OTTAWA - Federal Conservative leadership hopeful Brad Trost says he wants to be a voice for social conservatives, but he's stopping short of campaigning to reopen the debate on the definition of marriage.
The Saskatchewan MP, long an outspoken social conservative on issues such as abortion, was a vocal critic of his party's decision to stop opposing same-sex marriage at its convention earlier this year.
Trost says he plans to be a proud voice for social conservatives in a contest that has so far been consumed with Ontario MP Kellie Leitch's musings about screening potential immigrants and refugees for"anti-Canadian values."
Trost says he fears his own values might fail such a test, which Leitch has said would include things like tolerance for all sexual orientations.
He also thinks much of his natural support will come from party members who are also newcomers to Canada and tend to hold views more in line with his own.
Trost says he does not plan to campaign on re-opening the same-sex marriage debate because he is a "political realist," but has nonetheless released an ad making his views known and expects to issue a policy proposal on the topic this fall.
