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Star Tory candidate in Surrey criticized for ‘fearmongering’ pamphlet

Former Surrey mayor Dianne Watts, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s star candidate in B.C., came under fire Tuesday for allegedly trying to scare British Columbians into voting Conservative on Oct. 19.
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Conservative candidate Dianne Watts: No fearmongering here.

Former Surrey mayor Dianne Watts, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s star candidate in B.C., came under fire Tuesday for allegedly trying to scare British Columbians into voting Conservative on Oct. 19.

The Ottawa Citizen on Tuesday reported that the Watts campaign is distributing in her South Surrey-White Rock riding a provocative pamphlet warning that ISIS terrorists are targeting Canadians.

“ISIS URGES JIHADISTS TO ATTACK CANADIANS,” declares a mock-up newspaper headline, followed with a quote: “YOU WILL NOT FEEL SAFE IN YOUR BEDROOMS.”

After showing newspaper headlines reflecting the NDP and Liberal opposition to Canada’s bombing mission against ISIS targets in Iraq, it declares: “WE WILL FIGHT JIHADIST TERRORISTS AT HOME AND ABROAD” next to a Conservative Party of Canada logo.

Harper government critics were quick to pass judgment.

“Watts would have never said something like this when she was mayor of Surrey,” said the NDP’s Kennedy Stewart, who is seeking re-election in Burnaby South.

“It is a shame Harper forces even his star candidates to stoop to this level and that Watts, in turn, has buckled under the pressure to promote division in her community.”

Liberal candidate Harjit Sajjan, a former Vancouver police officer and current military officer decorated after several tours of Afghanistan, was also critical.

“It is disappointing to see Dianne Watts and the Conservative Party of Canada stoop to fearmongering,” said Sajjan, a candidate in Vancouver South.

“To be sure, the international instability that ISIS has caused is an important issue that must be addressed by any future government, but to bring this abrasive messaging to the homes of Canadians is distasteful.

“As potential leaders it is our responsibility to give confidence to Canadians not instil fear in them.”

Watts told The Sun her message with the flyer is to remind voters that only the Conservatives support the bombing mission against ISIS.

“I’m not distancing myself at all. Like I said, the message at the end of the day is that there are hundreds of thousands of people that are fleeing a country because they’re faced with dealing with the violence and brutality, and we want to partner with the other coalition countries to ensure that these people are supported, and that’s the message.

“There’s no intent to be fearmongering.”

The Conservative pamphlet was based on an ISIS video released in late September of 2014. A leader of the brutal terror group urged supporters to kill Americans, Canadians, Australians and Europeans in retaliation for the role played by their governments in anti-ISIS military efforts.

“You will not feel secure even in your bedrooms. You will pay the price when this crusade of yours collapses, and thereafter we will strike you in your homeland, and you will never be able to harm anyone afterwards,” he warned.

Less than a month later two Canadians were killed in separate terrorist incidents, one in Ottawa and the other in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec.

Those attacks prompted the Harper government to introduce and enact Bill C-51, the controversial Anti-Terrorism Act.