***UPDATE: Heather Leung has been dropped as the candidate for this riding based on the video described in this blog. Read the breaking story here.
Burnaby North-Seymour Conservative candidate Heather Leung has - so far - refused to do any media interviews and looks committed to not taking part in any of the riding’s all-candidates’ meetings.
So, with Leung hiding from public view to avoid questions about her views on important issues, we have had to look elsewhere.
I wrote in June about Leung’s abortion stance, which includes her view that even woman who have gotten pregnant after being raped should denied access to an abortion. You can read about that here.
On Wednesday, I was made aware of a video interview with Leung that was posted on YouTube by the Burnaby NOW in 2013. This is long before I started with this newspaper. Former NOW reporter Jennifer Moreau produced this excellent video, which documented the passage in 2011 of a gay- and transgender-positive school board policy in Burnaby aimed at stopping bullying.
I encourage everyone to watch the entire video (posted below) because it shows Burnaby students proudly fighting for the rights of students bullied for who they are.
But at around the two-minute mark, there is an interview with Leung, who was fighting against the policy.
Leung’s opposition to this policy isn’t a revelation, but hearing Leung articulate her disturbing views is worth listening to if you are a voter, although you will probably need a shower afterwards.
Moreau is more than fair with her questions. Leung says she doesn’t think the policy is really about stopping bullying, but is actually an attempt to “push” kids into the “homosexual” “camp” – whatever that means.
Leung also hauls out that old nugget about how LGBTQ2+ people (no, she doesn’t use that acronym) are trying to “recruit” kids.
Like being gay or transgender is some sort of cult.
Leung says in the video that the Burnaby school trustees are “digging a deep, dark pit for the next generation. Because these homosexual people, they cannot produce the next generation. They recruit more people and more people into their camp.”
Leung also says the policy would promote “transsexual” behaviour to children.
This, of course, is ridiculous. Policies like the one passed in 2011 and the SOGI education materials approved more recently by the B.C. government are all about stopping bullying by educating children about LGBTQ2+ communities, some of whom are their classmates. It’s about making schools more inclusive. It’s about potentially saving lives.
Leung’s interview is truly sickening. No wonder the Conservative Party of Canada doesn’t want her out in public.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
