By Alex Dhaliwal.The Conservative Black Congress of Canada has officially launched – its goal, for black Canadians to garner support for big blue tent conservativism..With dozens of community and faith leaders, young professionals and dignitaries in attendance from across the country, President Tunde Obasan said the group has an opportunity to be an agent for change..“Most immigrants are Conservatives by nature,” said Obasan. .“However, they find themselves supporting other parties because someone had told them to support a particular party without a particular reason..“Some people have told me that their neighbours, parents and friends asked them to support the party. The good thing is that each time I discussed the positions of the Conservative Party of Canada on issues that are important to them, they mostly realize that they have been supporting the wrong party all along.” .Since the group’s launch, Obasan said lifelong liberals from the black community have informed him that they would now vote conservative..“We have started taking conservative messages to the grassroots across Canada,” said Obasan..“We have to keep the messaging in top gear. It’s simple, we should treat everyone equally, with dignity and respect.”.During the leadership race, there was public outcry over the mainstream media’s lack of coverage of Dr. Leslyn Lewis’s campaign, despite winning the popular vote among incumbents Erin O’Toole and Peter MacKay..Lewis said she’s excitied to try and expand the conservative family..“Our conservative family consists of people of all races,” said Lewis..“We, as members of the black community, are committed to demonstrating compatibility of our community with conservative values..“The Conservative Black Congress exists to build each other up and to strength our conservative family from coast to coast to coast. Its mandate is to encourage representation and political participation, while breaking the stereotypes we hear today.”.Lewis expressed frustration over what she sees as the perception the country’s black community is a monolithic political voting block, that votes for one political party..“Being a black conservative is not easy – as one often finds themself explaining to people why they are conservative and why they don’t belong to the other parties,” she said..“We hear myths that conservatives are not welcoming of people who look like us. For this particular reason, the Conservative Black Congress exists to challenge these myths while encouraging support for conservatism.”.Dhaliwal is an Edmonton-based freelance reporter.
