Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a media availability on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
WINNIPEG – Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre is defending his decision to speak to a group that has come under fire for comments on residential schools and discrimination.
Poilievre spoke today to the Frontier Centre for Public Policy – a Winnipeg-based think tank that ran radio ads in 2018 that said it was a myth that residential schools robbed Indigenous children of their childhood.
Last month, the centre posted an article that said anti-white male policies represent the only systemic discrimination there is.
Liberal cabinet minister Dan Vandal accused Poilievre of promoting ideas and organizations that do not represent Winnipeg or Manitoba.
Poilievre says Conservatives speak all the time with groups with which they disagree.
He says Liberal and NDP politicians in the past have spoken to the centre – his staff provided examples including an interview with then-finance minister Paul Martin 21 years ago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 13, 2023
