The leader of the Conservative Party says that three Ontario MPs didn’t know what Christine Anderson thought and “regret” meeting with her
Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative Party, is trying to distance his party from a far-right German politician whose views have been called hateful and racist. This week, the politician was seen having lunch with three Conservative MPs.
Christine Anderson, a member of the European Parliament for Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, is on a cross-Canada tour that ends tonight in Montreal.
On Tuesday, online photos showed Anderson at a restaurant with three Conservative MPs: Dean Allison from Niagara West–Glanbrook, Colin Carrie from Oshawa, and Leslyn Lewis from Haldimand–Norfolk.
The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs, which calls itself an advocate for Jewish federations across Canada, was against the meeting. On Thursday, it tweeted that it had talked to the Conservative Party of Canada about it.
Anderson’s views are “not welcome here.
On Friday, Sebastian Skamski, who is in charge of media relations for the office of the opposition leader, said that Poilievre had said:
“Christine Anderson’s ideas are disgusting and don’t belong in our politics.” The MPs didn’t know what this visiting member of the European Parliament thought, so they’re sorry they met with her.
“To be honest, Anderson should have never gone to Canada in the first place. “We don’t want her or her racist, hateful ideas here.”
The three MPs who were photographed with Anderson were named in a separate statement from Poilievre’s office.
“Of course, it’s not unusual for members of Parliament to meet with elected officials from other countries who are in town for a visit. We met with an elected member of the European Parliament while she was in Canada on a recent trip, which “says what is being said.”
“We didn’t know what she thought or who she worked with in her political party.” “We don’t agree with her or share her views, and we strongly disagree with any racist or hateful ideas she has.”
CBC News has asked all three MPs for more information, but they haven’t gotten back to us yet.
Trudeau points out the “pattern” of the Conservatives
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized the Conservatives for what he called a “pattern” of similar things happening on Friday.
Trudeau said, “I think the Conservative Party of Canada needs to explain itself to Canadians.”
“Conservative parliamentarians and other people who should know better are always hanging out with people who say and do horrible things, and their answer is always the same: “Oh, we didn’t know.”
“At some point, Canadians need to stop being treated like fools, and the Conservatives need to own up and either really distance themselves from hateful, vile, intolerant rhetoric or tell the truth and explain that they actually have room for that rhetoric and that intolerance within their party.”
Anderson blasts Trudeau in Brussel
Anderson’s “Strong and Free” tour stopped in Calgary on February 18, Toronto on February 21, and Whitby, Ontario, on February 22.
Anderson will go to a private event in Montreal on Friday. Her guest speaker will be a Laval University professor who was suspended for making comments about vaccines. The stories of her guests in Calgary and Toronto are similar.
Anderson has made friends with some right-wing groups in Canada, like those who are against COVID-19 mandates. She was seen in Calgary with Tamara Lich and other organizers of the convoy protests last winter.
She is not new to politics in Canada. Last March, when Anderson spoke to the European Parliament in Brussels on behalf of the Identity and Democracy (ID) parliamentary group, he called Trudeau “a disgrace for any democracy.”
Anderson said that Trudeau violated the civil rights of protesters and called him a dictator who treats his own people like “terrorists.”
Anderson’s AfD has beendescribed by the BBCAs an extreme right-wing political party that uses rhetoric,“tinged with Nazi overtones.”
A German court called Anderson’s political party around the time that Trudeau was in Brussels.“Something that might hurt democracy”An administrative court in Cologne found “sufficient evidence” that the AfD wanted to do things that were against the constitution.
The AfD is part of a group in parliament that is made up of political parties that are against the European Union. They are also very far to the right on issues like immigration and social welfare.
In March 2020, the head of Germany’s domestic intelligence service put a group of AfD members under surveillance, saying that “right-wing extremism and right-wing terrorism are currently the biggest threat to democracy in Germany.”