A spokesperson for Kellie Leitch says the Conservative leadership candidate “would not have attended” a meeting in Brampton Sunday if she had known that a member of a group that’s been critical of Islam would be speaking there.
Michael Diamond made the comments Wednesday after the group Rise Canada posted a video online entitled, “Rise Canada team: Outlines our goals to KELLIE LEITCH at Brampton event.”
The video shows Rise Canada member Ron Banerjee speaking at the meeting before Leitch enters and greets members of the audience.
In a written statement to the Star, spokesman Michael Diamond said Leitch “did not know this person or this organization would be there. Had she known, she would not have attended.”
The video shows Banerjee, who is listed as an advisor on Rise Canada’s website, talk about the fight against “Islamization” and “sharia creep.”
Diamond said Leitch “wants to be very clear that this guy and his opinions are repugnant and do not reflect her own views.”
He also emphasized that Leitch was not at the event while Banerjee was speaking.
During the event in Brampton, which also included the group Concerned Parents of Canada, “part of the Rise Canada organizing team spoke to Conservative candidate Kellie Leitch,” the group’s website read, “to discuss her position on various issues including M103 and prayers in schools.”
Rise Canada’s website says it defends “Canadian values, which often conflict with the Islamic way of thinking.”
At the end of the video, money can be seen being counted “to file paperwork against the construction of a massive Meadowvale mosque,” Rise Canada’s website says. According to the video, $250 was raised.
Prior to the event, there was no guest list sent to Leitch, Diamond said. The meeting was organized by a group called “Keep Religion Out of Public Schools,” he said, and was in support of secular and pluralistic public schools.
“Kellie does not believe that this longstanding Canadian practice should be changed to accommodate one group,” Diamond said. “She is committed to building a country that promotes the shared values of hard work, generosity, freedom, tolerance, equality of opportunity, and equality of the individual.”
“That includes the freedom to practice your religion and the responsibility to be tolerant of other people’s religions.”
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