Ottawa, ON – Leader of the Official Opposition, Andrew Scheer says racism will not be tolerated in the Conservative Party of Canada.
He was commenting on the posting of Senator Lynn Beyak.
“On Tuesday, January 2, 2018, I learned that Senator Lynn Beyak posted to her Parliamentary website approximately 100 letters from Canadians in support of her position on residential schools.
“While the vast majority of letters focused on the history of residential schools, other letters contained comments about indigenous Canadians in general. One of these comments stated:
“‘I’m no anthropologist but it seems every opportunistic culture, subsistence hunter/gatherers seeks to get what they can for no effort. There is always a clash between industrial/organized farming culture that values effort as opposed to a culture that will sit and wait until the government gives them stuff’.
“Promoting this comment is offensive and unacceptable for a Conservative Parliamentarian. To suggest that indigenous Canadians are lazy compared to other Canadians, is simply racist.
“I demanded Senator Beyak remove this content from her website. She refused.
“As a result of her actions, the Conservative Senate Leader Larry Smith and I have removed Senator Lynn Beyak from the Conservative National Caucus.
“Racism will not be tolerated in the Conservative Caucus or Conservative Party of Canada.”
