Several Canadian political leaders on Friday denounced the presence of a far-right elected member of the European Parliament, who was visiting the four corners of the country this week.
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Christine Anderson, MP for the Alternative für Deutschland party, concluded her tour with a stop in Montreal, after holding events in Calgary, and twice in Toronto.
It is in particular the presence of no less than three elected Conservatives that raised eyebrows, in addition to making the leader of the party, Pierre Poilièvre, react.
“The visions of Christine Anderson are vile and have no place in our [débats politiques],” Mr. Poilièvre said, according to a text from CTV News, after seeing Tory MPs Colin Carrie, Dean Allison, and former party leader aspirant Leslyn Lewis pictured with Ms. Anderson in a statement.
“MPs were unaware of the political ideas of this European Parliament politician, and they regret meeting her.”
The three elected officials in question went in the same direction, also maintaining that it “is not unusual” for elected officials to meet dignitaries from abroad.
They made a point of adding, also by press release, that they did not share the visions of Mrs. Anderson, and that they condemned all that they believed to be “racist or hateful”.
The incident was first reported by the Advisory Center for Jewish and Israeli Relations, which immediately condemned the event.
‘Coherent pattern’ with Tory MPs, says Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also had his say on this event. According to him, the Conservative Party must offer “sincere explanations to citizens”, for what he believes to be “a [motif] that we see regularly. [… Ils] encourage individuals who make intolerant, vicious, hate-filled words and then say, ‘Ha! We didn’t know!’” He also added, in English, that the Conservatives must stop treating Canadians “like idiots”.
A disgrace to global democracy
Elected to the European Parliament for the first time in 2019, Christine Anderson is a member of the Alternative for Germany party, a far-right party known for its opposition to the European Union and immigration to Germany. A year ago, she gave her support to the infamous Canadian trucking convoy, which she says is a symbol of freedom. She had in 2022 declared that Justin Trudeau was “a disgrace to any democracy”.
She also said of Pierre Poilièvre, with whom she had the opportunity to speak a few times, that he seemed like “a good, decent guy”.