Canada: Conservative candidate sacked after saying gay marriage makes her vomit
A candidate for office in Ontario has been sacked after recordings of her emerged saying that gay marriage makes her want to vomit.
The centre-right Progressive Conservative (PC) Party, led by Doug Ford, had initially rejected calls to remove Tanya Granic Allen as their candidate in an election to the Ontario Legislative Assembly after tweets emerged in which she raged against abortion, same-sex marriage, and a state-wide law banning gay ‘cure’ therapy.
However, the candidate was finally removed today after a video of her emerged speaking about LGBT rights.
Speaking at a 2014 Croatian-Catholic Youth conference in Ontario, Granic Allen said: “When I think of the suffering of the people who lived in [Croatia] and the suffering that went on during the war, the sacrifices of generations of families, was it all for nothing?
“Did these people spill these blood on the frontlines… for what? For a values system and for the Catholic faith. But was that blood spilled for nothing?
“What I hear about [Croatia] trying to push radical sexual education on the young or gay marriage, you know I almost vomit in disbelief.
“How can this be happening? Just 20 years ago we were liberated from this communism, and now we’re embracing a lack of values and a lack of ideals that commies would have us embrace?”
The video spread rapidly on social media, shared by Allen’s liberal opponents – leading Ford to eventually eject her as a candidate.
Ford said in a statement: “Tanya Granic Allen will no longer be a candidate for the Ontario PC Party.
“We are a party comprised of people with diverse views that if expressed responsibly we would respect. However, the fact is her characterization of certain issues and people has been irresponsible.”
“Our party remains focused on defeating Kathleen Wynne and bringing relief to families across Ontario.”
Natalia Kusendova has been named the replacement candidate for Mississauga Centre..
Granic Allen responded on Twitter: “I’m disappointed to have been told by @fordnation ‘s campaign manager that I’m no longer a candidate. I’ll have more to say about this and Ontario politics in the coming days. #onpoli”.
Eric Lorenzen of conservative gay rights group LGBTory Canada told the Toronto Star: “She has a history of making these statements, and it hasn’t been a secret, We wish that the party had vetted her more carefully.”
Granic Allen’s anti-LGBT views had been evident for more than a month prior to the video emerging, with the Star reporting her history of anti-LGBT comments on social media on April 9.
At the time Ford stuck by her, saying: “The Ontario PC Party is an inclusive party. These statements are not reflective of what we stand for or how we will govern this province.
“Our base is growing, and we want all Ontarians to feel like they have a place in our party.”
Kathleen Wynne, the current Liberal premier of Ontario, is openly gay.
