Leslyn Lewis

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Leslyn Lewis
LeslynLewis-HEADSHOT1-lg.jpg
Lewis in 2019
Born
Jamaica
NationalityCanadian
OccupationLawyer
Websitewww.leslynlewis.ca

Leslyn Lewis is a Canadian lawyer and political candidate who placed third in the 2020 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election.[1][2] She is the first visible minority woman to run for the federal Conservative Party leadership.[a][3]

Early life and education[edit]

Born in Jamaica, Lewis emigrated to Canada at the age of five and was raised in East York, Ontario. Her father is of Afro-Jamaican ancestry.[3] She is the youngest of six children.

Lewis holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto (Trinity College), a Master of Environmental Studies from York University with a concentration in Business and Environment from the Schulich School of Business, and a Juris Doctor and PhD in international law from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University.[3][4]

Career[edit]

Lewis has practiced law for 20 years and is the managing partner of Lewis Law,[3] a firm specializing in commercial litigation and international contract trade practice, with a focus on energy policy. Prior to starting her own firm she practiced litigation with larger Bay Street firms in the early 2000s and then moved to briefly practice criminal law.

Lewis has also been an instructor at the Osgoode Hall Law School.

Hosting her own television show called Law Matters,[5] Lewis examined legal issues and crisis in the lives of everyday people. She interviewed one guest, Pastor Ted Haggard, at the height of the scandal in which he was accused of engaging in extra-marital relations with a man. She also interviewed a number of other guests, including Ben Johnson, the former Canadian Olympic sprinter stripped of his gold medal for alleged steroid abuse.

In 2018, she was appointed under Premier Doug Ford to the board of the Ontario Trillium Foundation[3] and was later named to the foundation's committee responsible for dispensing funds for youth programs.[6]

Lewis is a member of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada.[7]

2015 federal election[edit]

Lewis began her political career in the riding of Markham-Stouffville, where she was vice president and a primary fundraiser of the Conservative electoral district association while Paul Calandra was Member of Parliament. In 2015, Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed her as a replacement candidate to run the riding of Scarborough-Rouge Park only a few weeks before the vote after the previous Conservative candidate had been dismissed due to a scandal.[8][9] An article in the National Post referred to Lewis as a “high-quality substitute".[10][11][5] She placed second to Liberal Gary Anandasangaree in the election with more than 13,000 votes[12] – one of the highest vote counts among Conservatives in the Greater Toronto Area.

Conservative Party leadership candidate[edit]

Main article: 2020 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election

In February 2020, Lewis was confirmed as an official leadership contestant for the Conservative Party of Canada,[1] following the resignation of Andrew Scheer as leader in December 2019. Had she been successful, she would have been the first visible minority woman to lead any of the three major federal Canadian parties.[3]

Her platform was socially conservative.[13] During the campaign, she opposed the Canadian government's proposed ban on conversion therapy, citing the importance of parental autonomy[14] and stated that she personally believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman, but would not roll back existing legislation allowing equal marriage in Canada. She has stated that she would like to make marijuana access more restrictive and that she thinks reactions to climate change are overblown.[15] She has publicly described herself as "pro-life, no hidden agenda" and as leader would have the Conservative Party move to ban sex-selective abortion and coerced abortion, increase government funding for crisis pregnancy centres (which counsel women against abortion), and she would end foreign aid funding for abortion.[16] Her candidacy has been endorsed by pro-life advocacy groups including the Campaign Life Coalition.[14]

She opposed carbon taxes and supports promoting green technology as an alternative policy.[14]

Lewis was eliminated on the second ballot. While she led in terms of raw votes she was third in terms of points.[17]

Recognition[edit]

In May 2019 she was awarded a Harry Jerome Award for Professional Excellence by the Black Business and Professional Association.[18][19]

Electoral record[edit]

2015 Canadian federal election: Scarborough—Rouge Park
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Gary Anandasangaree 29,913 60.24 +25.48 $144,189.04
Conservative Leslyn Lewis 13,587 27.36 -4.23 $59,291.73
New Democratic KM Shanthikumar 5,145 10.36 -20.63 $58,736.40
Green Calvin Winter 1,010 2.03 -0.36 $1,457.51
Total valid votes/Expense limit 49,655 100.0 – $204,974.26
Total rejected ballots 235 0.47 New
Turnout 49,890 69.98 New
Eligible voters 71,291
Source: Elections Canada[20][21]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ She is the third visible minority woman to run for the leadership of any major national Canadian party, after Rosemary Brown (NDP in 1975) and Hedy Fry (Liberal in 2006).

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Canada, P. M. N. (February 12, 2020). "Toronto lawyer Leslyn Lewis becomes official candidate for Conservative leader | National Post".
  2. ^ "RCV Short Report" (PDF). August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Werner, Kevin (February 1, 2020). "Toronto lawyer Leslyn Lewis could make Canadian political history in Conservative leadership race". HamiltonNews.com.
  4. ^ "WARMINGTON: Toronto lawyer sets sights on Conservative leadership | Toronto Sun". January 23, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Conservatives name new candidate for Scarborough-Rouge River riding". Toronto.com. 2015-09-11. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
  6. ^ "Board of Directors". Ontario Trillium Foundation. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020.
  7. ^ MacInnis, Adam (2020-08-18). "A New Face for Canadian Social Conservatism". Christianity Today. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Jerry Bance, Conservative caught peeing in mug, no longer candidate, party says". CBC News. September 7, 2015. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  9. ^ "Tories drop two candidates after videos show one peeing in cup, the other making prank calls". National Post. 2015-09-07. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
  10. ^ Hopper, Tristin (2015-09-26). "Solving an 'electoral emergency': How parties find replacements for candidates who self-destruct". National Post. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
  11. ^ DiMatteo, Enzo (2015-10-14). "You choose the best of the rest". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
  12. ^ "SCARBOROUGH-ROUGE PARK: Liberal Anandasangaree elected new MP elected for new riding". Toronto.com. October 20, 2015.
  13. ^ Platt, Brian (March 10, 2020). "Leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis on representing a side of the Conservatives you 'may not have seen before'". The Chronicle Herald. Postmedia Network. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  14. ^ a b c Cullen, Catherine (March 10, 2020). "Conservative leadership contender Leslyn Lewis sells herself to social conservatives, takes shots at MacKay". CBC News. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  15. ^ Platt, Brian (10 March 2020). "Leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis on representing a side of the Conservatives you 'may not have seen before'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  16. ^ Turnbull, Sarah (May 22, 2020). "Three months out from Tory leadership vote, Lewis positions herself as unity candidate". CTV News. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  17. ^ Grenier, Éric (24 August 2020). "Erin O'Toole courted the right of the Conservative Party and won". CBC News. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  18. ^ "Harry Jerome Awards, 2019 Honourees". The Black Business and Professional Association. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  19. ^ Armstrong, Neil (February 27, 2019). "BBPA Reveals the Names of the 2019 Harry Jerome Award Recipients". Anglescovered.blogspot.com. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  20. ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Scarborough—Rouge Park, 30 September 2015
  21. ^ Elections Canada – Final Candidates Election Expenses Limits

External links[edit]

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