Former immigration minister Chris Alexander kicked off his official campaign for the Conservative party leadership today with a jab at rival Steven Blaney’s attempt to exploit the niqab as a wedge issue.
Alexander, Canada’s former ambassador to Afghanistan, is the ninth official leadership candidate to join the race to replace Stephen Harper. While he favours requiring new Canadians to uncover their faces when taking the oath at citizenship ceremonies, Alexander told iPolitics he does not support Blaney’s proposal to ban the niqab in the public service, or to use the notwithstanding clause if his anti-niqab bill is opposed by the Supreme Court.
“No. I do not support bans of particular articles of clothing, or using the notwithstanding clause for such unprecedented purposes,” he said in an email this week.
“I simply favour requiring candidates for citizenship to uncover their faces when taking the oath — because pronouncing the oath aloud, in public, remains a requirement for those wishing to become citizens.”
Becoming an “official” candidate means Alexander’s paperwork — with 300 signatures from members in at least 30 different ridings which represent no fewer than seven provinces and territories — has been accepted by the party and he has paid the first installment of $25,000.
Alexander said his priority is jobs, “ensuring Canada creates the jobs of the future we all want to see. To achieve this, we need to focus much more sharply on talent and skills, research and innovation, and companies and markets, especially beyond our continent.”
To boost the economy, Alexander would increase immigration levels to 400,000 new immigrants a year. At least ten per cent of that number, 40,000, would be refugees, he said.
“I see a strong immigration future as vital to Canada’s success because of my experience in the portfolio and what I saw,” he said in an earlier interview with iPolitics.
“I also came to realize very quickly that immigration is an economic portfolio for Canada and if we’re going to succeed in a very competitive world where the battle is on for capital, for market shares and for talent, then one of the areas where Canada is clearly ahead of the pack and can stay there and build on success, if we’re smart about it, is immigration.”