OTTAWA — Patrick Brown, the newest entrant in the Conservative leadership race, kicked off his campaign Monday by blasting opponent Pierre Poilievre over his presence in the party in 2015 when it pushed creating a tip line for "barbaric cultural practices."’
The attack came as Poilievre spent the past few days meeting with cultural community leaders in the Greater Toronto Area and promising to cut red tape for immigrants wanting to access the necessary licences they need to work in regulated industries.
The party knows it must gain more ground with immigrants and racialized Canadians if it hopes to pick up seats in the region as well as other major cities and suburbs, considered key to defeating three-term Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
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Poilievre pledged on Monday that if he wins the leadership, a Conservative government led by him would incentivize provinces to require occupational licensing bodies to decide on an immigrant’s application within 60 days of receiving their paperwork, rather than forcing them to wait for months.
As Poilievre made the pledge, Brown released a statement saying the longtime Ottawa-area MP lacks credibility on any policy that impacts minority communities given his role in the Conservatives’ 2015 election campaign.
It was during that race when the party, then led by former prime minister Stephen Harper, promised to create a tip line for so-called "barbaric cultural practices."
Poilievre was running for re-election as a candidate at the time and was also a member of Harper’s government when it introduced a bill banning people from wearing face coverings during citizenship ceremonies.
Brown says Poilievre hasn’t spoken out against these measures. The MP also has Jenni Byrne on his team, who was the party’s national campaign manager in 2015.
"This is the same campaign which platformed those two abhorrent policies, and lost the Conservatives the 2015 general election," Brown’s statement read.
"Even if he attempts to distance himself from his silence today, it would be a hollow gesture in an insincere bid to gain votes."
In contrast, Brown, who is the mayor of Brampton, has positioned himself as the contestant who best promotes religious freedoms, including through his opposition of a controversial secularism law in Quebec that prohibits public servants in pxjmtzywositions of authority from wearing religious symbols on the job.
A spokesman for Poilievre’s campaign has not yet provided a response to Brown’s statements.
Edmonton MP Tim Uppal, who has been named a co-chair on Poilievre’s campaign, has previously apologized for his role in promoting the niqab ban at the time. He has said the party is still dealing with the fallout from racialized communities from that election campaign.
A post-mortem from the Conservatives’ 2021 election loss submitted in January came to a similar finding, according to three sources who spoke to The Canadian Press on the condition of anonymity.
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Patrick Brown at a rally in Brampton, Ont., on Sunday, March 13, 2022. and Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre during a news conference Tuesday, August 18, 2020 in Ottawa. (CTV News composite / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
