Full Comment - ‘Canada’s democracy is in doubt’ says Tory candidate Roman Baber

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00:00:20.620 Hi, I'm Anthony Fury. Thanks for joining us for the latest episode of Full Comment.

00:00:24.480 Please consider subscribing if you haven't already.

00:00:26.800 We've had conservative leadership candidates Pierre Polyev and Lesley Lewis previously join us on the show.

00:00:31.680 Those episodes are still available for you to listen to.

00:00:34.440 And we're pleased to have another candidate, Roman Baber, join us today.

00:00:38.020 And just by way of disclosure, you should know we have invited Patrick Brown and Jean Charest to join us.

00:00:42.320 We're keen to hear from them, but so far we've been unable to connect with them, but we hope to have them join us soon.

00:00:48.840 Roman Baber is an MPP in Ontario, and he was a member of Doug Ford's Government Caucus until January 2021,

00:00:55.140 when he posted a public letter voicing his concerns and opposition to Ford's use of lockdowns and other harsh pandemic management policies.

00:01:04.060 Ford chose to boot Baber from caucus, and Baber has since been an independent MP,

00:01:08.920 continuing to offer his critiques of Ontario's COVID policies.

00:01:12.840 While he's announced he's not seeking re-election provincially,

00:01:15.080 he is now running to be leader of the Federal Conservative Party.

00:01:19.500 Roman Baber joins us now.

00:01:21.560 Roman, thanks so much for joining us. Great to have you on.

00:01:23.580 Roman Baber. Good to be with you, Anthony.

00:01:25.800 Let's jump right into it. Running to be leader of the Federal Conservatives.

00:01:29.500 You've gone from being a provincial MPP. Why are you running for the top job federally now?

00:01:34.600 Look, I'm running to restore Canada's democracy, opportunity, and trust in government.

00:01:39.580 I stood up for Canadians when it wasn't popular, and I'll continue to do so until restore all rights for all Canadians.

00:01:46.280 I've also been very blessed with Canadian opportunity, and I'll restore opportunity with a robust energy, housing, and economic plan.

00:01:54.800 I'm in a unique position, I think, Anthony, to unite the Conservative Party, and I'll bring back determination and authenticity to lead it to victory.

00:02:02.460 All right, when you talk about restoring some rights, are you suggesting that there are still some rights that are being violated, that are in need of restoration right now?

00:02:12.860 Absolutely. Look, over 3 million Canadians are still unable to board a plane or a train.

00:02:20.760 You know, I often describe that I was born in the former Soviet Union, and I lived there until I was nine.

00:02:26.420 And in the Soviet Union, citizens were unable to board between republics without proper paperwork, and they were unable to leave beyond communist walls.

00:02:36.180 And to think that this might be happening in my own country is unthinkable.

00:02:40.620 Same with mandates.

00:02:41.520 I think that not only is it outright discriminatory to prevent or preclude someone from working because of their medical status,

00:02:52.160 I think that making someone choose between their personal medical choice and their ability to put food on the table is simply inhumane.

00:03:00.160 And that is on top of the fact that it's no longer based in any science or has any supported rationale.

00:03:07.960 I'm sure you've had a number of people ask why you did exactly what you did in terms of posting public opposition to Doug Ford in a way that I know you probably assumed would have seen you remove from caucus.

00:03:19.020 Maybe they would have said, well, why don't you be a team player, voice your concerns from within?

00:03:22.920 How do you respond to that?

00:03:24.040 Well, it is well known that I've opposed the lockdown from within starting end of May 2020.

00:03:31.420 I figured in early January that the province was not going to turn course on this, despite the fact that we turned the corner,

00:03:39.980 we were on the verge of vaccinating everyone in long-term care homes.

00:03:44.660 And we've seen that primarily the crisis was contained to congregate setting in long-term care homes.

00:03:51.100 We also found out that the virus is very, very transmissible with infection rates significantly higher than we thought that we're making the metrics considerably lower.

00:04:01.320 The metrics that we're worried about, like hospitalization and mortality, considerably lower.

00:04:05.760 At the same time, I started witnessing a very high collateral toll resulting from the lockdowns.

00:04:13.980 And so it became clear that the collateral damage from our public health response is in and of itself also deadly.

00:04:20.720 And so I was unwilling to continue watching the difficulty, frankly, the carnage that was imposed by the province on Ontarians.

00:04:31.200 And so I published a letter that simply called for a balanced public health response that protects congregate settings, that builds up health care capacity,

00:04:40.880 but factors in the toll of lockdowns into our public health response.

00:04:45.040 So sometimes when someone says, I'm against the government approach to COVID, one is labeled a denialist or you're an anti-vax or whatnot.

00:04:57.000 It sounds like you are talking about still making use of pandemic management policies in terms of dealing with long-term care individuals.

00:05:04.840 You're just taking a different approach.

00:05:06.280 I mean, what would you say to anyone who has smeared you with those labels?

00:05:09.380 Well, look, COVID is a very serious infection and it can be very dangerous to certain folks in certain demographics,

00:05:19.520 particularly those over 80 with multiple comorbidities, potentially long-term care residents who are typically on average,

00:05:28.760 regretfully in their last year of life, or those with serious metabolic conditions.

00:05:33.500 But it's appreciating the nature of the risk that should drive our public policy,

00:05:38.840 which is why I urged that we need to focus protection on those that require protection

00:05:43.500 and at the same time build hospital capacity, given how transmittable the virus is,

00:05:49.020 instead of locking down 15 million Ontarians or 35 million Canadians and making them sick.

00:05:54.820 I think that by now the evidence in support of my proposition that lockdowns have also resulted

00:06:03.500 in a considerable amount of mortality regretfully and adverse effects regretfully has been proven correct.

00:06:11.500 And I'm happy to canvass that, should you wish.

00:06:13.960 Yeah, it does seem like the more the weeks and months go by, the more we learn about the various harms

00:06:19.220 and damages caused by all of these measures.

00:06:21.000 Absolutely. Well, we know that already the Canadian Medical Association suggested that more than 4,000 Canadians

00:06:28.340 already passed away from surgeries delayed.

00:06:31.180 Ontario alone delayed or cancelled over 300,000 surgeries and procedures.

00:06:36.320 We know that between March 2020 and March 2021, the province of Ontario had 1 million cancer screenings less

00:06:43.860 than in the preceding time frame.

00:06:45.600 And that is very regretful as we know that folks are looking for cancer or either predisposed or of a certain age.

00:06:55.560 We had a doctor from McMaster, in fact, Dr. Singh, author a piece in which he said that many children could have been saved from brain tumors

00:07:04.240 if they were just diagnosed with cancer six months early.

00:07:07.380 And so, add to that, we have an almost doubling of deaths from overdose year over year.

00:07:14.940 According to Public Health Ontario, we have an increase of about 78%.

00:07:19.360 And we also have a mental health pandemic that has been perpetuated regretfully by public health governments.

00:07:26.940 And all of that should be factored or should have been factored in to our public policy response on COVID.

00:07:34.000 I know that you and I share a passion in discussing these very important issues.

00:07:38.180 At the same time, when it comes to the conservative leadership race,

00:07:40.780 we could see ourself in a situation where very soon COVID is pretty much in the rearview mirror.

00:07:46.280 What are you hoping to talk about in the months ahead?

00:07:49.120 I know there are some politicians who would like to say,

00:07:51.240 OK, well, that's a thing in the past COVID has done.

00:07:53.420 Do you believe talking about still addressing what happened the past two years needs to be central moving forward?

00:07:59.200 Are you planning to campaign on primarily on things that have not much to do with COVID?

00:08:04.780 What is what is your view towards the months ahead?

00:08:08.860 So, look, of course, I will be presenting a plan to conservative members

00:08:13.860 as to how I propose to unite our party and restore Canadian opportunity,

00:08:18.380 be it our ability to derive natural resources.

00:08:20.540 I think that natural resources, Canadian natural resources are a blessing.

00:08:23.580 And I will not let oil and gas be cancelled, be it an aggressive housing plan required to make housing more affordable,

00:08:31.600 privacy, children with autism.

00:08:34.860 I'll have quite a bit to say, but it's no secret that I'm running to restore Canada's democracy.

00:08:41.420 I believe that it's not the lockdowns or the passports that we're running against.

00:08:46.040 It's the events, the ideology and the cancelled culture that has precipitated the events of the last two years.

00:08:52.980 We're still seeing close to 10% of Canadians unable to participate in everyday life

00:08:58.600 because they're excluded from transportation or from potentially from workplaces.

00:09:04.000 We're still seeing censorship and that continues to infringe on the rights of Canadians

00:09:09.580 and prevent them from defending the most all the rights,

00:09:14.640 because through speech we defend all other rights.

00:09:16.840 And regretfully, we have a cancelled culture and ideology that generally suppresses speech and diversity of opinion.

00:09:26.240 And that is something that I'm committed to talking about on this campaign.

00:09:30.180 I think that it's essential that we preserve Canada's democracy, which I believe is being eroded.

00:09:35.500 I know you're well known in Ontario politics, in Ontario news for your positions on COVID-19.

00:09:42.420 In other provinces where you're also running to be federal conservative leader for the Conservative Party members

00:09:47.300 in Atlantic provinces, in BC, in Alberta, how would you like to be known to them?

00:09:52.760 What would be the central thrust of your campaign?

00:09:55.500 I'm a democracy candidate.

00:09:58.780 We just came back from BC with a very successful trip.

00:10:02.440 We get a lot of turnout from folks pretty much everywhere we go.

00:10:08.420 And I think that my democracy message resonates with Canadian.

00:10:13.200 I think that it's incumbent on us to still stand up for those that don't have a voice.

00:10:18.980 And I've demonstrated that throughout my career, whether to articulating a view against lockdowns

00:10:25.640 when it was very unpopular, that's January 2021, or early on coming out against passports and mandates.

00:10:32.520 This is despite the fact that I'm myself and vaccinated.

00:10:35.740 I'm in favor of voluntary vaccination.

00:10:38.080 But I don't believe that we should make anyone do anything against their will.

00:10:41.740 And finally, I think that we should preserve basic notions that served us very well.

00:10:46.480 And that's our ability to disagree with each other and certainly preserve our freedom of speech

00:10:51.280 against some of the attempts to censor or hinder speech, as we're seeing from the federal government.

00:10:57.780 And so that's what I hope that voters will take away, is that they will always know where I stand

00:11:04.120 and they can always count on me to do what I believe is right, even when it's unpopular.

00:11:09.960 We'll be back with more full comment with Roman Baber after this.

00:11:12.800 When it comes to formal conservative parties, as you know, while the Ontario PC party in government

00:11:18.840 with a majority had some of the most aggressive lockdowns, not just in Canada, but really by some

00:11:24.540 measures in the world, Alberta had some pretty firm measures at some point, which was controversial.

00:11:29.040 And as you know, Alberta governed by majority conservative government, conservative opposition

00:11:33.340 leader, formerly Aaron O'Toole.

00:11:35.400 He didn't seem to allow anyone to critique lockdowns.

00:11:38.440 And yet you're now running to be leader of the federal conservative party when these

00:11:44.120 the biggest conservative entities in Canada almost said, no, we're actually not going to

00:11:49.500 be critical of all of that stuff.

00:11:50.960 Why are you running for leader of the conservative party as opposed to perhaps joining the PPC or

00:11:55.520 taking another avenue?

00:11:57.480 Well, I've always I've always been a conservative and I believe that most members of the

00:12:04.700 conservative caucus are now on record agreeing with my stance on lockdowns and passports.

00:12:11.040 And that includes almost every leadership contestant in this race, albeit subsequent to the truckers

00:12:20.420 coming into town.

00:12:21.300 I also think it's essential that I restore democracy within our party.

00:12:27.680 We can't restore democracy within our country without allowing the conservative party to have

00:12:33.840 a diversity of views, which I will welcome.

00:12:36.460 That is the key to restoring our stance with Canadians and appeal to Canadians in that we have a wide

00:12:44.740 spectrum of views from environmental conservatives to social conservatives to democratic conservatives

00:12:50.180 and Western conservatives.

00:12:51.520 We should be able to disagree and respect one another.

00:12:56.900 When it comes to the convoy that made its way to Ottawa, what did you think of the convoy?

00:13:01.100 Did you support the truckers?

00:13:03.900 Absolutely.

00:13:04.720 I believe that the charter had a right to peaceful protest.

00:13:07.340 Of course, local police should enforce existing traffic and by-law laws.

00:13:11.320 And but there was absolutely no necessity in the declaration of emergency or riot police against

00:13:17.220 bystanders on the Hill.

00:13:18.380 That was unacceptable.

00:13:19.080 But no one actually discussed the issue and dispute, which are the mandates.

00:13:23.440 You shouldn't force someone to make a choice between their health and earning a living.

00:13:28.580 And Justin Trudeau didn't even have the courage to meet with them.

00:13:31.660 But I'll end this question.

00:13:34.500 I'll end this answer by saying the following.

00:13:36.700 We saw on February 18th, which I believe will be one of the worst days in Canada's history,

00:13:41.580 when riot police came down on peaceful protesters, some that were not in a truck, but simply standing on the street or on Spark Street.

00:13:50.420 And what did we see in response?

00:13:52.720 Nothing.

00:13:53.440 No resistance.

00:13:54.320 Complete peace.

00:13:55.640 No police officers were assaulted.

00:13:57.320 No injuries, no kicking, no spitting.

00:13:59.680 This proved, in essence, on February 18th and 19th, that despite the efforts of the government to demonize and mischaracterize these protesters,

00:14:11.480 something that they were not, this was a truly peaceful movement.

00:14:14.840 And yet, Roman, how do we deal with the fact that potentially 50% of Canadians or more, depending on what news outlet they frequent,

00:14:22.560 depending on who they talk to, where they get their information, are under the impression that what we mostly saw was a violent brigade of white supremacists

00:14:32.580 who received foreign funding to go and overthrow the government.

00:14:35.200 That is, we've at least heard those disparate parts from various liberal cabinet ministers,

00:14:39.220 and perhaps as the inquiry process into the Emergencies Act goes underway, we'll see that regurgitated by them again.

00:14:46.920 There is just complete alternate realities going on about what happened there.

00:14:51.100 And I fear for our nation and how we deal with these major issues that we debate,

00:14:56.640 that people can be living in alternate realities when it comes to things such as this.

00:15:02.020 I agree.

00:15:02.980 Look, first, we would always respect people's views,

00:15:07.280 but we also have to base opinion on fact on the ground. 1.00

00:15:12.620 The reality is that there may have been a handful of haters and idiots, 0.99

00:15:17.280 but we would never paint hundreds of thousands of Canadians who enjoyed the support of a third of Canadians, 0.99

00:15:24.280 at the very least, and according to Leger, 44% have been sympathetic to the truckers.

00:15:31.100 We would not paint them in the same brush that is just false, and it demeans the conversation and the argument.

00:15:36.380 What's even more important is that we have seen that multiple propositions coming out in the mainstream media,

00:15:44.880 supported by government, have proven to be outright false.

00:15:48.860 We know that, contrary to some suggestions, no weapons have been seized in the clearance of the protest.

00:15:56.420 We know that the arson that was alleged to be connected or as a result of the protest was unrelated to the protest.

00:16:06.840 We know that there was no foreign interference, no collusion with Russia or anything of that sort.

00:16:13.620 And we also know that the very vast majority of the donations, in fact, originated in Canada,

00:16:20.020 contrary to the government's suggestion.

00:16:22.940 And at the same time, what we saw is the government break the rule of law on February 18th,

00:16:30.260 not having subsequently justified actions with passage of the Emergencies Act

00:16:38.100 in response to an alleged emergency that had already passed.

00:16:42.920 And we saw them come down on peaceful protesters effectively,

00:16:47.700 and for the first time in history, seizing bank accounts, freezing bank accounts

00:16:52.080 without a court order that is an unprecedented assault on democracy

00:16:56.220 that undermines investor confidence and generally the faith of Canadians in our democracy.

00:17:03.280 Roman, I want to get your thoughts on some issues completely non-COVID related right now.

00:17:07.460 Now, you referenced growing up in the Soviet Union.

00:17:10.560 One of the big issues that the federal government is dealing with right now

00:17:13.480 is how to respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

00:17:16.920 What do you think of what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been doing so far?

00:17:20.720 What would you have perhaps done differently?

00:17:24.160 You know, my mom's family is from Ukraine,

00:17:27.320 and I was born on the Russian side when it was still the Soviet Union.

00:17:31.040 I'm heartbroken by the events in Ukraine.

00:17:33.140 We're witnessing a catastrophic loss of life and infrastructure,

00:17:37.860 and what we're not seeing is a greater effort to actually end the conflict.

00:17:43.800 Negotiations are on and off,

00:17:45.760 and I'm of the view that we have to do everything possible to get to a ceasefire.

00:17:50.980 Instead, all we're seeing is more and more escalation.

00:17:54.540 We'll be back with more full comment in just a moment.

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00:18:03.880 Yep.

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00:18:07.880 No.

00:18:08.680 And you set up credit card transaction alerts,

00:18:10.420 a secure VPN for a private connection,

00:18:12.160 and continuous monitoring for our personal info on the dark web?

00:18:15.180 Uh, I'm looking into it?

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00:19:56.060 What could potentially happen in terms of a ceasefire, in terms of brokering some sort of a deal here?

00:20:03.480 I know Zelensky has gone and said, I'd like to see a no-fly zone brought in,

00:20:07.680 but we've seen Justin Trudeau, Joe Biden, Jen Stoltenberg, head of NATO, say,

00:20:11.960 no, we're not doing that at all.

00:20:13.180 It seems like we're willing to provide the humanitarian support to Ukrainians that Canadians very much support.

00:20:18.220 And as you know, while Canadians have welcomed many Ukrainian refugees to join us here in Canada,

00:20:24.020 also providing some military support, when it comes to brokering that solution that stops all of the harms we're seeing,

00:20:32.760 what is the pathway to that?

00:20:35.140 So we have, at the very least, there needs to be a good faith effort on, at least on our side,

00:20:42.460 to try and end the conflict.

00:20:43.500 But Zelensky has asked for help to try and end the conflict, in addition to him asking for a no-fly zone.

00:20:50.180 I think that a fly zone should not be considered, as it will lead to an escalation that could potentially result in something catastrophic.

00:20:59.580 What we need to appreciate, in my view, is that Putin is in a very difficult political position.

00:21:06.000 The war is not popular at home, in Russia, and he is under pressure from multiple sources to try and end the conflict.

00:21:19.220 I think this is an opportunity for Canada to show leadership and say, it's time to end this,

00:21:27.040 remove Russian troops from Ukraine, come up with some security guarantees.

00:21:32.160 But the carnage, the catastrophic loss of life and infrastructure needs to end immediately, starting with a good faith ceasefire.

00:21:41.160 I imagine Vladimir Putin is going to want some sort of face-saving agreement,

00:21:44.580 and it's always believed that he sees carving out more parts of eastern Ukraine as a much more viable proposition towards,

00:21:52.340 I guess, the territory he wants to take.

00:21:54.100 Should NATO nations be willing to tolerate something like that?

00:21:57.480 There's been a number of prominent security analysts who do suggest that this will conclude with some eastern Ukrainian regions going over to Russia.

00:22:06.020 Is that something you would accept?

00:22:08.580 I'm not sure that that was something that I would be willing to accept.

00:22:12.040 What I think might need to happen is some sort of a security guarantee,

00:22:17.120 both with respect to Ukraine and potentially some parts of Ukraine.

00:22:24.840 But I don't believe that we're going to presuppose the outcome without actually having the determination to try and end this conflict.

00:22:34.280 More broadly, when it comes to Canada on the world stage and our foreign policy,

00:22:38.800 how would you do things differently right now?

00:22:40.600 Justin Trudeau criticized a lot for both foreign affairs and also his general attitude on the world stage,

00:22:46.720 teased for the costumes.

00:22:48.000 I know we haven't seen that for a couple of years.

00:22:49.960 And for the socks, I know there hasn't been much attention to the socks in a couple of years.

00:22:53.380 But we're dealing with some very serious matters.

00:22:55.540 I don't think we expected the war in Ukraine to be the matter we were dealing with.

00:22:59.420 All eyes were on China to some degree,

00:23:01.320 but still a lot of concerns with the degree to which Canada-China relations are problematic right now.

00:23:08.360 What would your foreign affairs priorities be?

00:23:10.600 I don't think that you can run a credible foreign affairs effort when your partners,

00:23:19.580 when the world around you is looking at Canada and believes that Canada's democracy is in doubt.

00:23:26.300 We have seen quite a reception for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the European Parliament a couple of weeks ago.

00:23:33.280 I don't believe that Canada can restore its credibility around the world without fully restoring its democracy.

00:23:41.820 I'd also say that our foreign policy needs to be grounded in our economic and plans for natural resources.

00:23:49.040 I think that Canada's natural resources are a blessing, and it makes sense to develop them not just for strategic interests and environmental interests,

00:24:00.840 because Canadians will derive energy cleaner and safer than any other nation in the world,

00:24:06.180 but also for a strategic interest.

00:24:08.120 I don't see why Canada should be purchasing any energy from abroad, especially from rogue regimes like Venezuela,

00:24:16.380 instead of deriving these resources in Canada and projecting moral authority around the world,

00:24:25.140 instead of supporting some of these rogue regimes.

00:24:27.580 Hold on a second. Canada's democracy is in doubt.

00:24:31.980 I've never really been accused of being a cheerleader for Justin Trudeau,

00:24:34.500 but those are very strong words you used there.

00:24:37.040 How is our democracy in doubt right now?

00:24:40.340 Right now, the federal government is passing legislation that will potentially censor our speech on the internet.

00:24:46.420 The government is moving with a licensing regime for journalists,

00:24:49.860 deciding who qualifies as a journalist and who doesn't.

00:24:52.860 Three to four million Canadians are excluded from aviation and rail.

00:25:02.340 We're seeing 21st century segregation and discrimination against Canadians.

00:25:08.220 This is unprecedented in recent history and not something that Canadians should regard lightly.

00:25:17.140 We watched the government effectively invoke the War Measures Act in response to largely peaceful protesters in the capital.

00:25:26.760 I think that we have some soul-searching to do and say that this is not the type of democracy that Canadians should...

00:25:36.980 This is not something that Canadians should view and accept.

00:25:42.120 When it comes to censoring the internet, this is something that we hear politicians say in democracies, major democracies all across the world right now.

00:25:52.220 And I imagine whatever happens moving forward here in Canada, a next liberal government, an NDP government, potentially conservative government, will continue to talk about those themes as well.

00:26:02.620 The digitization of our lives and the ensuing sense of inevitability that that will be regulated, be managed by government.

00:26:11.820 There's digital ID programs going on at provincial and federal levels.

00:26:15.300 I understand Saskatchewan has just abandoned their digital ID, but other districts going full ahead with it.

00:26:20.480 How can we live in the digital age while also not succumbing to these temptations to control people's lives digitally?

00:26:28.520 Well, just because humanity is moving forward with progress and technology doesn't mean that we should compromise basic principles, such as freedom of speech, or most notably, the right to privacy.

00:26:41.520 I talk about the fact that a couple of months ago, I had to download Adobe Acrobat.

00:26:46.560 And again, Adobe said to me that I cannot view my PDFs until I allow Adobe access to all of the files on my cell phone, even those that are not PDF files.

00:27:01.740 And that really is symbolic of something that I think has been happening in the last couple of years.

00:27:09.780 Many know that I come from the blue side of the Conservative Party on fiscal issues.

00:27:13.800 I'm in favor and love all three enterprise, small business, medium business, and large business.

00:27:18.480 But I don't believe that that means that we should be ceding our privacy and speech to what effectively amounts to technological monopolies.

00:27:28.560 I think even though I'm in favor of a small role for Ottawa and the federal government, this is a competition law, an antitrust matter that a government should look at.

00:27:39.380 You can allow for technological investment, but it doesn't mean that we should compromise privacy.

00:27:45.160 I will be looking to restore the privacy of Canadians.

00:27:47.280 You mentioned natural resources a couple of times.

00:27:50.100 Let's talk about the economy.

00:27:51.700 Inflation is at decades long highs.

00:27:54.460 Bank of Canada is increasing rates right now.

00:27:57.060 Lots of anxieties about what this means for regular individuals, their abilities to afford a home, to put food on the table as we see the price of various products of meat go much higher than people are used to seeing year over year.

00:28:09.680 What's going on here on the economic front?

00:28:11.760 What role does the federal government have to play?

00:28:14.220 What would you do as a leader?

00:28:15.500 Well, the first thing it has to do is stop printing.

00:28:18.760 We went from, I believe, a $700 billion debt just pre-COVID to $1.2 trillion debt in a short span of two years.

00:28:33.080 It's not as if we got enough value for those, for that half a trillion.

00:28:37.180 We didn't have a single hospital bed.

00:28:39.780 We didn't hire a single nurse.

00:28:41.840 What we did get instead is a very high inflation rate that's not catching up with the market due to low productivity.

00:28:50.320 Another thing we've experienced is a disequilibrium in price because we effectively stopped the global supply chain with lockdowns on and off.

00:29:04.560 And then we restarted the economy, causing a significant demand.

00:29:09.560 And so we have a disequilibrium between supply and demand that causes price inflation.

00:29:17.040 The best thing we can do is provide the market with certainty.

00:29:20.740 In addition to stopping the printing, we should provide the market with certainty that we are done locking down the economy.

00:29:28.600 And that will immediately give people a lot of optimism, security, and ability and intent to invest and produce.

00:29:38.380 What would you say to people who have broader anxieties about the long term now?

00:29:43.680 It used to be a common phrase that people would say, I believe my kids are going to go on and have a better standard of living than I did.

00:29:50.140 Now, a lot of people, they don't say that refrain anymore.

00:29:53.160 I have small kids at home.

00:29:54.840 I don't necessarily feel that's the case for them.

00:29:57.280 I'm not sure which way I'd go with that question.

00:29:59.780 There's quite an economic malaise in the air right now.

00:30:02.920 You know, in addition to restoring Canada's democracy, I'm running to restore Canada's opportunity.

00:30:10.540 I'd like to tell my story briefly.

00:30:12.060 I came to Canada when I was 15.

00:30:14.100 My first mattress was from the recycling bin across the street.

00:30:17.520 But I've always had a job and I've always had this incredible joy because I had opportunity.

00:30:22.140 I've had every opportunity to succeed, to join a business, to go to school,

00:30:27.020 and then to be elected by the very same district that welcomed me as a new Canadian 20 years earlier.

00:30:31.720 It's truly exhibit A for the Canadian dream.

00:30:35.020 And I don't want to give up on the Canadian dream.

00:30:37.560 I do feel that a lot of folks, especially young folks, feel that Canadian opportunity is getting eroded.

00:30:43.360 So what we need to do is allow Canadians to do what they do best.

00:30:48.060 And that means work.

00:30:49.580 Don't lock them down.

00:30:50.880 Don't mandate them so they're unable to work.

00:30:53.860 Don't get in the way of them being to drive Canada's natural resources.

00:30:58.160 Work at fixing housing.

00:31:01.920 And there are some material steps we can take, such as increasing homebuyers deduction.

00:31:06.820 I'm going to at least double it.

00:31:08.420 We should divest ourselves of federal land to increase the supply of land to bring houses down.

00:31:13.720 And we should start rebuilding.

00:31:16.160 We should rebuild transportation again.

00:31:18.500 We built this country on a train.

00:31:19.880 We need to focus on building transportation to new and affordable communities.

00:31:22.500 And Anthony, I think that all of this really starts with a sense that our democratic institutions are not going to be eroded and that government is not going to get in the way of Canadians pursuing their dreams.

00:31:38.000 When the federal government is proposing universal basic income, it is discouraging dreams.

00:31:44.060 It is creating dependency.

00:31:45.720 It is discouraging earning.

00:31:48.280 Canadians, I don't think, want universal basic income.

00:31:50.940 They want to earn an income.

00:31:52.960 What about dental care, which Justin Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh in the don't call it a coalition coalition are putting forward?

00:31:58.620 Is that something that all Canadians should have access to?

00:32:00.800 Well, I'm concerned that in order to affect universal dental care, you're going to have to have all sorts of regulatory pressures on dentists.

00:32:09.640 I've been asking what sort of tariffs, what sort of prices will the federal government expect a dentist to accept?

00:32:18.560 What kind of regulatory burdens or paperwork?

00:32:21.680 And I'm concerned that if there's not enough supply to meet dental needs of Canadians by virtue of the universal dental plan, then dentists may potentially be inconvenienced or do something that they might not want to do.

00:32:37.880 And that would mean that a lot of dentists might retire or simply leave to practice dentistry somewhere else.

00:32:44.180 And that is the concern with universal plans.

00:32:48.060 First of all, they're never free.

00:32:49.560 Nothing is free.

00:32:50.300 And second of all, you will have to inevitably regulate dentists or find another way to get them to do the work.

00:32:59.480 And that might not be something that many in the dental community are looking forward to.

00:33:04.000 What about national daycare?

00:33:05.620 Is that something that you said you want opportunity for young people?

00:33:08.600 Is this something that empowers young families, particularly women, to have that opportunity?

00:33:13.280 Or are there some challenges in the implementation of this?

00:33:16.600 There will certainly be some challenges in the implementation of this.

00:33:19.420 Because I do know and I appreciate that the cost of daycare is unaffordable.

00:33:25.080 What we need to do, I think, is we need to focus on affordability generally.

00:33:29.060 And, of course, between the hyper rate of inflation, federal spending, and the uncertainty that's been created in the last couple of years, life in Canada is becoming unaffordable.

00:33:39.420 But I think we've been through challenges as a country before, and I think we'll reemerge out of them again.

00:33:46.400 We need to go back to first principles.

00:33:48.240 And that is respecting Canada's democracy, respecting our ability to pursue livelihood, free of encumbrance by government, of course, subject to the rule of law.

00:33:59.100 Those are very trade propositions that I think are eroding in our country and therefore cause a lot of folks to concern that the future of their children will not be as bright.

00:34:11.260 And that is a proposition that I find unacceptable.

00:34:14.540 Roman Baber, before we go, there's a lot of candidates in this field right now for conservative leadership and probably a feeling that whoever wins this race will go on to be the next prime minister.

00:34:24.220 But it's unclear, both because there is this coalition government going on right now with Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh, and also because, well, Andrew sure didn't win.

00:34:32.020 And we were told, well, it's because he was too SOCON, and get a guy who doesn't have the hints of SOCON, it'll be fine.

00:34:36.960 Got an error, no tool, no hints of the SOCON, still, he didn't pull it off, he didn't win, got to push him out.

00:34:42.540 And of course, he was, and now we have this race. 0.99

00:34:45.800 What is needed from the Conservative Party and the next leader to win the next election?

00:34:52.000 First, you've got to unify the Conservative Party, which means that you have to accept differing views within our party, not have litmus tests for opinion.

00:35:03.340 You also have to have authenticity and courage to stand up for what you believe and what Canadians are looking for.

00:35:11.240 Specifically, I'm of the view that no candidate should be running in one direction during leadership and then back to the centre during the general election.

00:35:20.160 I think that voters see that as something not to be desired in leaders, and so you must remain authentic and true to yourself.

00:35:30.140 That is a prerequisite for a Conservative leader in a party that is proud to stand on principle.

00:35:37.240 And that also means that we cannot be bullied by the politically correct mob to take positions that may not be in line with what Canadians hope that we will say and do.

00:35:52.380 I'm of the view that we should have stood up against lockdowns, that we should have stood up for a minority of Canadians that are discriminated against by virtue of passports and mandates.

00:36:04.120 We should encourage diversity of opinion within our party, we should stand on principle, and we should not be afraid to articulate what we believe and say what we believe is right.

00:36:16.500 Roman Baber, thanks for joining us today. All the best to you.

00:36:20.040 Thank you, Anthony.

00:36:21.280 Full Comment is a post-media podcast.

00:36:23.700 I'm Anthony Fury.

00:36:24.860 This episode was produced by Andre Proulx, with theme music by Bryce Hall.

00:36:28.420 Kevin Libin is the executive producer.

00:36:31.300 You can subscribe to Full Comment on Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, and Amazon Music.

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00:36:39.140 You can help us by giving us a rating or a review, and by telling your friends about us.

00:36:42.960 Thanks for listening.

Full Comment - April 25, 2022

‘Canada’s democracy is in doubt’ says Tory candidate Roman Baber

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