Clement proposes more security screening for immigrants, no values test
OTTAWA — Conservative leadership candidate Tony Clement says he will propose enhanced security screening for immigrants — but not a values test — as part of a broader plan for countering the threat of terrorism.
“If we can give our security personnel the right tools to identify potential threats to our country, then I believe that is exactly what we should be doing and quite frankly, that is where the threat is,” Clement said Thursday as he shared part of the national security platform he plans to unveil in greater detail next week.
“It’s people who take their thoughts and then process those thoughts and then act on those thoughts to do damage to our society and to do violence to our society. That’s where our focus should be,” Clement said in an interview from Montreal.
The Ontario MP and former cabinet minister initially declined to get into the debate over a proposal from leadership rival Kellie Leitch to vet immigrants and refugees for their views on what she calls anti-Canadian values. The idea was first floated in a questionnaire her campaign emailed to thousands of potential supporters last week.