Juno News - June 22, 2022


Cathay Wagantall returns to Parliament following end of vaccine mandate


Episode Stats

Length

6 minutes

Words per Minute

168.80829

Word Count

1,086

Sentence Count

44

Misogynist Sentences

1

Hate Speech Sentences

4


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.320 Elicante Natel for True North on Parliament Hill
00:00:03.280 were a strict vaccine mandate for anyone wanting to access the House of Commons precinct
00:00:08.880 has finally come to an end, allowing unvaccinated members of Parliament and staff to return to work
00:00:15.680 in person. Several people disagreed with this policy, including Saskatchewan Conservative MP
00:00:22.480 Kathy Wagenthal, who attempted to defy the mandate but was removed from the precinct.
00:00:28.720 Given that the mandate is now over, she is able to return to work and I had the opportunity
00:00:35.280 to speak with her in her Parliamentary office. Can you start by telling me how it feels to be
00:00:41.120 allowed back into your office? Amazing, on a personal level. The fact that I even have to
00:00:47.760 hear the word allowed raises a certain amount of angst in my heart when you realize the draconian
00:00:55.360 measures that were taken in regard to members of Parliament and their office, but very glad to be
00:01:00.160 back here. Were you surprised by the Liberals mandate announcement? Did you think it would come this
00:01:06.640 quickly? Actually I didn't and was really quite amazed that they made that decision when they did,
00:01:13.200 although at the same time I was just overwhelmed by the amount of response, even just to my small
00:01:19.120 presser that showed that Canadians were really at a point of wanting these changes to take place and
00:01:24.880 I'm glad that they responded the way they did. The Liberals said that vaccine mandates, which were
00:01:31.200 supposed to be a temporary measure, were suspended rather than terminated. Given that they are planning
00:01:37.200 to change the definition of fully vaccinated and have opened the door to bringing back restrictions in
00:01:42.560 the fall, are you worried that you and others may once again be barred from not only flying but
00:01:48.720 accessing Parliament? Yeah, I was really disappointed to hear that word suspended. It shows that holding on
00:01:57.440 to that power that has caused so much angst in our lives as members and our staff as well, but of course
00:02:04.320 the impact on Canadians in general is terrible. So I was very disappointed and I don't think Canadians are
00:02:10.080 going to respond well if they do try to make those changes again in the fall.
00:02:15.520 You saw James Topp in Northern Ontario and so he's planning to meet with MPs here in Ottawa. Will you be
00:02:23.360 meeting with him when he arrives? I actually met with him going both directions as I was traveling to
00:02:28.880 Ottawa by car. I met him at Portage La Prairie and then six weeks later I met him. I was heading
00:02:36.640 back home and he was on his way here around Thunder Bay. So we've met twice and had good conversations.
00:02:42.560 I've helped him out with a couple of things and he's aware that I'm not able to be here personally,
00:02:47.920 but we have talked extensively and I've encouraged my colleagues to meet with him as well and staff.
00:02:54.320 So I think he's good and I'm just excited to have him come and really encourage my colleagues to go out
00:03:01.280 and spend some time with him. Do you think the Freedom Convoy had anything to do with last week's
00:03:06.880 announcement or do you think it was other factors such as the chaos at airports? I think they had an
00:03:13.760 impact absolutely and as we're hearing the outcome of the investigations where we're seeing that the
00:03:20.560 Liberals were basically telling falsehoods about what the convoy was doing and the impact that they were
00:03:25.840 having. So I have always encouraged them to say that what they did made a difference. It certainly
00:03:31.840 did at the provincial level and enabled things to begin to open up there and I can tell you as drive
00:03:37.760 as I drive home or have been driving home I don't need to anymore. It amazes me the number of Canadian
00:03:43.920 flags that are still along that route. So I just really encourage them for what they've done.
00:03:49.600 Conservatives only really started pushing for an end of vaccine mandates once Erin O'Toole was
00:03:56.800 ousted as leader. Under his leadership the party had been criticized for not defending Canadians'
00:04:01.600 personal health sources while Trudeau was making vaccines a wedged political issue. Do you think
00:04:06.720 had the Conservative Party stood up against mandates in August 2021 rather than February 2022, Canadians
00:04:14.560 may be better off today? That's a very good question Eli. Actually I have to say that I feel
00:04:21.680 that was a significant error on the part of our leader at the time and the decisions that were made
00:04:27.440 around the campaign. Definitely that angst was there across this country. I have to say though I'm really
00:04:34.400 really pleased with the approach that our colleagues took in the House in the last months and it made a
00:04:42.720 significant difference. So I am glad that in spite of that we were able to do what we should have been
00:04:48.160 doing and really held him to account in the House. I guess a final question. You have received a lot of
00:04:56.560 support from your caucus colleagues and other MPs as well. We saw unvaccinated MPs yesterday for to get
00:05:01.760 standing ovations. Are you happy that the caucus has decided to come around you even if this may be a controversial issue?
00:05:11.120 You know what? They've been working so hard in the House to push this issue and I think what it took was
00:05:18.880 that realization that there were actually live members of parliament that were not allowed in our
00:05:25.360 place. So I like to think that my presser gave them an extra boost of encouragement to continue on with
00:05:31.040 what they were doing and the fact that we have the outcome that we do now is really good and everyone is
00:05:36.880 very excited and I'm so glad that we were able to do this as a team in a way that brought it to the
00:05:42.240 forefront the way it should have been in the first place and we are all back in the House. I'm looking
00:05:46.640 forward to seeing everybody. A lot of hugs and especially those that were my colleagues that were
00:05:51.840 also not included in their place in the House until now. Kathy Wagenthal, thank you so much for
00:05:58.320 speaking with me today. You're welcome. Thank you. As you saw, she is pleased to finally be able to return
00:06:04.880 to work in person where she belongs. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting True North by
00:06:11.440 visiting donate.tnc.news. For True North, I'm Elie Campain-Enterre.