Derek Sloan

Derek Sloan MP (born November 11, 1984) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Hastings—Lennox and Addington in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 Canadian federal election.[1] He is the first Seventh-day Adventist ever elected to the Canadian House of Commons.[2] Sloan is running as a candidate for the Conservative Party leadership, and is known for his controversial views on LGBTQ issues,[3] and making allegedly racist remarks.[4]

Derek Sloan

MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Hastings—Lennox and Addington
Assumed office
October 21, 2019
Preceded byMike Bossio
Personal details
Born (1984-11-11) November 11, 1984
Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada
Political partyConservative
Children3
Alma materPacific Union College
Queen's University (JD)
ProfessionLawyer

Background

Sloan was born in 1984 and raised near Waterford in Ontario.[5] He attended Kingsway College, a private Seventh-day Adventist high school in Oshawa.[6]

In 2003, Sloan enrolled at Pacific Union College (PUC), a private university in Napa Valley, California associated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. There he completed a bachelor degree in business in 2007.[7] While attending PUC, Sloan served as president of the university's student association in 2007.[7]

After graduating, Sloan moved to Toronto, Ontario to work at a water-fuel systems company.[8] Then, between 2011 and 2014 he ran Sloan's Furniture Liquidation in Oshawa. In 2014, Sloan began a law degree at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and he finished articling in 2018. Sloan has said he pursued law because he was interested in "defending religious liberties against political correctness."[9]

Sloan is married to his wife Jennifer, and they have two daughters and a son.[5]

Political career

2019 federal election

In 2018, Sloan announced that he would seek the Conservative Party of Canada nomination for the riding of Hastings—Lennox and Addington.[10] At the nomination meeting, Sloan defeated three other candidates: a city councillor who had served for fifteen years in Belleville, a lawyer who had lived in the area for twenty years, and a local business owner.[11] Sloan defeated Liberal incumbent Mike Bossio in the 2019 federal election.

2020 Conservative Party leadership election

Sloan announced his candidacy for the 2020 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election on 22 January 2020.[12] On January 27th, Sloan made national headlines after tweeting in response to fellow leadership candidate Richard Décarie his belief that being gay is a choice.[13] During an interview on the CTV Power Panel Sloan went on to elaborate that he felt that the science of whether sexual orientation is a choice is unclear.[3] Sloan's comments were criticized by his former election campaign manager, Eric Lorenzen, and fellow leadership candidate Marilyn Gladu.[3]

A self-identified social conservative, Sloan has attracted controversy for the policy positions he has endorsed throughout the leadership race.[14] Sloan has stated that were he elected leader he would permit Conservative MPs to reopen the abortion debate or introduce private member bills aimed at over-turning same sex marriage.[14] He also voiced opposition to Bill C-16, which protects people from discrimination on the basis of gender identity.[15] He also vowed to vote against a federal ban on the pseduoscientific practice of conversion therapy, arguing that parents should be able to make children identify with the body they are born with.[16] Sloan has been widely criticized in the media and even within the Conservative Party for these views.[17][3][18]

On February 6th, 2020, members of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte blockaded the Canadian National Railway north of Tyendinaga, in support the Wetʼsuwetʼen hereditary chiefs' opposition to the Coastal GasLink Pipeline within Sloan's riding of Hastings—Lennox and Addington.[19] Sloan spoke publicly about the blockade for the first time on February 18th, stating the Liberal government should have responded faster to the protests.[19] Three days later Sloan characterized the protesters as "radical extremists" and called on the Ontario Provincial Police to enforce an injunction to remove the blockade.[20]

On April 23, 2020, Sloan again made national headlines after tweeting a video in which he asked whether Canada's Chief Medical Officer Theresa Tam worked "for Canada or for China?"[21] Sloan's comments singled out Theresa Tam, a Chinese Canadian, and were perceived as racist on social media;[21][4] Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called them intolerant, saying they had no place in Canada,[22] and several fellow Conservative MPs denounced them as personal attacks.[21] Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer initially declined to comment on Sloan's remarks,[23] but stated that it was "inappropriate to question someone’s loyalty to their country" the following week.[24] The municipality of Hastings County condemned Sloan's remarks as “cruel and racist” and unrepresentative of the people of his riding, before calling on him to be expelled from the Conservative Party.[4] Sloan said the following day that he would not apologize, because "the idea people would think it was racist was not even on my mind. I would have said those statements about any public health officer that made those decisions in her spot".[25] The Chinese Canadian National Council (SJ) submitted a letter to the Conservative Party demanding that Sloan be expelled from the party's caucus and denied the opportunity to run for its leadership.[26] In an emergency session on April 29, 2020, Conservative MPs demanded Sloan apologize for his statements.[27] In a statement on April 29th, Sloan said his comments were "rhetorical" but declined to retract them.[28]

Electoral record
2019 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
ConservativeDerek Sloan21,96841.4-0.5
LiberalMike Bossio19,72137.1-5.3
New DemocraticDavid Tough6,98413.2+0.5
GreenSari Watson3,1145.9+3.0
People'sAdam L. E. Gray1,3072.5
Total valid votes/Expense limit 53,094100.0
Total rejected ballots 352
Turnout 53,44666.7
Eligible voters 80,079
Source: Elections Canada[29][30]

References
  1. "Canada election results: Hastings-Lennox and Addington". Global News. October 21, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  2. "Interview With Derek Sloan, First Adventist Elected to Canada's Parliament". North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. December 11, 2019. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  3. Basa, Jennifer (29 January 2020). "Newly-elected Conservative MP Derek Sloan faces criticism after posting controversial tweet". Global News.
  4. Baldwin, Derek (April 23, 2020). "Hastings County calls for MP Sloan's removal after 'racist' tweet about Dr. Tam". The Intelligencer. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  5. "Team Member: Derek Sloan". Conservative Party of Canada. August 12, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  6. "Congratulations" (PDF). KC Contact: 14. Spring 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  7. "Candidates: Derek Sloan". InsideOttawaValley.com. October 20, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  8. "325 PUC graduates celebrate with faith, flying tortillas". Napa Valley Register. June 21, 2007. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  9. "INTERVIEW WITH DEREK SLOAN, FIRST ADVENTIST ELECTED TO CANADA'S PARLIAMENT". Seventh-day Adventist Church. December 12, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  10. "Four candidates for HL&A Conservative race". InQuinte. November 14, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  11. "Sloan selected as new Conservative candidate in federal election". In Quinte News. November 14, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  12. Sloan, Derek (22 January 2020). "I'm in. It's time to stop being afraid to be conservative. Stay tuned..." Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  13. Gilmore, Rachel (30 January 2020). "Cause of sexual orientation' is 'scientifically unclear,' Tory leadership hopeful says". CTV News. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  14. Cullen, Catherine (22 January 2020). "Social conservative MP Derek Sloan running for Conservative leadership, promises 'bold ideas'". CBC News.
  15. Duffy, Nick (April 4, 2020). "Tory leadership hopeful supports conversion therapy for trans kids in car-crash TV interview". Pink News. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  16. "Derek Sloan won't be the next Conservative leader, but his populist rhetoric is still a concern". The Globe and Mail. April 4, 2020. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  17. Teitel, Emma (29 January 2020). "Being gay is not a choice but who cares if it is?". Toronto Star. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  18. Gilmore, Rachel (29 January 2020). "'Cause of sexual orientation' is 'scientifically unclear,' Tory leadership hopeful says". CTVNews. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  19. Holland, Bill (February 18, 2020). "Local MP says Liberals too slow in responding to rail blockades". InQuinte. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  20. "Sloan calls for OPP to remove Wyman Road blockade". InQuinte. February 21, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  21. "Conservatives blast MP who asked whether top pandemic doctor 'works for China' as Scheer steers clear". CBC News. April 23, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  22. "Trudeau slams 'racism' of Conservative MP's call for Tam to be fired". The Globe and Mail. April 23, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  23. Maloney, Ryan (April 23, 2020). "Andrew Scheer Mum On Tory MP Derek Sloan's Attacks On Dr. Theresa Tam". Huffpost. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  24. Maloney, Ryan (April 27, 2020). "Andrew Scheer: Tory MP Derek Sloan Shouldn't Have Questioned Dr. Theresa Tam's 'Loyalty'". Huffpost. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  25. Baldwin, Derek (April 24, 2020). "'I won't be issuing an apology,' says MP Derek Sloan". The Intelligencer. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  26. DiMatteo, Enzo (April 29, 2020). "Chinese Canadian National Council (SJ) calls for expulsion of Conservative MP Derek Sloann". Now Magazine. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  27. Boutilier, Alex. "In emergency meeting, Ontario's Conservative MPs demand leadership candidate apologize for attack on Dr. Theresa Tam". The Star. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  28. Politics, Canadian (2020-05-01). "Conservative MP Scott Reid slams 'leak' about Derek Sloan, suggests leadership campaign could be behind it | National Post". Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  29. "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  30. "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
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