party and treat people equally when they apply to come to Canada.

Naveed affirmed Scheer’s point by saying, “Being a Muslim I have always been treated fairly and kindly under the conservatives. Naveed further highlighted that they're Muslims on the conservative States including and mentioned Senator Salma Ataullahjan. That was followed by a question, saying the perception of the conservative policies is usually anti-Islam and anti-Muslim, what will you do as a Prime Minister to address that issue so that more Muslim are attracted to vote for conservative? This is the only thing that is stopping thousands of voters to vote conservatives

Scheer replied, “I believe you're correct in saying that there are so many similarities between Muslim Canadians and the conservative party. When you look at the people that come to this country they want their kids to be able to grow in safety,  they believe in strong families, and they believe in hard work and those are conservative principles.

The key for me is to build those bridges. I need to send those signals and to build strong links with the Muslim Community all across the country. I have started to do that as leader of the opposition hosting events on Parliament Hill for the people of the Muslim faith, visiting them in their homes and hearing from them directly to show the signal that we welcome everyone in our party and we treat everyone equally, and we value the contributions of Muslim Canadian into the Canadian society.”

Scheer definitely has a lot of ground work to do to build bridges in the Muslim Community. Earlier this year on March 16, Andrew Scheer visited the Regina mosque after the Christchurch massacre in New Zealand.  

On April 9 he visited with the Imams and others community members from Toronto’s Muslim community. He had stated that he wants to reaffirm his “commitment to protecting religious freedom and my condemnation of anti-Muslim hatred and bigotry. Thank you for the important discussion!”

After his visit in Toronto, Muslim Liberal MP Salam Zahid Posted on her facebook post,

“Yesterday Andrew Scheer met with Imams and Muslim leaders in Scarborough. But he didn't tweet about it, and access to the Facebook post is restricted.

Why is he hiding his Muslim outreach? Worried about the base? Does he have different messages for different audiences? Maybe the Yellow Vesters won't like what he had to say about immigration and diversity?

Politicians shouldn't have one message for one community and one message for another.”

On September 15,  NCCM called on Andrew Scheer for not dropping Ghada Melek- a candidate who has made racist or homophobic comments in the past, “Without a real apology, despite giving Ghada Melek numerous opportunities to engage in such a process, we have no choice but to continue to call on Andrew Scheer, alongside other folks in the Muslim Council of Peel and Imam Ibrahim Hindy, to drop Ghada as a candidate.

“We aren’t asking for much. Asking that a person who is apologizing understands the harm caused, and commits to learning more, should be obvious.”  


 

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Article Source: ALAMEENPOST.COM