Gay and libertarian Conservative candidate Dr. Roy Eappen, argues that businesses should have the right to deny gays and visible minorities access to their facilities.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for the government to legislate things like this, no,” confirms the Quebec Conservative Party candidate in an interview with our parliamentary office.
dr Eappen first made such remarks in a 2014 article in the American magazine Salon, when a bill in Arizona would allow traders to invoke their religious beliefs to bar access to certain groups. The account was eventually blocked.
dr Eappen, himself gay and of Indian origin, specifies that it would be “stupid” for a company to discriminate against customers. But he defends that right because of his “libertarian” beliefs.
“I think it’s a bad idea to do that and I don’t think most companies would do it because it would bankrupt them. The market will decide. If such a company existed, I wouldn’t go there,” he confides in an interview in English.
Right to Discrimination in Employment
The same reasoning applies to hiring: an employer should have the right to discriminate, believes Dr. step.
In his opinion, however, this would not be socially acceptable today. But he doesn’t believe the laws are responsible for these social advances.
“It’s much more than that, it’s social change. Laws follow people. They come after, not before. The attitude of society has changed, ”says the one who will try to be elected in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.
“I think that’s how it should work: you should talk to people and convince them. That’s how things develop,” he said.
As an endocrinologist and professor at McGill University, he takes his career as a model. “I don’t need the help of others to be successful. I did well on my own,” he says.
The PCQ dissociates
At the PCQ, we quickly distanced ourselves from the candidate’s position.
“Dr. Roy Eappen made these remarks in 2014, they in no way represent the values of the Quebec Conservative Party, and the latter has no intention of opening this debate as a candidate for us,” affirms chef Éric Duhaime’s press attaché, in a written statement Explanation.
“We believe that freedom of expression is fundamental in a democratic society. He himself belongs to a visible minority; Importantly, he did not incite violence or make hate speech against them,” he adds.
