Juno News - March 03, 2022


Are Covid restrictions going away quickly enough? (feat. Candice Bergen)


Episode Stats


Length

31 minutes

Words per minute

183.50267

Word count

5,701

Sentence count

342

Harmful content

Misogyny

3

sentences flagged

Toxicity

1

sentences flagged

Hate speech

7

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Coming up on today's show: - What's the holdup with the Conservative leadership race? - And interim Tory leader Candace Bergen swings by The Andrew Lawton Show to talk about it. - Is Canada in a state of COVID limbo? - Is there any hope for a return to freedom in British Columbia? - And what's going on with gun control in Canada?

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Welcome to Canada's most irreverent talk show. This is the Andrew Lawton Show, brought to you by True North.
00:00:12.980 Coming up, never-ending COVID restrictions. What's the hold-up with the Conservative leadership race?
00:00:18.360 And Interim Conservative leader Candace Bergen swings by.
00:00:23.000 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.
00:00:26.500 Hello and welcome to another edition of Canada's most irreverent talk show, the Andrew Lawton Show here on True North.
00:00:36.760 I think we're on Wednesday, right? Yeah, Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022.
00:00:42.360 And we have a great show for you today. I'm going to be joined later on by Candace Bergen, the Interim Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
00:00:51.420 And also, I'm going to talk a little bit about where the Conservative leadership race is.
00:00:56.100 It's not going to take all that long because it isn't really much of a race at this point, but I think there is something noteworthy in that.
00:01:03.240 So I'll spend like probably three minutes on it later on in the show.
00:01:07.060 But I have to first off send an apology to all of my British Columbian listeners here.
00:01:13.600 Now, I don't know how many of you there are from BC, especially after yesterday's show.
00:01:18.340 So I realized I was very insensitive to the plight of British Columbians yesterday because I did a whole segment on the show in which I was talking about,
00:01:26.540 oh, this province is reopening and even Ontario is getting rid of the vaccine passport and Alberta, Saskatchewan, 0.98
00:01:32.180 they're dropping the mass and even Quebec is doing.
00:01:34.420 And I was talking about all of this and I didn't take a moment to shed a tear for British Columbians
00:01:39.480 who are right now, more than anyone else in Canada, in a state of COVID limbo.
00:01:45.160 It's actually quite baffling to me to look at where the situation is in BC,
00:01:50.740 specifically Bonnie Henry's position,
00:01:54.120 which is that there may never be a point at which restrictions aren't just a fact of life.
00:02:00.120 There was a story my colleagues did at True North where Bonnie Henry,
00:02:03.420 who's the chief medical officer in BC, said even before she drops the restrictions,
00:02:08.420 that she's expecting them to come back at a certain point.
00:02:11.820 There's still a lot of this virus circulating around the globe,
00:02:14.700 so there will inevitably be changes and surprises we will need to adapt to, she said,
00:02:19.840 adding we will have continued uncertainty as we move through the summer,
00:02:23.000 we'll hopefully be in a good place for the next few months and then be able to relieve the pressures.
00:02:28.800 But then she went on to say that once the fall comes,
00:02:31.720 we have to be prepared for immunity to wane and have new approaches to adapt depending on what they see.
00:02:39.200 New approaches.
00:02:40.480 So what Bonnie Henry's saying is that even if you get something over the summer months that resembles freedom,
00:02:47.440 you're unlikely to have it for too long a period of time,
00:02:50.020 because once the fall comes, you're going right back into the 2020 mindset.
00:02:54.020 And even then, it's important to note that the order that is in BC,
00:02:57.480 keeping the vaccine passport in place, isn't supposed to expire until the end of June.
00:03:02.860 So we're still looking at several months from now.
00:03:05.500 And we spent a lot of time on the show yesterday talking about the voluntary aspect of whether
00:03:10.280 businesses would have the right if they really want to, to keep up with vaccine passports.
00:03:15.740 Alberta has said, yeah, you can, but I really don't want you to.
00:03:19.000 Ontario has said something very similar.
00:03:21.160 Bonnie Henry's gone the other direction. 0.84
00:03:22.940 She said in BC, yeah, once this is gone, I encourage you to do this.
00:03:26.420 I want you to do this.
00:03:27.480 She's actually promoting the indefinite nature of vaccine passports,
00:03:32.340 the suspension of this state of civil, well, basically the state of segregation.
00:03:37.400 That's what Bonnie Henry is encouraging.
00:03:39.480 So it's quite shocking because I remember back in, when would it have been, March and April
00:03:44.420 of 2020, you may recall, I was traveling the country producing a documentary series
00:03:50.440 about firearms called Assaulted, Justin Trudeau's War on Gun Owners.
00:03:54.220 And we did a fair bit of filming in British Columbia for that.
00:03:57.820 One of the reasons was there's a huge hub of gun owners in BC.
00:04:01.040 So there were lots of people to talk to.
00:04:03.160 But also BC was a province that at the time other places were locking down really wasn't
00:04:08.860 in lockdown.
00:04:09.560 And I met up with some friends when I was there who all said, you know, we've never really
00:04:14.220 locked down.
00:04:15.080 And I actually commended BC despite having an NDP government for not doing things as
00:04:21.240 aggressively as the conservative governments of Ontario, Alberta, and even Saskatchewan had
00:04:26.680 done.
00:04:27.080 So BC for a while, again, it was a very, very low bar, like the Seven Dwarfs couldn't even 1.00
00:04:32.460 do limbo under it.
00:04:33.760 But BC for a while was better than a lot of other places when it came to lockdowns and
00:04:40.060 restrictions.
00:04:40.460 So any good favor that BC has curried, I admit, is now completely gone.
00:04:46.160 Bonnie Henry wants to just keep restrictions hanging over people like the Sword of Damocles 1.00
00:04:50.600 indefinitely.
00:04:51.860 And it's quite shameful because I already think we are, in a lot of ways, seeing restrictions
00:04:56.560 lift in a manner that is too little too late.
00:04:59.380 This was a big theme that we had on the program yesterday, talking about how, yes, some of these
00:05:04.480 restrictions are lifting, but a lot of them are remaining in place.
00:05:07.480 And since that show, the number of emails, I can't get through them all, but the number
00:05:11.740 of emails I've received from people that say, you know, my kid's day camp is still doing
00:05:15.820 vaccine passports.
00:05:16.980 This concert venue I want to go to is still doing vaccine passports. 1.00
00:05:20.660 A lot of people that are seeing in their lives, a lot of places are not reopening.
00:05:25.740 And again, you know my position on this.
00:05:27.200 I'm a libertarian.
00:05:27.900 I think individual businesses, private businesses should be able to make their own decisions.
00:05:32.660 But when we see places that are government adjacent, that are connected to government,
00:05:38.460 that are going down this road, that is entirely wrong.
00:05:42.240 But again, government has already claimed that this is a right that it holds.
00:05:46.000 Government has already claimed that it has the right to make these decisions.
00:05:48.940 So what's the difference?
00:05:50.560 And that's the problem is that once you surrender your civil liberties to the state, once you give
00:05:55.700 the government the right to make these decisions for you about your life, about your health,
00:06:00.640 about your business, what happens next is only a matter of degrees.
00:06:05.940 And we are going to be in this country for years, sleeping in the bed that we've made over
00:06:11.100 the last two years.
00:06:12.340 And by we, I don't mean me and you listening, but we, the Canadians, generally speaking, who
00:06:17.720 for a long period of this were supportive of this, were welcoming it, were saying, regulate
00:06:22.920 me more, govern me more.
00:06:24.200 There was one sign, I don't think I got a picture of it, but there was one sign that
00:06:28.460 I saw at the trucker convoy rally in Ottawa the first weekend that was like, govern me
00:06:32.660 harder, daddy, which I found, you know, a little bit lewd.
00:06:36.700 But at the same time, I kind of understood the sentiment, which is that you've had Canadians
00:06:40.260 that have just had this like fetishistic way of just demanding more government regulation,
00:06:45.000 demanding more government oversight.
00:06:47.660 And this is the byproduct of that.
00:06:49.900 All of these Canadians that are right now, and again, especially in BC, but even elsewhere,
00:06:53.600 that are looking around the world and seeing the Danes back to normal, the Brits back to 0.99
00:06:57.600 normal, the Finns back to normal, the Chinese back to normal. 0.98
00:07:01.320 And they're looking around and saying, well, in BC, I can't go and get a cup of coffee unless
00:07:05.500 I'm vaccinated and want to prove that.
00:07:07.960 Or I can't send my kid to a day camp unless the kid has the vaccine passport. 0.99
00:07:12.120 Even with myriad studies talking about diminishing returns for vaccinating children, the risks
00:07:19.880 outweighing the benefits.
00:07:22.880 But we're still moving down this road of perpetually mandating vaccination for things.
00:07:28.400 Universities as well.
00:07:29.520 I mentioned this yesterday.
00:07:30.500 Government adjacent or in many cases, just outright government entities.
00:07:33.820 But keeping these vaccine requirements in place, which is denying students the right
00:07:39.160 to an education.
00:07:41.780 Denying students the right to an education, keeping them in place for completely unscientific
00:07:46.840 reasons.
00:07:48.760 And this is going to be with us for quite a long time.
00:07:52.380 Now, there's something I'm working on a story I can't tell you just yet.
00:07:56.140 It's not a groundbreaking investigative story, but it's a segment I'm putting together on
00:08:00.700 this show, a discussion that I want to have that will be next week that you'll want to
00:08:04.180 watch.
00:08:04.440 Because I'm trying to tie this all up in a neat little package for you and explain where
00:08:09.120 we're headed.
00:08:09.780 And I'm trying to do it in a way that is not rooted in conspiracy, that is actually rejecting
00:08:13.920 conspiracy because you don't need to make things up with how bad things are.
00:08:17.220 They're bad enough.
00:08:17.800 You don't need to spin a conspiracy.
00:08:19.320 That's my view, myopic as it may sound.
00:08:21.940 So stay tuned for that next week.
00:08:23.520 But the point that I'm bringing up here in raising it is that nothing government does is
00:08:30.560 by nature temporary.
00:08:32.040 Government doesn't do temporary very well.
00:08:34.340 And even when they do temporary, what they've done is they've created an apparatus and an
00:08:38.060 infrastructure that will outlast and outlive whatever the temporary program is.
00:08:43.060 And that's been the concerns that people have raised about vaccine passports.
00:08:46.340 What's going to happen to these databases?
00:08:48.280 What's going to happen to the QR codes?
00:08:50.800 Now, I never got the QR code.
00:08:52.800 Not because I thought there was anything untoward about it, but just fundamentally, I did not respect
00:08:57.160 the legitimacy of it.
00:08:58.600 So I've never been to a restaurant that required a QR code.
00:09:03.100 When I was out in Alberta speaking at a conference a couple of months ago, I had my little paper
00:09:08.040 pass and that was good enough for them at the time.
00:09:10.340 But the reality is, and by the way, the number of times I've been to a restaurant in the vaccine
00:09:15.740 passport era is basically only when I've traveled.
00:09:18.600 And I think my wife's in my anniversary.
00:09:20.180 That was basically it.
00:09:21.220 Because they've taken the ability away, government has taken the ability away to just function
00:09:28.340 and navigate in civil society the way you're supposed to.
00:09:32.800 And that's why mask mandates are not insignificant.
00:09:36.280 People say, the mask proponents say, well, it's just a mask.
00:09:39.360 It's just a little thing on your face.
00:09:40.640 Why do you care?
00:09:41.480 I care because that is not the way life is supposed to be.
00:09:46.000 It's not supposed to be abnormal to walk around and see a face.
00:09:50.500 I talked to someone, I told this to Ezra Levant on his show the other night when I appeared.
00:09:55.280 I said, I met someone or was talking to someone rather who had started a new job.
00:09:59.140 And they had said just in passing that they had never seen their co-workers' faces because
00:10:03.300 they were working in person.
00:10:04.540 And maybe they had seen it in like a Facebook profile photo or something or a Zoom call.
00:10:08.440 But in person, they had just never seen it.
00:10:10.880 And they were sharing this as a novelty.
00:10:12.760 But there's actually something quite unsettling about that.
00:10:16.000 That that is not the way a healthy, normal society is supposed to function.
00:10:20.700 You talk about kids in school.
00:10:23.060 Kids in school that if they're of a certain age, five, six years old, they've never seen
00:10:27.080 their classmates' faces except for if they're in one of those lunchroom environments where
00:10:30.960 you have to sit and not speak and just stare at your sandwich box.
00:10:34.500 And that's all you're allowed to do.
00:10:36.620 Because science.
00:10:37.680 And one point that I'm not the first to raise, but I need to reiterate it here, is that we
00:10:45.180 may not know for years the total damage that we've unleashed on society economically, on
00:10:51.640 youth and education, in mental health, on adult mental health as well.
00:10:55.800 We tend to focus a lot on the plight of children, and I think with good reason, but adults are
00:11:00.800 barely getting through this.
00:11:02.000 Parents of children who have to be strong and guide their kids through this when they
00:11:07.360 themselves are struggling with it.
00:11:08.600 It will take years for us to realize how much damage we've done.
00:11:12.680 So when I look at people like Bonnie Henry in British Columbia that are still putting
00:11:16.920 this forward, that are still driving this, the question is a fundamentally simple one.
00:11:22.720 What is wrong with you?
00:11:25.400 Seriously.
00:11:25.920 I mentioned that I would spend a couple of moments on the conservative leadership race.
00:11:31.520 Again, not much to update you on.
00:11:34.080 The Leadership Election Organizing Committee, which is the body that sets the rules for the
00:11:38.960 race itself, has been chosen, but they've not actually come to any agreement about what
00:11:43.420 the rules are going to be.
00:11:44.640 So no one knows.
00:11:45.860 Are we going to have a two-month race that's wrapped up by the end of spring?
00:11:49.220 Are we going to have a six-month-long race that's going to go into the fall?
00:11:53.040 No one knows at this point.
00:11:54.880 Pierre Polyev is definitely the frontrunner.
00:11:57.160 Like, any time we talk about this, everyone says Pierre Polyev is the guy they want.
00:12:01.440 So certainly if there's a short race and he's in, he wins very quickly, I think.
00:12:06.940 If there's a longer race, that's where things could change.
00:12:09.880 You've got Jean Charest, the former Liberal Premier of Quebec, who's poking around, who it
00:12:14.940 seems like is all but certainly getting into the race.
00:12:17.840 You've got a broadcaster and columnist Tasha Kyridin.
00:12:21.000 And Patrick Brown, the mayor of Brampton, who we had on the show a few weeks back, three
00:12:25.840 or four weeks back, he's considering a bid as well.
00:12:29.160 And all of this is quite interesting.
00:12:31.140 Brian Platt had tweeted that anyone who's rumored to be a conservative leadership candidate
00:12:36.380 was writing an op-ed in the National Post about Ukraine.
00:12:39.560 And there was like a daily schedule.
00:12:41.240 He posted about that.
00:12:42.480 You know, Peter McKay did his and Pierre Polyev did his and then Jean Charest did his.
00:12:46.940 And he had sort of joked that Patrick Brown needed to whip up an op-ed.
00:12:50.300 And then just this morning, before I started recording the show, I noted that Tasha Kyridin
00:12:54.120 had a Russia-Ukraine op-ed in the National Post.
00:12:57.400 So if anyone writes about Russia-Ukraine in the National Post, I guarantee you they're considering
00:13:02.440 a conservative leadership bid.
00:13:04.520 These are the rules as they've been established right now.
00:13:07.540 I feel bad for anyone who's not running that does it.
00:13:10.140 Like Rex Murphy, who will write, presumably, if he hasn't already, some op-ed on Russia-Ukraine.
00:13:15.120 Everyone will think, oh, Rex must be running for the conservative leadership.
00:13:18.520 You know, Canada could do a heck of a lot worse than that.
00:13:21.520 So if you're listening, Rex, you've got my vote.
00:13:24.360 We have to take a quick break.
00:13:26.400 When we come back, we'll talk to the one who is the leader of the federal conservative
00:13:29.860 party for the time being, Candace Bergen.
00:13:32.260 She joins me up next here on The Andrew Lawton Show.
00:13:34.880 Stay tuned.
00:13:38.320 You're tuned in to The Andrew Lawton Show.
00:13:43.700 Welcome back to The Andrew Lawton Show here on True North.
00:13:47.420 As I mentioned earlier, very pleased to have joining us Candace Bergen, who is the interim
00:13:52.320 leader of the conservatives.
00:13:54.220 Now, if you haven't been paying attention to Canadian politics in the last couple of months,
00:13:58.180 you'll know this came about somewhat abruptly as Aaron O'Toole was removed by his caucus
00:14:04.660 members in the midst of the trucker convoy.
00:14:07.180 And again, I think there were a number of factors there, but certainly that was one
00:14:11.200 of the leading ones here.
00:14:12.600 Candace, good to talk to you again.
00:14:13.760 Thanks very much.
00:14:14.560 And it's been a little while.
00:14:15.640 So congratulations, as I've not spoken to you since you've ascended to this position.
00:14:19.880 But thank you.
00:14:21.340 Thanks, Andrew.
00:14:22.180 Yeah, it's been, I kind of joke, wow, it's been a pretty quiet month here in Ottawa.
00:14:27.120 Sarcastic, not at all quiet, very busy, a lot going on.
00:14:31.860 But it's been productive and there's a lot of good work that I think we've been able
00:14:36.420 to do.
00:14:37.920 Let's actually start right there.
00:14:39.640 This was an abrupt job title change for you.
00:14:43.060 Obviously, the Conservative Party went through this change with Aaron O'Toole being removed
00:14:48.220 and then you being selected as the interim leader very quickly.
00:14:52.780 What has this been for you really practically?
00:14:56.020 Because you've come into this position in the midst of the convoy.
00:14:59.560 We now have the Russia war in Ukraine.
00:15:02.780 We have a number of political challenges in Canada, plus the Conservative Party is obviously
00:15:06.960 going through changes.
00:15:08.220 You had to hit the ground running.
00:15:09.640 What's been the priority for you?
00:15:11.000 Well, I'm fortunate because of the roles that I've had previously under with with Ron
00:15:17.620 Ambrose, Andrew Scheer, and then with Aaron O'Toole as House Leader and then going on
00:15:22.740 as Deputy Leader, I was I really have a good idea of what what the leadership role is.
00:15:29.160 And so I was literally able to hit the ground running the Wednesday when everything happened.
00:15:33.760 It was a very quick day.
00:15:35.220 We had question period right after our caucus meeting.
00:15:38.460 And then we had the vote for the interim leader.
00:15:41.620 And the next day, Parliament was was on.
00:15:43.840 And you're right.
00:15:44.300 We had the convoy out here in Ottawa and issues that we had to address right away.
00:15:49.300 The caucus really has come together.
00:15:51.400 It was a very much hands on all hands on deck kind of mentality.
00:15:56.200 And everybody rallied around and we we were able to tackle some of the difficult issues.
00:16:01.700 So that's really what what we've been doing.
00:16:03.940 In terms of my priorities, Andrew, I'll tell you, I believe, first and foremost, my job
00:16:09.520 is to keep our our caucus united.
00:16:12.240 And when I say united, that doesn't mean that we always agree on everything.
00:16:16.440 I think that it's a myth to think that we can always agree or all be on exactly the same
00:16:22.460 page on every issue.
00:16:23.600 I think, in fact, that's kind of the liberal way of doing things.
00:16:27.680 They think everybody has to agree or somehow it doesn't work as conservatives.
00:16:32.060 We're going to disagree and we're going to have different opinions.
00:16:35.020 And I think that makes us better.
00:16:36.900 But as a caucus, we can talk about it, come to certain positions and then be disciplined
00:16:43.260 and focused in what we're doing for Canadians.
00:16:45.940 So that's really been my goal.
00:16:48.700 And and then also ensure that conservatives are proud to be conservative.
00:16:52.340 I think that we have a lot to be proud of as conservatives, our values, our principles,
00:16:58.940 the foundation that makes us conservative.
00:17:01.220 So I want conservatives to be proud to be conservatives and excited about what we're
00:17:05.380 doing.
00:17:06.540 Clearly, that approach to caucus management that you just described didn't exist.
00:17:10.840 Caucus members felt under Aaron O'Toole's leadership, which is why there was enough discontent
00:17:15.300 that he was removed under the Reform Act.
00:17:17.700 So how do you, moving forward from that, correct that?
00:17:21.300 How do you keep the caucus together, the different factions of the party and also the membership
00:17:25.980 and the base beyond the caucus across the country?
00:17:29.580 Well, I was also fortunate to work under Stephen Harper in his government and in his cabinet.
00:17:34.680 And I found Stephen Harper, although a very strong leader and he knew the direction he wanted
00:17:38.980 to go, he really set an example for how to collaborate and work with the caucus.
00:17:43.420 And that was as a prime minister.
00:17:45.660 Ronna Ambrose continued that and other leaders have done that.
00:17:49.500 And I find that that's the best way to approach issues, whether it's legislation the government
00:17:55.600 is bringing forward, whether it's issues that we as a caucus have to deal with.
00:17:59.500 We have a very intelligent, principled, hardworking group of men and women here in Ottawa who are
00:18:06.200 conservative MPs.
00:18:07.340 And I just find it's the best approach is to consult with them.
00:18:12.020 So we have a good process whereby we do that through our shadow cabinet process.
00:18:15.880 We have priorities, planning committee and then caucus meets regularly.
00:18:20.180 And I ask them what they think and I take their advice and tell them what I'm thinking.
00:18:26.360 And then I find that whether I was house leader or deputy leader or now as leader, that is
00:18:31.760 the best approach to finding consensus of moving forward.
00:18:34.700 You mentioned earlier the convoy.
00:18:37.960 This is, of course, a huge issue that I think not just for Canada and for Ottawa, but for the
00:18:43.340 conservative movement in this country.
00:18:44.980 You had, I think, the conservative base that has been for the last year, certainly very
00:18:50.080 fervently against the vaccine mandates, the vaccine passports, not feeling like there
00:18:54.920 was a voice in the official opposition on those issues.
00:18:58.760 You've had a clear voice on this.
00:19:00.260 You've spoken up.
00:19:01.260 I even played on my show yesterday, your exchange with the prime minister in the House of Commons
00:19:06.000 from question period yesterday about that very idea.
00:19:09.700 But how do you take that and as the interim leader, make sure that those people continue
00:19:14.800 to be heard?
00:19:15.800 Because what I've been hearing for the last two years, especially since the last election,
00:19:20.080 and through the last election was that conservatives in Canada, and I use that with a small C and
00:19:24.620 a big C, did not feel like their interests were being represented by the Conservative Party
00:19:29.500 of Canada.
00:19:30.500 Well, you know, I know I'm from one of the strongest conservative writings in the country,
00:19:36.460 southern Manitoba.
00:19:37.500 And I talked to so many people, first of all, explaining the difference between provincial vaccine
00:19:43.360 mandates and federal vaccine mandates.
00:19:45.500 And the fact that as a federal representative, I had no impact or power over what provinces
00:19:51.040 did.
00:19:52.040 But as a federal MP, I could sure stand up against Trudeau's federal mandatory vaccines.
00:19:58.840 And I think we were all clear.
00:20:00.080 I believe conservatives were all clear on that during the election.
00:20:03.120 Some would say we could have been gone out on it more.
00:20:06.880 That's the past.
00:20:07.880 What I do know is when Trudeau threatened and then implemented the vaccine on truck, the
00:20:13.260 vaccine mandate on truckers, that very much went against conservative policy.
00:20:17.940 And so we could very strongly support the spirit of what the truckers and their supporters were
00:20:25.060 coming to Ottawa to talk about.
00:20:27.500 And that's why we could meet with them.
00:20:29.100 I met with constituents who were here.
00:20:31.340 I believe that's what government and opposition leaders should do.
00:20:35.040 We should listen to people.
00:20:36.380 We should hear them.
00:20:37.380 I think if Trudeau had done a little more of that instead of calling them names and wedging,
00:20:43.260 dividing and stigmatizing, we would not have gotten into the situation that we were in with
00:20:49.460 with the truckers here for as long as they were.
00:20:52.140 We also did believe and we do believe that we need to be following the laws of the land.
00:20:57.660 And that's that was why we said to the truckers and their supporters, don't blockade borders.
00:21:04.260 That's it's too important to Canada's economy.
00:21:06.820 And move the trucks because you can't be parked illegally.
00:21:09.860 And I believe you can say both things.
00:21:11.920 We support your fight against mandatory vaccines, but we don't believe you should be doing things
00:21:17.680 illegally.
00:21:18.680 That was our position.
00:21:20.340 And so now as we're moving forward and I asked the Prime Minister about this recently,
00:21:26.400 those are opening up vaccines or mandates are being lifted.
00:21:31.060 Where's the federal government on this?
00:21:33.000 They frankly are so behind and, you know, I said kind of tongue in cheek, but it's actually
00:21:37.720 true.
00:21:38.720 They always say they're so progressive and, you know, ahead of the times.
00:21:42.280 They're actually looking very old fashioned right now in their approach to vaccine mandates.
00:21:47.800 So we've got to keep pushing them on this.
00:21:50.100 It's not just about freedom.
00:21:51.620 It's actually about what's good for our economy.
00:21:54.140 It's about what's good for Canadians mental health.
00:21:56.280 It's Canadians need to be free to live their lives and the mandates, the restrictions have
00:22:02.620 to be lifted federally.
00:22:03.940 I'm appreciative that you don't want to spend too much time looking into the past here, but
00:22:08.900 I do want to talk about one contrast between the Conservative Party of a few months ago and
00:22:13.980 a position that we've heard from you and also your colleagues in caucus in the last couple
00:22:18.780 of weeks.
00:22:19.780 And that's a very firm position against the carbon tax.
00:22:21.980 And I know with everything else that's been going on in Canada and the world, this hasn't
00:22:25.800 necessarily been the top of mind issue on the political agenda.
00:22:29.280 But for Canadians that are paying their heating bills, it certainly is an issue.
00:22:33.700 And again, talk to me a little bit about where the Conservatives are on this, because I think
00:22:37.660 even a year and a bit ago, Conservative Canadians were fairly confident that your party was against
00:22:44.220 the carbon tax, that then it ran on a version of a carbon price that people have said, the
00:22:50.140 Canadian Taxpayers Federation have said, was a carbon tax.
00:22:53.400 So where is the party now?
00:22:54.880 Where are you now on this?
00:22:56.220 Well, Andrew, I think you are right in that there are a lot of things that Canadians are
00:23:01.340 watching on the news and very concerned about, but they're still going up and going and filling
00:23:05.380 up their tanks and buying groceries and seeing that the cost of everything is going up and
00:23:11.000 is starting at the pumps.
00:23:12.760 So Conservatives are very concerned with inflation and increased taxes on Canadians.
00:23:19.240 Listen, my position is this.
00:23:21.380 We have a leadership race going on right now.
00:23:24.280 Leadership candidates will articulate their belief on how we best fight reducing emissions
00:23:30.760 and fighting climate change and what role Canada can play in that.
00:23:35.640 They can talk about their ideas and the electorate, the membership will support their ideas.
00:23:40.980 So I'm going back just to the basics of what our grassroots party has determined.
00:23:48.300 And Conservatives don't support tax increases.
00:23:50.980 We certainly don't support a Liberal carbon tax that does absolutely nothing to reduce emissions
00:23:56.420 anywhere and only hurts Canadian energy, oil, gas and Canadian consumers.
00:24:03.220 And I think right now when we see what's going on with Putin and the fact that Putin has been
00:24:08.460 able to monopolize the sale of gas to Europe, for example, Canada is cut out of the equation.
00:24:17.600 So we're not only talking about how that hurts the environment, but just as importantly, and I would
00:24:22.780 say more importantly right now, the safety, sovereignty and energy security of the world.
00:24:29.220 When Canada is cut out, whether it's through a carbon tax or other measures that the Liberal
00:24:34.380 government has put on our on our sector.
00:24:36.540 It hurts the world.
00:24:38.540 So, you know, that's that's a big answer.
00:24:41.380 But basically to say I'm on policies like this, I'm I'm in a safe place when I stick with our grassroots
00:24:48.540 policy and then let the candidates articulate their particular views on these these kinds of issues.
00:24:54.220 Yeah, I'm glad you brought up the Russia approach, because I know that the Prime Minister did come
00:24:58.940 out this week and say that we're going to cancel imports of crude from Russia.
00:25:04.060 But I would say, first off, it shouldn't have taken an invasion of Ukraine to start talking
00:25:10.540 about reducing our dependency on foreign oil, especially when we have the capability and capacity
00:25:15.660 in Canada and an energy sector here.
00:25:17.980 And the same could be said about US leaders.
00:25:20.140 I know obviously Canadian politicians don't have as direct control over what the United States does,
00:25:25.580 but we can represent Canada's interests.
00:25:27.980 And in Canada, I still am baffled and especially when I talk to Albertans and people from Saskatchewan 1.00
00:25:33.500 about this baffled at how dependent we are on foreign oil from countries that are not democracies,
00:25:38.620 when we could develop our sector so much more than it is right now.
00:25:43.020 I agree, Andrew.
00:25:44.060 And, you know, it's not only our dependency or still or even that we're still using it.
00:25:49.340 It's the fact that we have no champions in our country.
00:25:52.780 No, we should have a prime minister who goes to other countries and says,
00:25:57.740 do not ever lecture us about oil and gas or emissions, because Canada is the leader when it comes to
00:26:06.380 extracting and transporting the cleanest oil, gas and LNG in the world.
00:26:12.700 But we don't have that champion.
00:26:14.380 And so we allow the world to scold and really reprimand us even in the way that they where
00:26:21.980 there's investment, insurance, all kinds of other measures that they're using to try to constrain
00:26:29.660 Canada's oil and gas development.
00:26:31.740 And if we had a leader who would say, no, enough of that, that's nonsense.
00:26:35.660 And actually point out the big polluters in the world and then ensure that our oil and gas is
00:26:43.580 promoted and used.
00:26:44.460 So that's only it's just one piece of it.
00:26:47.580 But it's I'm I'm glad that we're at least able to talk about it a little more right now.
00:26:53.580 And I think more and more people are seeing that when Canadian oil and gas is kept in the ground
00:26:58.940 and Putin is able to sell his, you know, look at what he's doing.
00:27:03.420 Look at them.
00:27:03.980 Look at the billions of dollars he had.
00:27:06.060 He has. 0.86
00:27:06.620 And he's using it right now to kill and destroy Ukrainian people and a sovereign democratic nation.
00:27:14.140 That's a hard fact to face up to.
00:27:16.460 But it's the truth.
00:27:18.940 Just looking forward to some of the other items on the political agenda here in Canada,
00:27:24.060 the Emergencies Act, very controversial.
00:27:27.020 We know just looking at it in practice in Ottawa that civil liberties were affected.
00:27:31.980 Press freedoms were affected.
00:27:33.420 Peaceful assembly was affected.
00:27:35.740 And obviously the parliamentary oversight of this tended to just disappear when,
00:27:40.700 just as the Senate was weighing this, Justin Trudeau decided that the emergency no longer existed.
00:27:46.540 I know the Emergencies Act does require a report, an investigation of this after the fact.
00:27:52.780 But realistically, does Justin Trudeau get away with this now by declaring the emergency over?
00:27:58.540 Is there still some accountability there?
00:28:01.820 Well, we believe that there absolutely should be.
00:28:04.860 We did not support the use of the Emergencies Act.
00:28:08.220 We, you know, we looked at it and found out very quickly that all of the laws were in place
00:28:12.620 that needed to be.
00:28:13.340 He had, and law enforcement had the laws that they needed to clear, especially we're talking
00:28:18.620 about the trucks.
00:28:19.420 I mean, they obviously did it.
00:28:20.460 They did it before the Emergencies Act.
00:28:21.980 They cleared away the blockades at Borders.
00:28:24.380 But they had what they needed to clear the trucks from Ottawa.
00:28:28.540 Trudeau was in a political emergency, and so he invoked the Emergencies Act.
00:28:33.020 In terms of oversight, we're in Ottawa this week.
00:28:36.060 We then have a two-week previously scheduled riding break where we're in our ridings.
00:28:42.300 But I'm going to tell you this, Andrew.
00:28:43.900 Conservatives are not finished talking about this and holding the Prime Minister to account.
00:28:49.100 He's trying to do, Jerry, really, I guess the word would be he's trying to manipulate the
00:28:55.100 committee to make sure that he's got enough, the NDP, who are basically his lapdogs on this.
00:29:01.420 They're probably going to be helping chair the committee, but we're going to use every tool
00:29:06.620 available and we will not let the Prime Minister get away with doing this.
00:29:11.260 But I will say this, Andrew.
00:29:13.420 We cannot do it alone.
00:29:15.180 We need people who are talking about this, holding their MPs to account.
00:29:20.300 If you have a Liberal or an NDP MP representing you, you need to tell them that what they did
00:29:25.900 wasn't acceptable. Politicians cannot do it by themselves. We need people speaking out loudly,
00:29:32.220 clearly, and forcefully about this. Obviously, in a democratic country, doing it legally, safely,
00:29:38.940 but we need people speaking out about it. And we'll keep doing our job here in Ottawa.
00:29:43.100 I know there's lots more coming up in the next few weeks and months, the revival of Bill C-36, of Bill C-10.
00:29:51.260 So we'd love to get you back on the show to talk about some of those. I know they are very significant
00:29:56.220 for free speech, and I've appreciated conversations I've had in the past with you about that.
00:30:00.380 So we'll have you back on. Candice Bergen, Interim Leader of the Conservatives. Thanks so much for your time today.
00:30:06.460 Thanks, Andrew.
00:30:07.980 That was Candice Bergen, Conservative Interim Leader. Let me know what you think.
00:30:11.980 Andrew at andrewlotton.ca is my email address. And again, the point was to find out what her priorities are.
00:30:20.140 She's not the permanent leader. She's there. I don't mean it in an insulting way,
00:30:23.900 but she's there as a placeholder while the Conservatives select the leader who will carry 0.98
00:30:28.460 the party into the next election. But again, in a minority parliament, that's not necessarily
00:30:32.700 a given. Theoretically, if the NDP stopped becoming the lapdogs, as she aptly put it,
00:30:37.820 there could be quite a significant change there. But at this time, she's just there. And as she said,
00:30:42.620 you can always fall back on the position of standing up for the grassroots.
00:30:46.060 What a concept. What an idea. In any case, we will talk to you soon. This is Canada's
00:30:51.180 most irreverent talk show here on True North, The Andrew Lawton Show. Stay tuned. Thank you.
00:30:55.100 God bless and good day to you all. Thanks for listening to The Andrew Lawton Show.
00:30:58.860 Support the program by donating to True North at www.tnc.news.