BLOG: Jason Kenney weighs in on B.C. ethnic vote scandal
MISSISSAUGA, ONT.: JANUARY 21, 2012 --Jason Kenney, Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, centre, takes part in a ceremony celebrating the Chinese New Year at the Fo Guang Shan Temple of Toronto, in Mississauga, Ont., January 21, 2012 (Brett Gundlock for Postmedia News)
OTTAWA — Himself a devout Catholic, outspoken Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says he was “taken by surprise” by Pope Benedict’s sudden resignation and thinks it’s “neat” that a Canadian is now in the running to replace him.
Speaking Tuesday from Berlin after Canada took over the chairmanship of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Kenney weighed in on the upcoming conclave to choose a successor to Pope Benedict XVI who, citing his “advanced age,” became the first Pope to resign in nearly 600 years.
Kenney said he’s met Marc Ouellet, the 68-year-old Quebec Cardinal who is considered a leading contender for the job, “on a few occasions.” He describes him as a man of “great depth” and “great authenticity” with a “humble spirit and “winsome sense of humour.
“He strikes me as a great intellect and having lived and worked in Canada, Latin America and Europe, I think (he) has a very global vision,” he said.
“I think it’s pretty neat to see, for the first time ever, a Canadian who apparently is a prospective candidate for the papacy but I’m not going to comment on what is the responsibility of the College of Cardinals to decide . . .
“Certainly Cardinal Ouellet is a great Canadian who is a fine representative of our country and I’m sure people who are not Catholics will share in that sentiment.”
Kenney also acknowledged Pope Benedict’s “lifetime of service,” adding he’s a “brilliant man and fine scholar” and that “all Canadians wish him well in his future prayerful vocation.”
Cardinals have started to gather at the Vatican, though no date has been set for the conclave.
On the unfolding drama in British Columbia over courting the ethnic vote:
Widely credited with wooing ethnic communities to the Conservative Party and securing a majority government in the last election, the man affectionately known as the Minister for curry-in-a-hurry also touched on the unfolding scandal in B.C. where Premier Christy Clark’s Liberal government is under fire after a detailed 17-page plan to attract ethnic voters was leaked.
Traveling through Europe over the last four days, Kenney said he hasn’t followed the drama too closely but suggests his approach has been to focus on the values ethnic Canadians and the Conservative Party share.
“I believe the majority of new Canadians are natural Conservatives who have a profound work ethic, who are often very entrepreneurial. They want to be rewarded for hard work and not punished through high taxes, they’re often respectful of tradition, intolerant of criminality, with a strong support for principled democratic foreign policy and these are the kinds of values I think our party best represents,” he said.
“That’s been the core of our approach and I would encourage any other party to take a similar approach which is to be clear about what your values are and encourage people to vote on that basis.”
Clark has faced criticism from within and outside her party for the document which called for using public resources to help woo the ethnic votes in the upcoming May election. It suggests the party could get “quick wins” by correcting so-called historic wrongs like the Chinese head tax or Komagata Maru incident and specifically targeting ethnic media with both government and Liberal messaging. The scandal has already led to a couple of key resignations.
It should be noted Kenney has come under fire for similar things. In November he was forced to defend spending some $750,000 over three years to monitor the ethnic press. He argued it gives him insight into the problems and concerns of minority communities and has allowed the government to address things like the Chinese head tax.
He also had some explaining to do before the last federal election when a Conservative party campaign document dubbed Breaking Through — Building the Conservative Brand in Cultural Communities was leaked. It outlined plans to boost support among ethnic communities by targeting partisan advertisements at ethnic media in various languages. It accompanied a pitch to fellow Tories to contribute to an ad buy that was mistakenly written on ministerial letterhead. As using taxpayer-funded resources for partisan activities is a big no no, at the time many were calling for Kenney’s resignation.
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