Schmale distances himself from Sloan comments

Haliburton-Kawartha
Lakes-Brock MP Jamie Schmale says he doesn’t know what his caucus
colleague and Conservative party leadership hopeful Hastings-Lennox and
Addington MP Derek Sloan was thinking with his verbal attack on Canada’s
top doctor, and does not share his views.

 

Late last month, Sloan, a
rookie MP, came under national fire after issuing a video wherein he
asked if Canada’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Theresa Tam, who
leads the country’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, worked for Canada
or China.

 

“Derek Sloan’s comments were obviously not helpful at this
time,” Schmale said, in reference to the high-stress environment the
pandemic has created. “I personally do not question Dr. Tam’s commitment
to Canada.”
Schmale went on to point out that Tam was actually born
in Hong Kong, which has historically had high tensions with the Chinese
government, implying that even Sloan’s logic is flawed.

 

Many have labelled the comment as racist and Schmale was asked if he agreed with that assessment.
“What
prompted him to do that . . . I don’t know,” Schmale said, adding that
while their ridings share a border in the eastern portion of Haliburton
County, he doesn’t know Sloan very well. “I’ve only met him a couple of
times.”

 

While Sloan has walked back his comments, he’s refused to formally apologize, and Schmale was asked if he should.
“I think he’s boxed himself in in terms of his campaign slogan,” Schmale replied.
Sloan’s campaign slogan for the party’s leadership is “Conservative without apology.”
“He’s put himself in a very tough position,” Schmale said, calling that position a “no-win situation.”

 

Schmale
was unequivocal in that he will not be supporting Sloan’s leadership
bid. “I’m not supporting his leadership campaign,” the MP said.
There
have been calls for Sloan to be ejected from the Conservative caucus,
and Schmale was asked if he agreed that Sloan should get the boot.
“Those
discussions are ongoing,” Schmale said, adding it was a matter of
caucus confidentiality and so was not prepared to comment further.

 

The
Conservatives have been critical of some of Tam’s directives and
Schmale said that when the pandemic is over, certainly the process that
was undertaken in the country needs to be subject to scrutiny.
“Some
questions do need to be asked,” he said, giving the example of why more
widespread testing has not been conducted, pointing out that in
countries such as South Korea and Taiwan, widespread testing and
subsequent isolation has proved to keep those countries’ cases of
COVID-19 relatively low. “Taiwan basically managed to keep schools
open.”

 

Sloan’s comments have angered municipal leaders within his
riding, with a number of media outlets reporting that the warden and
chief administrative officer of Hastings County sent a letter to
now-interim Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, asking that he expel
Sloan from the caucus.