Juno News - Bringing common sense back to politics (Ft. Aaron Gunn)

00:00:00.320 Is it possible to bring common sense back to politics?

00:00:03.080 My guest today is trying.

00:00:04.080 I'm Candice Malcolm and this is The Candice Malcolm Show.

00:00:11.200 Canadian politics has become so robotic.

00:00:14.180 Every candidate sounds exactly the same.

00:00:16.320 They talk in sound bites and rehearsed talking points.

00:00:19.520 They don't say what they mean, they don't say what they believe in, or what they believe

00:00:22.700 is possible.

00:00:23.700 Instead, they repeat poll-tested phrases and safe topics, talk about safe topics where

00:00:28.500 they think everyone agrees with them.

00:00:30.560 This was painfully obvious in the last federal election.

00:00:33.900 There were hardly any differences between the main candidates who were running for prime

00:00:37.420 minister.

00:00:38.420 They all fundamentally believed the same thing.

00:00:40.480 They believed in the status quo when it came to big government, government knows best, government

00:00:44.800 can spend forever without any consequences on policy positions, and then when it came

00:00:49.300 to social issues, they all believed the same woke, socially leftist ideas and beliefs.

00:00:55.500 My guest today is different though.

00:00:57.500 He is a familiar face because he has a very large following on social media out in Victoria.

00:01:02.960 He's built a huge audience and a brand as a common sense pundit as well as an independent

00:01:07.860 journalist.

00:01:08.860 In fact, he is a member of the Independent Press Gallery of Canada.

00:01:12.480 He's been a guest on the show before and I'm really excited to have him on today and

00:01:16.000 to talk about his latest venture and the latest thing that he is up to now.

00:01:20.380 So joining me today is Aaron Gunn who is running for leader of the British Columbia

00:01:25.760 Liberal Party.

00:01:26.760 Yeah, that's right.

00:01:27.760 The Liberal Party.

00:01:28.760 Aaron, thank you so much for joining us today.

00:01:31.220 Thank you for having me, Candice.

00:01:33.220 And I might add the hopefully soon to be renamed BC Liberal Party.

00:01:38.120 Well, it's interesting because I'm from BC as well and my first job in politics, my first

00:01:43.280 experience on a political campaign was with the BC Liberals.

00:01:47.160 I'm dating myself a little bit, but it was back in 2005 and I was working in the constituency

00:01:52.480 office of Gordon Campbell who was the premier at the time.

00:01:55.680 And I didn't know much about the partisan politics and left and right and the differences

00:02:00.320 between the Liberal and Conservative parties, but I definitely understood that it was sort

00:02:05.440 of a coalition party and I think that Gordon Campbell was more on the Conservative side,

00:02:10.100 whereas it seems like the people that are running the party today have pulled the party

00:02:13.720 much more to the left and are maybe perhaps more aligned with the federal Liberals.

00:02:18.200 But before we get into the sort of nuances of the Liberal Party, tell us first, Aaron, why

00:02:23.600 did you decide to go into politics?

00:02:25.300 You know, you have a great career, you have a huge following on social media, you produce

00:02:31.500 great videos, you have an entire series.

00:02:33.920 So why did you decide to take the jump into partisan politics?

00:02:37.860 Well, I think it goes back to the last provincial election.

00:02:42.160 I was sitting there like lots of British Columbians watching the debate on my television screen

00:02:47.820 and it just became so obvious to me, you mentioned the recent federal election, that there weren't

00:02:51.920 any true alternatives being articulated to voters, there wasn't real options being placed before

00:02:58.120 them.

00:02:59.120 And I think you saw that reflected in the historically low voter turnout in the last British Columbian

00:03:03.460 election.

00:03:04.620 And a lot of Conservatives specifically just stayed home or even voted for kind of this

00:03:09.540 Mickey Mouse BC Conservative Party that's basically run out of someone's garage.

00:03:14.320 So I think there was a lot of frustration.

00:03:17.580 And to me, that's a kind of democratic deficit where you don't have real choices and voters

00:03:23.160 feel that everybody is kind of the same.

00:03:25.480 So with the large platform that I had built up, obviously, I saw an opportunity to present

00:03:29.320 something different to give people a different choice.

00:03:32.480 And to actually articulate a different vision that doesn't try to paper over our differences

00:03:39.480 with the NDP and the left, but actually provides a different way of doing things and giving voters

00:03:46.380 that option.

00:03:47.640 That's great.

00:03:48.640 And so tell us then, why did you choose the Liberal Party?

00:03:51.140 We talked a little bit about how, you know, you might change the name and how the Liberal

00:03:56.520 Party historically wasn't part of the federal liberal brand.

00:04:00.240 But now, nowadays, they're sort of aligned more so, so, you know, why would you decide

00:04:04.420 to join the Liberal Party instead of, say, you know, create your own independent party,

00:04:09.220 do something more independent, like what we've seen from Max St. Bernier or the Maverick

00:04:13.760 Party in Alberta?

00:04:14.760 Why did you decide to go to this establishment political party?

00:04:19.220 I think because, well, political parties to me are just are just vehicles in the day.

00:04:23.480 They're vehicles for ideas, they're vehicles for principles and for visions.

00:04:28.740 It's a lot easier to use and come into an existing political party than starting one

00:04:34.700 from scratch in our first past the post.

00:04:36.920 You mentioned some upstart parties on the federal scene.

00:04:40.020 And obviously, they've had varying degrees of success.

00:04:43.080 But as far as reflected in seats and political power, it's definitely an uphill battle to say

00:04:48.800 the least.

00:04:50.000 So the BC Liberals, you know, since the collapse of the social credit in the 1990s, they've

00:04:54.000 been the main anti-NDP alternative.

00:04:57.000 The majority of people voting for them are actually federal conservative voters.

00:05:01.360 And because of that, I think it's and they're the official opposition and because of all those

00:05:05.520 reasons, I think it is a great opportunity to come in and present those members, the majority

00:05:12.200 of whom are conservatives with with that different vision.

00:05:15.460 And you kind of mentioned that they're drifting towards more of a Trudeau liberal brand.

00:05:20.620 But I don't think the membership is.

00:05:22.000 I don't think the voters are that vote for that party.

00:05:24.300 There's a couple of people at the top of the party where that's what like they drag it. 0.96

00:05:27.560 And they're allowed to think that.

00:05:28.920 And that's why we have a leadership race. 0.55

00:05:30.400 And I'm presenting an alternative saying that I don't think so.

00:05:33.480 I think we need to go in the opposite direction and actually provide a real alternative instead

00:05:37.300 of just becoming NDP light.

00:05:39.640 And so you mentioned that there's a couple of people at the top that they're the ones

00:05:43.820 that have sort of shifted the party, but the base is different.

00:05:46.580 So can you tell us a little bit about the Liberal Party and its culture?

00:05:51.040 Like what do they stand for?

00:05:53.120 What are their beliefs?

00:05:54.280 Are they the common sense party in British Columbia?

00:05:56.520 And why do you think that you can do a better job leading it than anyone else?

00:06:01.180 Well, the answer was almost within your question there, Candace.

00:06:05.460 I think one of the biggest problem right now with the BC Liberal Party is they have no identity.

00:06:09.600 They don't know what they stand for.

00:06:10.960 They were created in the late 1990s where there was a different issue set.

00:06:15.180 There were different political fault lines and there was a different political zeitgeist

00:06:19.740 around which issues were important, which issues you had to speak to.

00:06:24.380 Since then, things have changed dramatically.

00:06:26.920 The federal Liberals have changed dramatically.

00:06:29.060 Obviously, you see Trio's policies now.

00:06:32.500 You can't even recognize the kind of the governments of Chrétien and Martin in the past.

00:06:36.820 So because of there's been so much political movement, meanwhile, the BC Liberals are this

00:06:41.340 unstable coalition that was notionally built between federal Liberals and federal Conservatives.

00:06:46.460 And what I think needs to happen is instead it needs to be a coalition centered around principles

00:06:52.240 and that kind of foundational principle is common sense.

00:06:55.760 I think that the BC Liberals have a lot to be proud of on their economic record when they

00:07:01.320 were in power as far as limiting the size of government and keeping taxes down.

00:07:06.060 But there's also a lot of things, whether it's like the cost of living, whether it's the

00:07:10.020 carbon tax, whether it's kind of the disaster with the opioid epidemic that their policy needs

00:07:20.600 to change on.

00:07:21.420 And that's why I'm putting forward alternatives in this leadership race.

00:07:25.180 And so your tagline is bring back common sense.

00:07:28.780 So can you give us a couple of examples of what an airing gun common sense platform will

00:07:33.860 look like?

00:07:34.860 Yeah.

00:07:35.860 Yeah, for sure.

00:07:36.860 So as far as we're concerned, I'm the only one that's even released a platform, which is

00:07:39.860 odd because I was the last one into the race.

00:07:42.240 But it starts with cost of living, it starts with scrapping the regressive and job killing 1.00

00:07:48.020 carbon tax that is nothing for the environment, we're the only candidate that's talking about

00:07:52.060 that issue.

00:07:53.060 There's an insurance monopoly here in BC that has to go.

00:07:57.200 And, you know, so many other things supporting natural resource development here, whether

00:08:01.940 it's it's forestry, whether it's oil, whether it's it's natural gas, I think we also need

00:08:06.740 to have a serious conversation about fundamental health care reform.

00:08:11.360 And then there's just other things, whether it's education, look, if you're a university and

00:08:17.360 you're taking taxpayer dollars, if you don't protect free speech and free expression, you

00:08:22.060 need to lose your funding 100 percent.

00:08:24.020 And that needs to be a red line that that that's just clear for everybody to see.

00:08:31.180 So there's lots of different issues about bringing back common sense, but and, you know,

00:08:36.860 also just getting people back to work.

00:08:39.020 So I think whether it's on the economic side, whether it's on supporting resource

00:08:42.800 development, whether it's the opioid epidemic, we've got a common sense platform that we

00:08:48.520 hope British Columbians of all political stripes can get behind.

00:08:52.220 That's that's exciting.

00:08:53.700 That's great.

00:08:54.700 Those are, again, issues that I don't really hear from political parties.

00:08:57.880 I don't really hear anyone addressing the opioid crisis.

00:09:00.820 They the sort of general consensus is just like, let's ignore it and kind of let the activists

00:09:07.440 and the people on the ground who, you know, support this idea of safe injection sites are

00:09:12.900 giving, you know, they call it a harm reduction strategy.

00:09:15.720 But what they really do is just put more drugs on the streets and enable people who are dangerously

00:09:20.220 addicted to get more sick.

00:09:23.340 And to me, it shows a total lack of dignity and a lack of care for these people in their

00:09:28.280 lives.

00:09:29.280 For anyone who's lived in a city and had to interact with people like that, it's clearly

00:09:34.040 not a strategy that cares about these people.

00:09:37.340 It doesn't put dignity first.

00:09:38.500 It puts sort of trendy political ideas about, you know, extreme freedom in a sense that people

00:09:47.280 can just literally do whatever they want.

00:09:49.120 And the externalities of that, you know, don't matter.

00:09:52.620 They don't impact communities.

00:09:53.880 It's wrong.

00:09:54.880 And it's refreshing to hear someone talk about it.

00:09:57.880 I'm trying to understand a little bit about this leadership race.

00:10:00.880 So can you tell us about, you know, the other candidates who's running?

00:10:05.020 What is the leadership race?

00:10:06.020 What does it entail?

00:10:08.020 And when is the vote?

00:10:10.020 When will we learn who's the leader, the next leader of this party?

00:10:14.120 Well, the first thing I'd say is a lot of people come up to me, people that aren't

00:10:17.180 that involved in politics during elections, and they say, how did we end up with these

00:10:22.080 people on the stage right now?

00:10:24.340 How are these our choices?

00:10:25.760 And the answer is because the political parties chose those leaders during leadership races.

00:10:31.060 So this is the time when, if you want to get involved in politics and really help shape

00:10:34.900 the future of your province or your country, this is the way to do it.

00:10:38.300 Less than 1% of Canadians pooled memberships in political parties, I believe, which really

00:10:44.360 by joining gives you a lot of political power.

00:10:46.980 So what's happening is the BC Liberals are picking their leader.

00:10:51.380 To vote in that leadership race, you need to have a membership, which costs $10, and that

00:10:57.180 gives you the right to vote.

00:10:58.880 You have to become a member by December 17th, and the vote is online during the first week

00:11:04.560 of February.

00:11:05.740 I'll be joining six other candidates that, I mean, we could give a run through.

00:11:13.420 There's a whole bunch.

00:11:14.620 There's some, I think, that are better than others.

00:11:17.820 We have current MLAs, some former MLAs, some that are coming from the business world.

00:11:23.380 So a pretty wide selection of candidates competing for this spot.

00:11:28.020 But from my perspective, everybody else is speaking in those platitudes.

00:11:32.220 Everybody else is kind of buying into that woke narrative pushed by the mainstream media.

00:11:36.220 And we're happy to be the only candidate that's offering a true alternative.

00:11:40.620 I saw on social media that some of the other candidates, or at least one, was opposing your

00:11:46.860 nomination, that he didn't think that you should even be allowed to run as a BC Liberal.

00:11:51.260 So what do you say to that kind of contention, and what do you say to those sort of in the

00:12:00.060 upper echelons of the Liberal Party who don't want you or someone who's an outsider, someone

00:12:05.740 who's independent-minded, running for leadership of this party?

00:12:08.780 Look, I understand if you're an outsider coming to a party, and you're bringing in a lot of

00:12:13.820 people, you're bringing in a lot of energy, that's a threat to people on the inside who

00:12:17.660 are established, who have that political power, and have kind of, you know, carved out their

00:12:22.780 little enclave of influence.

00:12:25.500 So there's obviously been a lot of pushback because of that within the party, within certain

00:12:29.980 people.

00:12:30.700 The particular politician you're talking about is Michael Lee, who's someone else who's running,

00:12:35.420 who I met at a hockey game, funny enough, and we chatted for 15 minutes.

00:12:39.260 And he was talking about how excited he was to have me in the race and the energy that I

00:12:42.780 would bring to the debates.

00:12:44.140 And then one week later, he throws out this kind of ridiculous tweet that says that I shouldn't

00:12:49.260 be allowed to run because of my, quote unquote, intolerant views.

00:12:53.020 And then despite about 200 people asking him on Twitter what he's even talking about, he

00:12:57.580 failed to even respond or articulate exactly what our intolerant views he was talking about.

00:13:03.740 So I think, look, I think that's just an example of one of these same old politicians who say one

00:13:11.900 thing and do another that people are tired, that are tired of.

00:13:14.700 And I think what they're looking for is they're looking for authenticity.

00:13:17.580 They're looking for people that actually have the courage of their convictions.

00:13:21.260 And I think we have enough Michael Lees in the party and we need, we need some fresh blood.

00:13:26.860 It's such a typical politician move, I guess.

00:13:29.660 One thing, one thing behind closed doors and one thing in the public.

00:13:33.260 So what is your strategy, Aaron?

00:13:35.180 Do you think you can actually win this thing?

00:13:36.460 Yeah, 100% we do.

00:13:38.780 I mean, at the end of the day, it comes down to whoever can get the most votes.

00:13:43.020 And the number one way you'd normally win these leadership races is by signing up new members.

00:13:48.380 We have by far the largest following of any of the other candidates.

00:13:52.860 I dare to say we've been drumming up the most interest as well.

00:13:56.220 So what we're going to try to do is reach out to all the supporters and people who have watched

00:14:00.540 my videos and supported my videos throughout British Columbia over the past couple of years

00:14:05.580 and say, if you're agree with me on these big issues, if you're tired of the way things have

00:14:09.980 been going, tired of the NDP, tired of Trudeau and want to see a fundamental change in direction,

00:14:15.980 this is your chance.

00:14:17.100 It's just $10.

00:14:18.140 It gives you the right to vote in the leadership race and also gives you the chance to help be a

00:14:22.940 part of history.

00:14:23.660 So that's what we're trying to do.

00:14:25.340 And more than anything, we want to shake up the political system in BC and start talking about

00:14:30.780 issues that the media and the NDP have tried to say are off limits now and refuse to talk about.

00:14:37.100 So we're looking to expand that Overton window and have a real debate and a real discussion

00:14:42.380 about the issues that matter to people.

00:14:44.300 That's great, Aaron.

00:14:45.100 And so what is your vision for the province?

00:14:47.660 What would British Columbia look like five years from now if you were successful in leading this party

00:14:53.820 and leading the government?

00:14:54.940 What would British Columbia look like five, 10 years from now?

00:14:57.740 Well, I think we would have dramatic change.

00:15:01.900 I think obviously it starts with getting the cost of living under control and people back to work.

00:15:06.220 It starts with supporting our resource industries, whether it's oil, natural gas,

00:15:11.340 getting our pipelines built, supporting forestry, having dramatic healthcare reform that brings in

00:15:17.260 more choice, more competition.

00:15:19.340 I think it includes an education, taking the ideology out of the classroom, out of the curriculum,

00:15:25.100 supporting free speech on university campuses.

00:15:29.580 When it comes to some of these increases in crime, we've seen in Victoria and Vancouver,

00:15:33.980 clamping down on the anarchy, supporting our police, ending kind of this lawlessness.

00:15:39.260 You see it places like Ferry Creek and these illegal blockades and bring a fundamentally different

00:15:45.820 approach to the opioid crisis, where we talk about prioritizing rehabilitation rather than just

00:15:53.180 handing out heroin like candy, like it's candy on Halloween, which is what the NDP wants to do.

00:15:58.540 So but all that aside, I will say the other thing is to put an end to some of this ridiculous

00:16:05.980 attacks on British Columbia and Canada's history, to stop playing identity politics and pitting different

00:16:12.940 groups against each other, to stop going around and self-flagellating ourselves with how racist we

00:16:20.140 are and all these other things. When the truth of the matter is British Columbia and Canada is among,

00:16:26.220 if not the most welcoming place in the entire world. We have a history that's not perfect, but it's one

00:16:30.940 that we can be proud of, that's for sure. And we should be singing that tune every single day.

00:16:38.140 And I think, I think really, if you think about it, the average person who lives in Canada, whether

00:16:43.660 they arrived here two minutes ago or, or a hundred years ago or 10,000 years ago, all know that to be

00:16:50.300 fundamentally true. So that's a message that I want to put, that I want to push. And we already have two

00:16:56.540 political, we already have two woke political parties in BC. I don't think we need a third.

00:17:01.980 Well, that sounds great, Erin. And good for you because so many politicians in the center and on

00:17:06.940 the right are afraid to say what you just said, because they don't want to be canceled. They don't

00:17:11.100 want to upset the sort of, you know, gatekeepers or the cultural gatekeepers who push really, really,

00:17:19.740 you know, woke nonsense that is so offside with the general public, that people just shake their heads

00:17:25.180 in disbelief at some of the things you hear. I'll give you an example. I read a couple of weeks ago

00:17:29.660 about BC councilors, city councilors, petitioning to change the name of British Columbia. I can't

00:17:35.660 imagine a more unpopular notion among British Columbians to change the name of the province,

00:17:42.300 you know, for something that people are so proud of. And it's been a part of the history and a part

00:17:47.820 of the culture, a part of who you are as a British Columbian. It's right there in the name. And to say

00:17:53.660 that we should change that is just so off-putting to so many people. I think they shake their head and

00:17:58.540 they almost want to disengage from politics. So good for you for standing up for this sort of common

00:18:05.100 sense idea, standing against the mob. I hope more politicians learn from you, Erin, and see that, you

00:18:10.620 know, you don't have to cower. You don't have to pretend to be something you're not. And articulating

00:18:16.380 the ideas that are probably firmly held beliefs of most Canadians, most British Columbians,

00:18:21.500 shouldn't be something that disqualifies you from politics. What do you think your candidacy and

00:18:28.060 you running? What does it mean for outsiders and people who might consider getting into politics,

00:18:34.700 but don't want to? What do you think it means for establishment political parties in Canada?

00:18:42.380 Well, we'll see how it goes. But I think there's lots of people on the outside who are watching this

00:18:47.340 race very closely, who are watching my candidacy very closely, because, I mean, you kind of identified

00:18:53.180 it right there. It's a challenge to the political establishment from the growing body of people who

00:18:59.340 are outside that establishment, but have built large followings. And I think it's a test case

00:19:05.820 to see what I view as democracy in action. Look, I have a lot of faith in everyday people,

00:19:12.700 people are at the core of what politics is all about. And I think that people haven't been served

00:19:20.060 well by our current crop of political choices. So if you believe that and you have a following to do

00:19:25.260 something about it, it's time to put that theory to the test. So that's what I'm doing. And I do think

00:19:30.540 if we are successful, it will be a wake up call to establishment politicians and establishment

00:19:36.620 political parties all across the country that they're vulnerable, and hopefully a rallying cry to those

00:19:41.580 on the outside who want to make a difference, that it's time to step up in various jurisdictions and

00:19:48.940 and start turning things around in this country. Well, Aaron Gunn, we will be watching this race 1.00

00:19:56.060 very closely. It's really exciting to see someone like yourself involved in the process. And we will

00:20:02.380 certainly be following this throughout the campaign. Thank you so much for joining the show.

00:20:06.860 Thank you so much for having me, Candace. All right. Well, we'll talk to you again,

00:20:11.900 hopefully soon. Aaron Gunn running for leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party. I'm Candace

00:20:17.020 Malcolm, and this is The Candace Malcolm Show.

Juno News - October 20, 2021

Bringing common sense back to politics (Ft. Aaron Gunn)

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