Burnaby North-Seymour Conservative candidate Heather Leung spoke to media at an event organized by the North 麻豆传媒映画Chamber Wednesday. Photo supplied.
A controversial Conservative candidate who has previously been vocal about opposing abortion and LGBTQ-inclusive policies and who has made a point of avoiding media interviews turned out to an all-candidates 鈥渕ixer鈥� to chat with a business crowd in North 麻豆传媒映画on Wednesday.
Heather Leung, who is running for the Conservatives in Burnaby North-Seymour, was one of 10 candidates representing parties in the two North 麻豆传媒映画ridings who took part in the 鈥渟peed-dating鈥� style event organized by the North 麻豆传媒映画Chamber.
Leung told the North Shore News, 鈥淚鈥檓 here to hear the issues of the North 麻豆传媒映画Chamber of Commerce members.鈥�
Leung said the top issues she鈥檚 been hearing about at the doorstep are 鈥渢ransportation and housing affordability. Those are the top priorities.鈥�
鈥淩ight now the traffic is too heavy. I experience that every time I commute from Burnaby to North Vancouver. I鈥檓 stuck in traffic very often,鈥� she said.
The issue is a problem for North Shore businesses, she said, because 鈥渁 lot of firms they cannot keep workers because of the house prices. They live far, far away.鈥�
Leung did not cite any specific measures or policies her party would put in place to fix the problems, but said, 鈥淲e need to talk about it.鈥�
Asked why she has refused to respond to media requests for interviews so far, Leung said, 鈥淚鈥檓 keeping my head down to meet my constituents in my riding. Every day I go out door knocking. I meet them face to face with undivided attention. I鈥檓 hearing from them one on one.鈥�
Devon Bruce, a North 麻豆传媒映画school trustee who attended the event, said he tried to speak to Leung during the mixer about issues like the drug overdose crisis, but found Leung had little to say beyond 鈥渕aking all drugs illegal.鈥�
Leung鈥檚 candidate materials point to 鈥渒eeping illegal drugs out of our community,鈥� 鈥渂alancing the budget鈥� and 鈥減romoting legal immigration while stopping illegal border crossers鈥� as priorities.
Leung, an occupational therapist, previously founded a Burnaby parents group to oppose SOGI 123, a gay- and transgender-positive school board policy.
More recently, her campaign came under fire for altering a Rick Mercer quote and using the comedian鈥檚 face in an online post to make it appear as though Mercer was endorsing a Conservative vote 鈥� something Mercer denounced sharply.
Leung鈥檚 campaign also posted a Facebook meme with a picture of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau standing on the edge of a cliff under the campaign slogan 鈥淕o Forward,鈥� with a comment by a supporter underneath that read 鈥淲e need a strong wind to push him to his death.鈥�
