Federal Conservative leader’s initial statement was condemned quickly online for failing to specify that the New Zealand attack was on Muslims, during prayers at mosques.
OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer issued two statements on the terrorist attacks in New Zealand on Friday — the second after being criticized for not mentioning in the first that the attack was against Muslims at mosques during their Friday prayers.
The statement does not mention Scheer by name but at that point, he was the only Canadian political leader whose public response to the attacks did not mention either Muslims or mosques. Scheer’s office did not respond to an initial query about the statement’s not mentioning Muslims but after being asked about the statement from the National Council of Canadian Muslims, his spokesman responded with a link to a new statement on Scheer’s Facebook page.
A month ago, Scheer was criticized for sharing a stage on Parliament Hill with a cross-Canada truck convoy mostly protesting Liberal inaction on the energy industry but which included some people promoting hatred. Scheer said he was only there to support the energy workers, not the “other elements that tried to associate themselves with the event.”
Genuis, an Edmonton-area MP, and fellow Conservative MP Kelly Block of Saskatchewan were to co-host the reception with Cox, who has shown support for Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and has said she believes Muslims are trying to destroy Western democracies with Shariah law.
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