Brampton, ON – Today, Mayor Patrick Brown issued the following statement calling out Pierre Poilievre for his position against religious freedom:
“Pierre Poilievre supported two discriminatory policies from the 2015 Conservative Party election campaign; the niqab ban and the barbaric cultural practices tipline. He has never once spoken out against these policies.
“Pierre has no credibility announcing any sort of policy which largely impacts minority communities, such as immigration, because he’s never publicly stood against policies that disproportionately impact them, like the niqab ban, the tipline, or Bill 21. Rather than making this the most welcoming country to immigrants in the world, he has happily pushed rhetoric that only attempted to divide people rather than bring them together.
“In fact, Mr. Poilievre has enlisted a campaign spokesperson who was the architect of the 2015 Conservative federal election campaign. This is the same campaign which platformed those two abhorrent policies, and lost the Conservatives the 2015 general election.
“Even if he attempts to distance himself from his silence today, it would be a hollow gesture in an insincere bid to gain votes.
“I have always proudly fought against these incursions on religious freedom – as well as Bill 21. I have never shied away from fighting against intolerance and never will. Every Canadian leader should feel the same way.
“Conservatives need a leader who will fight for religious freedom and stand against intolerance, all the time, every time, because it is quite frankly the right thing to do. I’ve already proven that leader is me.”
