Juno News - Candice Bergen on carbon tax, vaccine mandates, and Trudeau's NDP ＂lap dogs＂

00:00:00.000 Welcome back to the Andrew Lawton Show here on True North.

00:00:12.140 As I mentioned earlier, very pleased to have joining us Candace Bergen,

00:00:16.580 who is the interim leader of the Conservatives.

00:00:19.060 Now, if you haven't been paying attention to Canadian politics in the last couple of months,

00:00:23.040 you'll know this came about somewhat abruptly as Aaron O'Toole was removed

00:00:27.740 by his caucus members in the midst of the trucker convoy.

00:00:32.100 And again, I think there were a number of factors there,

00:00:34.260 but certainly that was one of the leading ones here.

00:00:37.460 Candace, good to talk to you again. Thanks very much.

00:00:39.280 And it's been a little while, so congratulations.

00:00:41.560 I've not spoken to you since you've ascended to this position, but thank you.

00:00:46.060 Thanks, Andrew. Yeah, it's been, I kind of joke,

00:00:49.200 wow, it's been a pretty quiet month here in Ottawa.

00:00:53.100 Sarcastic, not at all quiet, very busy, a lot going on.

00:00:56.300 But it's been productive and there's a lot of good work that I think we've been able to do.

00:01:02.780 Let's actually start right there.

00:01:04.500 This was an abrupt job title change for you.

00:01:07.920 Obviously, the Conservative Party went through this change with Aaron O'Toole being removed

00:01:13.080 and then you being selected as the interim leader very quickly.

00:01:17.600 What has this been for you really practically?

00:01:20.720 Because you've come into this position in the midst of the convoy.

00:01:24.400 We now have the Russia war in Ukraine.

00:01:27.640 We have a number of political challenges in Canada,

00:01:30.180 plus the Conservative Party is obviously going through changes.

00:01:33.060 You had to hit the ground running.

00:01:34.500 What's been the priority for you?

00:01:35.840 Well, I'm fortunate because of the roles that I've had previously under with Ronna Ambrose,

00:01:43.340 Andrew Scheer, and then with Aaron O'Toole as House Leader and then going on as Deputy Leader,

00:01:48.620 I really have a good idea of what the leadership role is.

00:01:53.980 And so I was literally able to hit the ground running.

00:01:57.000 The Wednesday when everything happened, it was a very quick day.

00:01:59.960 We had a question period right after our caucus meeting and then we had the vote for the interim leader

00:02:06.260 and the next day Parliament was on.

00:02:08.680 And you're right, we had the convoy out here in Ottawa and issues that we had to address right away.

00:02:14.160 The caucus really has come together.

00:02:16.260 It was a very much hands-on, all hands-on-deck kind of mentality

00:02:21.060 and everybody rallied around and we were able to tackle some of the difficult issues.

00:02:26.760 So that's really what we've been doing.

00:02:28.800 In terms of my priorities, Andrew, I'll tell you, I believe first and foremost my job is to keep our caucus united.

00:02:37.860 And when I say united, that doesn't mean that we always agree on everything.

00:02:41.460 I think that it's a myth to think that we can always agree or all be on exactly the same page on every issue.

00:02:48.880 I think, in fact, that's kind of the liberal way of doing things.

00:02:52.540 They think everybody has to agree or somehow it doesn't work.

00:02:55.740 As Conservatives, we're going to disagree and we're going to have different opinions, and I think that makes us better.

00:03:02.040 But as a caucus, we can talk about it, come to certain positions, and then be disciplined and focused in what we're doing for Canadians.

00:03:10.780 So that's really been my goal, and then also ensure that Conservatives are proud to be Conservative.

00:03:17.400 I think that we have a lot to be proud of as Conservatives, our values, our principles, the foundation that makes us Conservative.

00:03:25.880 So I want Conservatives to be proud to be Conservatives and excited about what we're doing.

00:03:30.500 Clearly, that approach to caucus management that you just described didn't exist.

00:03:35.740 Caucus members felt under Aaron O'Toole's leadership, which is why there was enough discontent that he was removed under the Reform Act.

00:03:42.580 So how do you, moving forward from that, correct that?

00:03:46.140 How do you keep the caucus together, the different factions of the party, and also the membership and the base beyond the caucus across the country?

00:03:53.500 Well, I was also fortunate to work under Stephen Harper in his government and in his cabinet, and I found Stephen Harper, although a very strong leader, and he knew the direction he wanted to go.

00:04:04.620 He really set an example for how to collaborate and work with the caucus, and that was as a prime minister.

00:04:10.680 Ronna Ambrose continued that, and other leaders have done that, and I find that that's the best way to approach issues, whether it's legislation the government is bringing forward,

00:04:21.320 whether it's issues that we as a caucus have to deal with.

00:04:24.780 We have a very intelligent, principled, hard-working group of men and women here in Ottawa who are Conservative MPs,

00:04:32.620 and I just find it's the best approach is to consult with them.

00:04:37.140 So we have a good process whereby we do that through our shadow cabinet process.

00:04:41.100 We have priorities of the planning committee, and then caucus meets regularly.

00:04:45.040 And I ask them what they think, and I take their advice and tell them what I'm thinking,

00:04:51.300 and then I find that whether I was House leader or deputy leader or now as leader,

00:04:56.220 that is the best approach to finding consensus and moving forward.

00:05:00.400 You mentioned earlier the convoy.

00:05:02.920 This is, of course, a huge issue that I think, not just for Canada and for Ottawa,

00:05:07.840 but for the Conservative movement in this country.

00:05:09.840 You had, I think, the Conservative base that has been for the last year certainly very fervently against the vaccine mandates,

00:05:17.200 the vaccine passports, not feeling like there was a voice in the official opposition on those issues.

00:05:23.380 You've had a clear voice on this.

00:05:25.180 You've spoken up.

00:05:26.080 I even played on my show yesterday your exchange with the Prime Minister in the House of Commons

00:05:30.480 from question period yesterday about that very idea.

00:05:33.940 But how do you take that and, as the interim leader, make sure that those people continue to be heard?

00:05:40.300 Because what I've been hearing for the last two years, especially since the last election and through the last election,

00:05:46.160 was that Conservatives in Canada, and I use that with a small C and a big C,

00:05:50.260 did not feel like their interests were being represented by the Conservative Party of Canada.

00:05:55.900 Well, you know, I know I'm from one of the strongest Conservative ridings in the country,

00:06:01.040 Southern Manitoba, and I talked to so many people, first of all, explaining the difference between

00:06:07.040 provincial vaccine mandates and federal vaccine mandates and the fact that as a federal representative,

00:06:13.300 I had no impact or power over what provinces did.

00:06:16.580 But as a federal MP, I could sure stand up against Trudeau's federal mandatory vaccines.

00:06:23.520 And I think we were all clear.

00:06:25.100 I believe Conservatives were all clear on that during the election.

00:06:27.960 Some would say we could have been gone out on it more.

00:06:31.580 That's the past.

00:06:33.140 What I do know is when Trudeau threatened and then implemented the vaccine on truck,

00:06:38.060 the vaccine mandate on truckers, that very much went against Conservative policy.

00:06:42.720 And so we could very strongly support the spirit of what the truckers and their supporters

00:06:48.880 were coming to Ottawa to talk about.

00:06:51.660 And that's why we could meet with them.

00:06:54.040 I met with constituents who were here.

00:06:56.240 I believe that's what government and opposition leaders should do.

00:06:59.860 We should listen to people.

00:07:01.180 We should hear them.

00:07:02.380 I think if Trudeau had done a little more of that, instead of calling them names and wedging,

00:07:08.080 dividing and stigmatizing, we would not have gotten into the situation that we were in

00:07:13.760 with the truckers here for as long as they were.

00:07:16.500 We also did believe, and we do believe, that we need to be following the laws of the land.

00:07:22.440 And that was why we said to the truckers and their supporters, don't blockade borders.

00:07:28.980 It's too important to Canada's economy.

00:07:31.500 And move the trucks because you can't be parked illegally.

00:07:34.520 And I believe you can say both things.

00:07:36.640 We support your fight against mandatory vaccines, but we don't believe you should be doing things illegally.

00:07:43.020 That was our position.

00:07:45.140 And so now as we're moving forward, and I asked the Prime Minister about this recently,

00:07:50.760 provinces are opening up.

00:07:52.500 Vaccines or mandates are being lifted.

00:07:55.700 Where's the federal government on this?

00:07:57.440 They frankly are so behind.

00:08:00.140 And, you know, I said kind of tongue-in-cheek, but it's actually true. 1.00

00:08:03.320 They always say they're so progressive and, you know, ahead of the times.

00:08:06.500 They're actually looking very old-fashioned right now in their approach to vaccine mandates.

00:08:12.460 So we've got to keep pushing them on this.

00:08:14.780 It's not just about freedom.

00:08:16.320 It's actually about what's good for our economy.

00:08:18.840 It's about what's good for Canadians' mental health.

00:08:21.620 It's Canadians need to be free to live their lives.

00:08:25.000 And the mandates and the restrictions have to be lifted federally.

00:08:28.580 I'm appreciative that you don't want to spend too much time looking into the past here,

00:08:33.660 but I do want to talk about one contrast between the Conservative Party of a few months ago

00:08:38.500 and a position that we've heard from you and also your colleagues in caucus in the last couple of weeks,

00:08:43.900 and that's a very firm position against the carbon tax.

00:08:46.380 And I know with everything else that's been going on in Canada and the world,

00:08:50.340 this hasn't necessarily been the top-of-mind issue on the political agenda,

00:08:53.920 but for Canadians that are paying their heating bills, it certainly is an issue.

00:08:58.040 And again, talk to me a little bit about where the Conservatives are on this,

00:09:01.580 because I think even a year and a bit ago,

00:09:04.460 Conservative Canadians were fairly confident that your party was against the carbon tax,

00:09:10.060 that then it ran on a version of a carbon price that people have said,

00:09:14.960 the Canadian Taxpayers Federation have said, was a carbon tax.

00:09:18.300 So where is the party now? Where are you now on this?

00:09:21.740 Well, Andrew, I think you are right in that there are a lot of things that Canadians are watching on the news

00:09:27.200 and very concerned about, but they're still going up and filling up their tanks

00:09:30.960 and buying groceries and seeing that the cost of everything is going up

00:09:35.760 and it's starting at the pumps.

00:09:37.220 So Conservatives are very concerned with inflation and increased taxes on Canadians.

00:09:43.960 Listen, my position is this.

00:09:45.940 We have a leadership race going on right now.

00:09:48.800 Leadership candidates will articulate their belief on how we best fight

00:09:53.200 reducing emissions and fighting climate change

00:09:57.000 and what role Canada can play in that.

00:10:00.380 They can talk about their ideas and the electorate,

00:10:03.920 the membership will support their ideas or not.

00:10:06.420 So I'm going back just to the basics of what our grassroots party has determined.

00:10:13.000 And Conservatives don't support tax increases.

00:10:15.800 We certainly don't support a Liberal carbon tax

00:10:18.200 that does absolutely nothing to reduce emissions anywhere

00:10:21.740 and only hurts Canadian energy, oil, gas and Canadian consumers.

00:10:28.000 And I think right now when we see what's going on with Putin

00:10:30.760 and the fact that Putin has been able to monopolize the sale of gas to Europe, for example,

00:10:39.460 Canada is cut out of the equation.

00:10:42.040 So we're not only talking about how that hurts the environment,

00:10:45.260 but just as importantly, and I would say more importantly right now,

00:10:49.440 the safety, sovereignty and energy security of the world.

00:10:53.780 When Canada is cut out, whether it's through a carbon tax or other measures

00:10:58.520 that the Liberal government has put on our sector, it hurts the world.

00:11:03.500 So, you know, that's a big answer.

00:11:06.320 But basically to say on policies like this, I'm in a safe place

00:11:11.220 when I stick with our grassroots policy and then let the candidates articulate

00:11:15.680 their particular views on these kinds of issues.

00:11:19.180 Yeah, I'm glad you brought up the Russia approach 1.00

00:11:21.660 because I know that the Prime Minister did come out this week

00:11:24.400 and say that we're going to cancel imports of crude from Russia.

00:11:28.900 But I would say, first off, it shouldn't have taken an invasion of Ukraine

00:11:33.880 to start talking about reducing our dependency on foreign oil,

00:11:37.420 especially when we have the capability and capacity in Canada

00:11:41.240 and an energy sector here.

00:11:43.020 And the same could be said about US leaders.

00:11:45.120 I know obviously Canadian politicians don't have as direct control

00:11:49.080 over what the United States does, but we can represent Canada's interests.

00:11:53.020 And in Canada, I still am baffled,

00:11:55.060 and especially when I talk to Albertans and people from Saskatchewan about this,

00:11:58.960 baffled at how dependent we are on foreign oil

00:12:01.460 from countries that are not democracies

00:12:03.440 when we could develop our sector so much more than it is right now.

00:12:07.420 I agree, Andrew.

00:12:09.140 And, you know, it's not only our dependency or even that we're still using it,

00:12:14.280 it's the fact that we have no champions in our country.

00:12:17.880 We should have a Prime Minister who goes to other countries and says,

00:12:22.820 do not ever lecture us about oil and gas or emissions

00:12:27.440 because Canada is the leader when it comes to extracting

00:12:31.880 and transporting the cleanest oil, gas, and LNG in the world.

00:12:37.560 But we don't have that champion.

00:12:39.400 And so we allow the world to scold and really reprimand us,

00:12:45.160 even in the way that they, where there's investment, insurance,

00:12:49.020 all kinds of other measures that they're using to try to constrain

00:12:54.260 Canada's oil and gas development.

00:12:56.820 And if we had a leader who would say, no, enough of that, that's nonsense,

00:13:01.120 and actually point out the big polluters in the world,

00:13:05.120 and then ensure that our oil and gas is promoted and used.

00:13:09.400 So that's only, it's just one piece of it, but it's, I'm glad that we're at least

00:13:15.500 able to talk about it a little more right now.

00:13:18.360 And I think more and more people are seeing that when Canadian oil and gas

00:13:22.600 is kept in the ground and Putin is able to sell his, you know, look at what he's doing.

00:13:28.420 Look at the, look at the billions of dollars he has, 0.97

00:13:30.940 he has, and he's using it right now to kill and destroy Ukrainian people 0.96

00:13:36.320 and a sovereign democratic nation.

00:13:38.500 And that's a hard fact to face up to, but it's, it's the truth.

00:13:43.600 Just looking forward to some of the other items on the political agenda here in Canada,

00:13:48.940 the Emergencies Act, very controversial.

00:13:51.880 We know just looking at it in practice in Ottawa, that civil liberties were affected,

00:13:56.940 press freedoms were affected, peaceful assembly was affected.

00:14:00.820 And obviously the parliamentary oversight of this tended to just disappear when,

00:14:05.660 just as the Senate was weighing this, Justin Trudeau decided that the emergency no longer existed.

00:14:11.100 I know the Emergencies Act does require a report, an investigation of this after the fact,

00:14:17.820 but, but realistically, does Justin Trudeau get away with this now by declaring the emergency over?

00:14:23.400 Is there still some accountability there?

00:14:26.560 Well, we, we believe that there absolutely should be.

00:14:29.860 We, we did not support the use of the Emergencies Act.

00:14:33.260 We, you know, we looked at it and, and found out very quickly that all of the laws were in place that needed to be.

00:14:38.360 He had, and law enforcement had the laws that they needed to clear,

00:14:42.860 especially we're talking about the trucks.

00:14:44.300 I mean, they obviously did it, they did it before the Emergencies Act,

00:14:47.020 they cleared away the blockades at borders,

00:14:49.240 but they had what they needed to clear the, the trucks from Ottawa.

00:14:53.580 Trudeau was in a political emergency, and so he invoked the Emergencies Act.

00:14:57.640 In terms of oversight, we're in Ottawa this week.

00:15:01.060 We then have a two-week previously scheduled riding break where we're in our ridings.

00:15:06.360 But I'm going to tell you this, Andrew, Conservatives are not finished talking about this and holding the Prime Minister to account.

00:15:14.580 He's trying to, Jerry, really, I guess the word would be,

00:15:18.580 he's trying to manipulate the committee to make sure that he's got enough,

00:15:22.980 the NDP, who are basically his lapdogs on this.

00:15:26.240 They're probably going to be helping, helping chair the committee,

00:15:29.640 but we're going to use every tool available,

00:15:31.980 and we will not let the Prime Minister get away with doing this.

00:15:36.160 But I will say this, Andrew, we cannot do it alone.

00:15:40.120 We need people who are talking about this, holding their MPs to account.

00:15:45.320 If you have a Liberal or an NDP MP representing you,

00:15:48.860 you need to tell them that what they did wasn't acceptable.

00:15:52.440 Politicians cannot do it by themselves.

00:15:54.780 We need people speaking out loudly, clearly, and forcefully about this.

00:15:59.500 Obviously, in a democratic country, doing it legally, safely,

00:16:03.960 but we need people speaking out about it.

00:16:05.740 And we'll keep doing our job here in Ottawa.

00:16:08.540 I know there's lots more coming up in the next few weeks and months.

00:16:12.540 The revival of Bill C-36, of Bill C-10.

00:16:16.280 So we'd love to get you back on the show to talk about some of those.

00:16:18.920 I know they are very significant for free speech,

00:16:21.980 and I've appreciated conversations I've had in the past with you about that.

00:16:25.300 So we'll have you back on.

00:16:26.940 Candice Bergen, Interim Leader of the Conservatives,

00:16:29.220 thanks so much for your time today.

00:16:31.440 Thanks, Andrew.

00:16:32.260 Thanks for listening to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:16:34.460 Support the program by donating to True North at www.tnc.nons.

00:16:39.640 Tell us.

00:16:49.340 I'll see you next week.

00:16:49.920 For Mexico is the district's first and second- incurred.

00:16:51.260 Let's see you next week.

00:16:51.920 text search organizations,

00:16:52.960 to the military base.

00:16:53.720 With it at the state,

00:16:56.440 we're conducting a formalized cliffs with us

00:16:58.580 about recreation because of the program and education.

00:17:00.400 And I'll see you next week.

00:17:02.100 Let's see you next week.

00:17:04.240 Steve sc

Juno News - March 03, 2022

Candice Bergen on carbon tax, vaccine mandates, and Trudeau's NDP ＂lap dogs＂

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript