It is high time that we started making sure that our Conservative principles of opportunity for all, safety and security, and clean air, soil and water apply to EVERYONE in Canada

The following was posted to the website of Conservative Party leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis, today (June 22^nd).

PLEASE NOTE ... the title I have used was chosen, by me, from the comments she made in this commentary.

 

Conservatives believe in equal opportunity.

 

Outcomes, however, are largely determined by personal effort. Those who work hard do better than those who don’t.

 

It is our understanding of personal responsibility and equal opportunity that helps us spot when there is injustice or discrimination in our systems.

 

This is the Conservative way. We don’t believe in endless government handouts because we believe our country is more prosperous, and strong, when each Canadian is given the opportunity to pursue their dreams and goals for themselves.

 

However, because we believe in justice, if two people of equal intelligence and equal effort get wildly different results, we study it closely. When there is a pattern, we realize our systems might be broken.

 

When Indigenous Canadians are convicted at a much higher rate than other Canadians for the same crimes, that’s a systemic problem.

 

When Indigenous girls are being trafficked and killed at an exponential rate compared to other Canadians, that’s a systemic problem.

 

Systemic racism does not require the persons involved to be racist. It simply means that the system itself is set-up in a way that people of one race are having unequal and consistently negative outcomes regardless of personal effort.

 

Watch me explain the difference between personal responsibility and broken systems to the media here.

 

Life is not fair. If my parents hadn’t decided to move my family to Canada then I never would have had many of the opportunities that I have been blessed with.

 

My parents also taught me about work. That it’s your responsibility to make the most of opportunities.

 

I want to build a Canada where every Canadian has the same opportunities that I have had. 

 

Yesterday was National Indigenous people’s day in Canada. And I believe that as Conservatives we can all agree that it is high time that we stopped treating First Peoples as photo-ops, and started making sure that our Conservative principles of: Opportunity for all, safety and security, and clean air, soil and water apply to EVERYONE in Canada.

 

Let’s get to work making it happen.