Juno News - March 12, 2020


Conservative Leadership Series： Marilyn Gladu


Episode Stats

Length

32 minutes

Words per Minute

194.53714

Word Count

6,315

Sentence Count

351

Misogynist Sentences

6

Hate Speech Sentences

6


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.
00:00:08.360 Welcome to the Andrew Lawton Show here on True North.
00:00:12.060 Kicking off a new series today, one that I've talked about in previous shows,
00:00:16.020 interviewing all of the Conservative leadership candidates as they crisscross the country,
00:00:20.100 talking to them about their visions, not just for the Conservative Party, but also for the country.
00:00:24.520 And very pleased to kick off this series by sitting down here in Toronto with Marilyn Gladjew,
00:00:30.700 second term Member of Parliament for Sarnia Lampton, and actually one who I usually run into at the London Airport,
00:00:37.400 which is a very tiny airport, when your Sarnia Airport, which is even tinier, has let you down.
00:00:41.820 So it's good to see you not in the midst of travelling. So thank you very much for taking the time.
00:00:45.620 Good, well thank you for having me today.
00:00:47.180 So let's talk about why you got into this race, because in many respects,
00:00:51.960 a lot of people have been saying that this is just going to be a coronation.
00:00:55.740 And I think as we see the policies and the interviews and the debates soon,
00:01:00.300 we're seeing that isn't the case, this isn't lockdown.
00:01:03.020 Why are you the one to take over the party?
00:01:05.600 Well, originally when it was clear that Andrew stepped down,
00:01:10.400 I looked at what was presenting and I said, this is the same old, same old.
00:01:13.800 We can't win on that. We have to get rid of Justin Trudeau.
00:01:16.660 He's destroying the country and ruining the economy.
00:01:18.920 And to do that, we have to grow the base. So to grow the base, I think we need several things.
00:01:23.380 First thing we need is a strong, dynamic leader that can win the hearts of Canadians.
00:01:27.180 And I would say that is me.
00:01:29.000 Second thing we need is policy that is a better balance of fiscal responsibility and social compassion.
00:01:35.200 People love what we do as Conservatives when we grow the economy, create good jobs,
00:01:39.560 lower the taxes, balance the budget.
00:01:41.820 But increasingly, they want more than that.
00:01:43.700 They want us to help with the ailing health care system.
00:01:46.060 They want us to come with a credible climate change plan.
00:01:50.280 And they want to address issues that Canadians who are having difficulty experience.
00:01:55.800 Seniors that can't afford to live, veterans that are homeless.
00:01:58.720 And so we're the ones that come with solutions for these things that actually help people.
00:02:02.220 But we don't want to talk about that.
00:02:03.980 And I think that balance is what we need to see.
00:02:07.000 So I've obviously had 32 years of global experience as a chemical engineer.
00:02:11.180 I worked in oil and gas.
00:02:12.360 I worked on emissions reduction.
00:02:13.600 I can bring a credible climate change plan.
00:02:16.240 As the shadow minister of health, who thought she might have been the minister of health
00:02:19.580 if we had been elected this last government, I've certainly given thought to our health
00:02:23.560 care system and how we can address the challenges we face with an aging demographic and increase
00:02:28.580 in chronic disease and situations like the pandemic that faces us today.
00:02:33.220 And so my full policy is available on www.marilandgladio.ca.
00:02:39.360 And I think that's what this leadership race is about.
00:02:41.940 Who can grow the party so that we can win?
00:02:45.120 And what kind of policy do we want to take forward?
00:02:47.520 I think there's a view that a lot of people hold that social compassion is just a fancy
00:02:53.560 way of saying the nanny state or the welfare state and that it's incompatible with fiscal
00:02:57.640 conservatism.
00:02:58.380 How do you square those two?
00:03:00.040 Provide that compassionate safety net while also not making everything about government
00:03:04.760 owned, government run, government funded.
00:03:06.740 For sure.
00:03:07.320 I would say, for example, on the seniors topic, there's a lot of poor seniors that have helped
00:03:12.560 build the country but can't afford to live.
00:03:14.480 Right now, they can't get the guaranteed income supplement if they make more than $19,300
00:03:19.380 when arguably the poverty line is maybe $27,000 depending on where you live in the country.
00:03:24.800 So these kind of misalignments are easily fixed and would take a huge number of seniors out
00:03:30.800 of poverty without being a huge ticket item.
00:03:33.600 If we think about pharmacare, you know, in the last election, interestingly, the 660,000 people
00:03:39.320 that don't have a plan live in Ontario and Atlantic provinces where we did not do well.
00:03:44.480 For people that don't have a plan, putting them on the existing provincial plans is $2.2 billion
00:03:50.680 a year.
00:03:51.960 The cost of putting them on the plan is actually less than the cost of when they don't take
00:03:56.120 their medications and they present that emergency or have complicated conditions.
00:04:00.420 So these are the kind of areas where a social compassion policy is actually going to help
00:04:05.500 people.
00:04:06.320 But as fiscal conservatives, we're going to do that in a cost-effective way, not the
00:04:10.400 $40 billion boondoggle that the Liberals and NDP are talking about.
00:04:14.700 But just to clarify, are you saying you support universal pharmacare?
00:04:19.540 Not at all.
00:04:20.260 I think people need to have a plan in Canada, for sure.
00:04:23.000 We need to make sure that people can afford their medications.
00:04:25.560 But to create a national pharmacare system, I'm totally opposed to.
00:04:30.560 First of all, provinces have stated they don't want it.
00:04:34.100 And the second thing is $40 billion a year is what that would cost, brought to you by the
00:04:39.140 same kind people that bring you CRA.
00:04:41.940 I don't think anyone wants their prescription drugs administered in a similar way.
00:04:46.240 So what would a plan look like then that deals with what you've identified as the problem
00:04:50.100 that doesn't go down the road that Liberals, not just federally, but even provincially,
00:04:54.220 have tried to advocate?
00:04:55.520 Well, I think there are multiple mechanisms to address the gap that exists in Ontario and
00:05:01.520 the Atlantic provinces.
00:05:02.660 You could just make a part of the Canada Health Act that it's required for the provinces to
00:05:07.580 deliver pharmacare as part of their offering.
00:05:09.580 That way, similar to what other provinces have in place, if people don't have private plans,
00:05:14.540 they would be put on the public plan.
00:05:16.140 That's one solution.
00:05:17.340 Now, how would that differ from where a lot of the Conservatives are right now very frustrated
00:05:22.600 with the federal carbon tax, which is the federal government saying, we are going to
00:05:26.760 demand that provinces do this?
00:05:28.760 Well, I think when it comes to the carbon tax, the fact remains it doesn't work.
00:05:32.780 BC's had one for over 10 years, and they've reduced 1%.
00:05:36.000 But on the jurisdictional aspect, you're saying that you would support the federal government
00:05:39.700 making a change that essentially forces provinces to enact a specific policy.
00:05:44.520 Well, I think this is something that if you look at what Canadians believe, 93% of Canadians
00:05:49.780 believe that people ought to at least have the provincial plan.
00:05:53.500 And so I think it's aligning government with what needs to be done.
00:05:57.520 I wish that the provinces of Ontario and Atlantic would come themselves and recognize it's a cost-effective
00:06:03.160 measure. But I think as responsible federal Conservatives, it's our job to make sure the
00:06:09.700 Canada Health Act is appropriately universal, portable, accessible across the country.
00:06:14.620 And so where the provinces are not delivering, I think we have a role there.
00:06:18.020 I know we touched briefly on the carbon tax, and I want to speak about this with you in
00:06:22.860 particular, because I think more than any of the other candidates in the race, you've
00:06:26.240 made a climate plan not only a part of the platform that you've put out, but something
00:06:30.800 that you've really tried to go out of the way to, I think, talk about it and bring attention
00:06:35.320 to. And this is an area where you certainly look at the criticisms that the Liberals put
00:06:40.180 towards Conservatives that many in the media do.
00:06:42.360 It's that they are out of alignment with where they think we need to be on the environment
00:06:47.080 and on climate policy.
00:06:48.820 What's your vision under a Maryland Gladue-led Conservative Party?
00:06:52.940 Well, for sure, as we talked about, the carbon tax doesn't work, so we would eliminate that.
00:06:57.040 But what we would do is address the top emissions in Canada.
00:07:00.260 If you take a look at the list, they're really in three camps, major industrial emitters and
00:07:05.120 transportation and buildings.
00:07:07.160 So what I would do, based on my experience as a chemical engineer when I was in the refining
00:07:11.940 business, there was an excellent mechanism put in place in the States where they gave
00:07:17.120 an incentive if companies purchased and installed the technology to reduce their emissions, they
00:07:22.100 got a tax offset.
00:07:23.500 And if they did not, there was a regulatory regime where they paid a penalty.
00:07:27.220 And it really drove people to do the right thing and to reduce their emissions, which is
00:07:31.020 what we want.
00:07:32.580 In the transportation business, that same system could be used to incentivize diesel emissions
00:07:39.320 from trucks.
00:07:39.900 There are many wonderful technologies within Canada, nuclear, portable nuclear units that
00:07:45.960 could replace diesel in the north.
00:07:48.120 In terms of buildings, obviously the greening of the building codes is happening.
00:07:52.820 But in addition to that, Japan's got some amazing incineration technology where they actually
00:07:57.380 power apartment buildings on the waste from the apartment building.
00:08:01.040 And that is, you know, low emissions, no odor, no sound.
00:08:05.160 And it's such a great answer to the plastics pollution issue where we collect all of it,
00:08:11.480 but we only recycle 9%.
00:08:13.160 So there's a lot of ideas that Canadians have.
00:08:15.960 And the reality is we're 1.6% of the carbon footprint of the world.
00:08:19.580 We could eliminate the whole thing and it's not going to solve climate change.
00:08:22.440 But we have an opportunity here to lead here at home and to leverage that technology in
00:08:26.720 the world to the substantive contributors and create jobs for Canadians and prosperity here.
00:08:31.520 When you were in engineering, working in engineering before politics, you were actually,
00:08:36.900 I've learned, very active in getting companies to lower their emissions.
00:08:41.000 And I guess the question that I would raise is this is taking place pre-carbon tax, pre-Justin
00:08:45.680 Trudeau.
00:08:46.400 Does this not prove that the industry itself can handle this on its own and is because
00:08:50.900 of market demands rather than government putting incentives in or government forcing it
00:08:55.160 by regulation?
00:08:56.040 Well, I think companies are driven by the stakeholders.
00:08:59.440 And when they start to see the public sentiment in Canada valuing climate change, then they
00:09:03.980 do react.
00:09:04.500 And there's many companies like Suncor and Shell and refining businesses that are introducing
00:09:09.280 great climate initiatives and emissions reduction of their own volition.
00:09:14.460 That's probably not enough to meet the Paris targets and to take advantage of the opportunity
00:09:19.780 that's before us, where we have a lot of green technology.
00:09:22.340 And if we look to our neighbours to the south, they just got the largest emissions reduction,
00:09:29.080 one gigatonne of any country over the same time period, having withdrawn from the Paris
00:09:34.340 targets, but basically implementing technology to reduce emissions and getting off coal.
00:09:39.320 Do you think it is important that we continue to set that Paris target as our benchmark?
00:09:44.040 Because you haven't vowed to get out of it.
00:09:46.420 You've actually vowed to meet it.
00:09:47.920 Well, I think when Canada gives its word in the world, we need to follow that up with
00:09:53.140 action.
00:09:53.720 And so I do think we need to achieve the Paris targets.
00:09:56.760 But I think there's an opportunity to go beyond that, because really the value is if
00:10:01.140 we replace the 453 coal plants that are being built with our LNG and our oil and gas products,
00:10:06.860 that would cut their carbon footprint by a factor of five.
00:10:09.580 So that's a significant contributor to the overall climate change issue.
00:10:13.080 And I think it would also generate prosperity here at home.
00:10:17.200 Justin Trudeau has said that famously, we need to phase out the oil sands.
00:10:21.640 He also said in our neck of the woods in southwestern Ontario that manufacturing jobs were a thing
00:10:27.320 of the past.
00:10:27.960 Do you think that these sectors are fundamentally incompatible with a low carbon country, if
00:10:33.340 that's what you want?
00:10:34.220 I don't think so.
00:10:35.020 And I don't think we can choose between the economy and the environment.
00:10:38.800 Like I said, we could destroy or eliminate our whole footprint, and it wouldn't matter.
00:10:44.120 So why bankrupt the country?
00:10:45.480 We have to do both.
00:10:46.920 And I think we have to build these nation-building projects.
00:10:49.440 I'm very disappointed in the TechMinds decision to withdraw.
00:10:52.400 But I mean, that was driven by the government's inaction since last July and all of the rule
00:10:58.000 of law issues that Justin Trudeau didn't address.
00:11:01.100 And so we have to build pipelines to get our oil and gas to market so that we can capture
00:11:05.420 world market prices.
00:11:06.460 We have to build these nation-building projects.
00:11:10.120 That may mean that we have to do additional carbon sinks, carbon sequestration, reforestation,
00:11:16.400 other initiatives that have been brought forward.
00:11:18.700 We've got some great examples in my own writing where they have a pepper plant that is run by
00:11:24.140 the CO2 that's produced by some of the local industry.
00:11:26.680 So we've got some amazing ideas, and we can do more.
00:11:30.220 What would Prime Minister Marilyn Glad you have done to deal with the blockades?
00:11:34.360 Well, recognizing that I come from an area that has dealt with this in the past.
00:11:40.020 I've lived close to Iprawash.
00:11:41.720 The key is to act swiftly and to peacefully disband.
00:11:47.520 That didn't happen in Iprawash.
00:11:49.940 They let things go on.
00:11:51.700 More and more people were added.
00:11:53.440 Tensions escalated.
00:11:54.760 And then it becomes a very dangerous situation.
00:11:56.440 So I think Trudeau waited too long when he recognized the police were not going to step
00:12:00.400 in and enforce the blockades.
00:12:02.620 They should have taken immediate action with the RCMP and the military, if necessary, to
00:12:08.240 peacefully disband the folks without anyone getting hurt.
00:12:11.300 That said, I think we also have an opportunity to introduce legislation like Jason Kenney did
00:12:15.720 in Alberta.
00:12:16.400 They passed or they've introduced Bill 1, which allows the police to, without a warrant,
00:12:21.800 remove people who are blockading public infrastructure and to charge each of them up to $25,000.
00:12:27.780 That's the kind of disincentive that will keep crowds and activists from getting involved.
00:12:33.900 I mean, there's a lot of concern that in this instance it wasn't really about the Wet'suwet'en
00:12:38.200 people.
00:12:38.860 There was a lot of other folks bringing their grievances and activists that come from foreign
00:12:44.640 influence that were involved.
00:12:46.400 And I'm glad you mentioned that because one of the things that you've done, which I think
00:12:49.900 is very necessary in Canada, is take an aim at the foreign influence in elections.
00:12:54.200 So not just in protests, but in elections.
00:12:56.200 And we've seen this, I think, most notably in the 2015 election cycle, groups that receive
00:13:00.500 foreign funding that once they cash the check, it becomes Canadian funding and they're campaigning
00:13:05.540 and really a resistance by the Liberal government who was the beneficiary of much of this
00:13:11.580 in tackling it.
00:13:12.540 So why is it that you think this needs to be dealt with?
00:13:16.280 And more importantly, how could you deal with it?
00:13:18.420 Sure.
00:13:18.700 Well, I mean, the National Security and Intelligence Organization from Parliament is just releasing
00:13:23.560 a report.
00:13:24.520 They've identified that there are multiple ways that we have foreign interference in Canada
00:13:29.020 and that Canada is actually not reacting quickly enough to those.
00:13:32.620 Some of it is, as you've said, interference in our elections, where Tides Foundation, Rockefeller
00:13:38.100 Foundation are able to give millions of dollars.
00:13:42.140 And that wasn't fixed in the 2019 election.
00:13:44.600 They could still give six months in advance unlimited funds to basically keep the anti-oil
00:13:51.880 agenda on the table.
00:13:53.580 And we also see that in the blockades, which disrupted business in our country, has cost
00:13:59.580 our economy billions and inconvenienced Canadians, that there were a lot of environmental activists
00:14:04.660 that are funded outside the country.
00:14:06.620 So these are things that are concerning.
00:14:09.140 Cyber security would be the other area of concern.
00:14:12.360 Selling the company that handled the anti-hacking software for the government to a Chinese firm was
00:14:18.320 a bad idea.
00:14:19.000 We have to make sure that we step it up on cyber security for the government, that we
00:14:24.780 enforce the rule of law, and that we close the loopholes.
00:14:27.980 Linda from the senator has a Bill 239 in the last parliament that would have closed the loopholes
00:14:34.680 for foreign interference in our elections.
00:14:37.440 And it was held back by the independent senators or the independent liberal senators, depending
00:14:41.740 on how you see that.
00:14:43.060 So that's something that we should reintroduce, I think, and close that loophole before the
00:14:47.100 next election.
00:14:47.660 So you'd reintroduce that as a government bill?
00:14:49.780 Absolutely.
00:14:50.460 What's the real world impact on that?
00:14:53.120 Because when you talk about a lot of these issues, I think there are many Canadians who
00:14:56.600 it's enough to get them to vote, let alone to pay attention to how the sausage is made,
00:15:00.940 so to speak.
00:15:01.560 But what are for people that aren't necessarily as involved or connected to this issue?
00:15:06.360 What's the problem?
00:15:07.600 So the problem is third parties can advertise.
00:15:10.440 I'm sure people have seen LEAD Now, for example, Unifor, the teachers' unions provincially.
00:15:16.640 There's all kinds of third parties that are spending millions and millions of dollars hating
00:15:21.440 on whichever party they don't want to see get elected.
00:15:23.960 That is interference for people's right to evaluate for themselves which party they want.
00:15:30.400 Each party should be able to advertise as much as they are able to fundraise, and that
00:15:34.920 should be the end of it.
00:15:35.620 But when you've got huge millions of dollars being spent, and some of it coming from the
00:15:40.400 states, six months in advance, to these kind of organizations to drive an anti-oil agenda,
00:15:45.920 that is not good for Canada.
00:15:47.800 It's something that people may not be aware of, but the messaging is getting out.
00:15:53.340 We see it on lawns.
00:15:54.400 We see it in papers.
00:15:56.120 Even on the Tech Frontier project, we saw a huge full-page ad that was taken out by those
00:16:01.980 that were funded foreignly.
00:16:03.160 When you set out to run for office in 2015, did you have prime ministerial ambitions?
00:16:10.020 Did you expect that you'd be running in the way that you are right now?
00:16:13.120 Not at all.
00:16:14.460 In fact, I was surprised to be elected.
00:16:16.280 I was planning to retire.
00:16:18.380 Very modest.
00:16:19.040 I was planning to retire after 32 years of engineering, but I was the president of the
00:16:23.980 Conservative Board when the sitting member decided to retire, and it became my job to
00:16:27.500 find the lucky one, and here I am.
00:16:29.300 So, having had quite a bit of success in the first parliament, obviously, I ran again.
00:16:35.180 Sarnia re-elected me with a huge majority, and so back I came expecting that Andrew Scheer
00:16:41.820 would be the leader.
00:16:44.100 And so, now that that's not the case, we really have to find the solution, and I've outlined
00:16:49.600 that it's a dynamic leader that can win the hearts of Canadians.
00:16:52.640 I can expand the party.
00:16:53.860 I think a woman as a head of the party is going to regenerate that positive tone that
00:16:58.340 Ronna Ambrose brought to the party.
00:17:00.380 I think, being a youth leader, I have specific policy designed to grow our party with young.
00:17:06.360 They're the increasingly large voting demographic, and we've got to have policy that will attract
00:17:12.720 them to the party.
00:17:13.660 And so, having a strategy to win and having the policy to do it, that's what this leadership
00:17:18.300 campaign is all about.
00:17:19.340 Now, conservatives have traditionally driven that idea of a meritocracy home, of not choosing
00:17:24.760 people based on identity, but you've made a point here that there is a value of having
00:17:29.120 a woman leader.
00:17:30.960 You also don't want people to vote for you because you're a woman, so how do you square
00:17:33.840 those two?
00:17:34.660 Well, I think as long as you've got competency, you know, the rest will come.
00:17:39.540 You know, people may decide they do want to vote for a competent candidate that happens
00:17:43.420 also to be a woman, because they see the advantage in terms of attracting women to the base.
00:17:47.760 But you don't support that Trudeopian gender parity of cabinet and these sorts of things?
00:17:51.800 No, you have to choose people based on competency.
00:17:53.760 I mean, obviously, Trudeau put ministers in place that had no experience whatsoever in
00:17:58.180 their roles, and junior ministers paid the same as the finance minister and the minister
00:18:03.580 of defense.
00:18:04.160 If the minister of defense doesn't do his job, people die.
00:18:07.240 If the finance minister doesn't do his job, we have the mess that we have now.
00:18:09.960 So, you know, when the status of women minister doesn't do something right, what happens?
00:18:14.700 Right?
00:18:14.880 It's not the same risk skill, and that wouldn't be the way we would be rewarded in private
00:18:20.520 industry.
00:18:21.520 You, in your platform, talk about a modern conservative party, and that word appears a
00:18:26.540 number of times, or the juxtaposition of words.
00:18:29.200 You ran under Stephen Harper.
00:18:31.220 You ran under Andrew Scheer.
00:18:32.660 When you talk about building a modern party, is the implication that the party in which you've
00:18:37.400 served is antiquated?
00:18:38.640 Well, first of all, let's be clear.
00:18:41.020 I didn't serve under Stephen Harper.
00:18:42.540 I ran under Stephen Harper, but I never served under him.
00:18:45.580 I would say, when I use the word modern, it's my attempt to delineate between the same old,
00:18:51.320 same old that we've been doing, and this new approach, where I'll be standing up for the
00:18:54.980 rights and freedoms of every Canadian, because we've had a lot of negativity, a lot of pitting
00:19:00.760 one group against another group, and at the end of the day, I'm going to stand up for
00:19:04.740 people that are pro-life, people that are pro-choice, people that want to march in a pride
00:19:08.520 parade, people that don't want to march in a pride parade.
00:19:10.660 It's our individual freedoms, and as Canadians, if we're going to have our freedoms, we have
00:19:14.700 to give other people theirs, and we've got to start treating one another respectfully and
00:19:18.780 stop pitting one group against one another.
00:19:21.060 And so a modern Conservative Party is that recognition that Canadians think the government
00:19:25.720 needs to get out of this.
00:19:26.820 Everyone can live how they want.
00:19:27.940 So is that code for Red Tory?
00:19:31.740 Because that's how a lot of people are trying to pigeonhole this election, as being about
00:19:35.420 the Blue Tories versus the Red Tories.
00:19:37.140 I don't think so.
00:19:37.860 I think, you know, within our big blue tent, we can't do without either faction.
00:19:42.300 We have the social Conservatives.
00:19:43.820 They're 35% of our members.
00:19:46.000 These people are salt of the earth.
00:19:47.660 What they believe is fine.
00:19:49.640 And, you know, you can't have one way or the other.
00:19:51.940 You wouldn't be able to survive either if all the Red Tories left the party.
00:19:55.660 So there's so many different kinds of Conservatives.
00:19:58.720 We have to stop pitting one group against one another and say, look, let's get united on
00:20:02.740 the things that we care about, fiscal responsibility, social compassion.
00:20:06.840 Where we differ, let's give people the freedom of conscience to vote how they want and the
00:20:12.200 ability as duly elected MPs to bring their private members business as long as it aligns
00:20:16.360 with the party policy, which the grassroots members set.
00:20:19.480 So when you take that dichotomy of the modern versus the same old, same old, I have to ask,
00:20:25.280 do you think it's a matter of core identity or do you think it's a matter of messaging
00:20:28.780 and style?
00:20:30.840 I think it is a move to a better balance.
00:20:35.160 I think that's where Canadians are in general.
00:20:37.840 People run their households in a fiscally responsible way.
00:20:41.060 And so, you know, generally people like that.
00:20:44.140 But Canadians are compassionate and we can't just be fiscal hawks.
00:20:48.620 I think in the past we've talked about the economy, the economy, the economy and nothing
00:20:52.240 else, and it doesn't resonate.
00:20:54.380 And I think that's why we need this balance.
00:20:56.320 And that's what a modern Conservative Party will do.
00:20:58.460 You've got a background in business.
00:21:00.160 I guess the question that I'm interested in is, do you think that the issues with the
00:21:03.500 Conservatives right now are about marketing or are they about the product?
00:21:07.560 Both.
00:21:08.420 I think the communication of the party has in the past not been good.
00:21:11.780 We saw that in the last election, clearly.
00:21:14.100 You know, the way the platform was delivered, there's so many things I could say that were not
00:21:19.360 ideal. I think we have to do better in terms of marketing, but you have to have something
00:21:23.660 to market. You know, saying, you know, we don't care about people that, you know, don't
00:21:28.460 have a prescription medication plan. I don't think that's where Canadians are. I think Canadians
00:21:32.540 are more compassionate. We don't care about seniors living in poverty. I don't think that's
00:21:36.400 a view. That's the view that's led to the branding of the Conservatives today as old,
00:21:41.660 traditional, cold, all these things. I think, you know, that's not how you grow and that's
00:21:46.780 not how you win. So I think the message and the marketing of the message both have to be
00:21:51.840 better.
00:21:52.520 What are the issues facing Canada right now that you think no one is talking about but
00:21:56.600 should be?
00:21:57.440 Well, obviously, the destruction of the economy in the West. People have lost their businesses,
00:22:02.860 their houses. They're killing one another or killing themselves over this situation. It's
00:22:08.300 dire. And so that is something that we absolutely have to address. I think there are a number of
00:22:15.160 drains on our economy. The out of control spending was not good when it was sunny days. Now we've
00:22:23.940 got a pandemic coming that may shut down the tourism industry that has everybody concerned
00:22:28.700 that 30 to 70 percent of Canadians could get COVID-19. Certainly, these are the serious issues
00:22:36.420 of the day. The blockades will continue. We know any time we try to do a nation building
00:22:41.160 project. We'll have that issue to address. So those are the things that we have to get
00:22:44.940 right. If we're going to restore business confidence, that we are a rule of law country,
00:22:49.740 that we are going to create a competitive business climate where people can come and invest
00:22:53.840 in these projects that will give us the jobs that we so badly need.
00:22:58.080 Let's talk a little bit about where you'd like to see your own campaign go within the leadership
00:23:04.580 race. Because there is, as Western alienation grows, and you talked about it right there,
00:23:08.220 I think a lot of resistance from Albertans, specifically Albertan Conservatives, Saskatchewan
00:23:12.600 Conservatives, to, oh, just another person from Ontario or just another person from Quebec
00:23:17.340 in particular. So how do you, as a candidate from Ontario, speak to those voices in the West
00:23:23.220 and say, no, I've got your back?
00:23:25.400 Well, I think clearly my 32 years as a chemical engineer, especially in oil and gas, many of
00:23:30.560 the companies I worked for, Suncor, Dow, Worley Parsons, were headquartered in Edmonton
00:23:36.220 or Calgary. And so when I go out West, I talk about those experiences and people recognize,
00:23:43.060 I know how to restore prosperity in those areas. I know how to create jobs there. And
00:23:47.100 I think, you know, they can appreciate that. The other thing I would say is, I've worked
00:23:51.340 all over the country and all over the world. And so I know how business works. I've worked
00:23:55.880 in global business. I've worked in small business. And I think people appreciate that
00:23:59.840 the balance of real world experience with parliamentary experience and success. That's
00:24:05.640 what we need in a leader in order to be able to get things done in Parliament that are going
00:24:09.660 to be the right things to let the free market create jobs.
00:24:13.720 I don't even think this is going to be a question as much as a word, but immigration.
00:24:17.600 Yes. Well, you know what? We absolutely need immigration. But I would say I would like to
00:24:22.960 see us move to a different proportion. I'd like to see 70% of immigrants be economic immigrants,
00:24:30.400 people that come to fill skill gaps in Canada. We're missing doctors, nurses, personal support
00:24:36.720 workers, and we don't have the capacity to even train them here locally. So that's just an example
00:24:42.640 of the gaps that exist. If we could bring people here, credential them, they could be taxpayers right
00:24:47.800 off the get-go, and it would really help our economy. Secondly, we have to have about 20%
00:24:53.140 family reunification. Today, people are waiting three and four years to be reunited with their
00:24:58.220 spouses or their children or their parents and paying fees while 50,000 people walk illegally into
00:25:04.360 the country that we didn't choose, that we're putting up on taxpayer dollars for four years while
00:25:08.820 we find out 50% of them aren't eligible to be here. So that's not how we want to do things.
00:25:13.500 The last 10% would be those people we have compassion on, people that are in war-torn and
00:25:19.200 persecuted areas. And I prefer the privately sponsored model to the government-sponsored
00:25:24.560 model. We saw with the Syrian refugees that people who are privately sponsored had better outcomes.
00:25:30.400 They integrated better into the communities, they got jobs, they learned the language better,
00:25:34.460 and it's not a burden on the taxpayer. And so, you know, there's not necessarily a need to limit the
00:25:39.140 number of those if we have more generous people that want to privately sponsor.
00:25:42.340 Honestly, when they get working, it drives our economy, we need that growth, and it's going to
00:25:47.220 make Canada better.
00:25:48.380 Do you think coming in illegally is a disqualifying factor for having that compassionate resettlement
00:25:53.900 that you've mentioned?
00:25:54.560 I think Canadians want to choose who is going to come to our country. And I think people that are
00:26:02.000 the most angry that have talked to me are people that immigrated to the country and paid their own
00:26:07.100 way, were sponsored by their own families, didn't get anything from the public dime. And they're angry to
00:26:11.980 see people that we didn't invite here who are coming and are receiving, you know, huge amounts
00:26:16.860 of money and benefits on the taxpayer dime. That's not fair. They've taken resources away from
00:26:23.100 Immigration Canada from processing reunification for families for these folks that we didn't invite.
00:26:29.700 And so I think we have to work with the U.S. to close that safe third country agreement and recognize
00:26:35.580 they're not coming in everywhere, right? They're coming in Manitoba and Quebec because they have instant
00:26:40.320 health care and instant legal aid there in both of those places that they don't have any other
00:26:44.540 provinces.
00:26:45.560 And one of the items that jumped out to me from your platform is reinstating the language requirement
00:26:50.760 for citizens to speak English and French. And I don't think a lot of Canadians are aware that you
00:26:54.840 don't need to speak one of the official languages to get citizenship.
00:26:58.200 Many changes that the Liberals made, they said you don't need to speak English or French anymore
00:27:02.700 to be a citizen. And that's an expense and a dangerous thing. If our emergency responders and
00:27:08.440 first responders can only speak in English and French and there's all these other languages that
00:27:13.620 people are speaking and they don't speak either English or French, it's dangerous and costly if we
00:27:19.600 have to translate everything into everyone's language. So I think that's one of the changes that we should
00:27:24.120 reverse.
00:27:24.740 Now, when it comes to family reunification, grandma coming from Italy or some other country is unlikely
00:27:32.100 to be able to learn English in her old age. Someone who comes in under compassionate grounds may not
00:27:36.200 have had the opportunity to learn English in schooling if they've come from a war-torn region.
00:27:41.080 So you're not putting that language restriction in for immigration itself, but just for citizenship?
00:27:46.300 Well, for citizenship. And I would say there was an exemption in the old citizenship for people
00:27:51.580 who are older because it was recognized that at 65, you weren't going to learn a new language. So
00:27:56.300 I think that exemption was fine. It worked for years and it should be reinstated with the
00:28:00.940 requirement for English in print.
00:28:02.860 Let's talk about how you would view going into the next election whenever it is.
00:28:08.240 And going up against Justin Trudeau, what do you think is his biggest weakness? And I realize that's
00:28:13.540 a loaded question, but at the same time for all of the conservatives that just thought
00:28:16.800 there's no way this guy could win again, he did, he's there again. So clearly something
00:28:21.320 about what he's doing is resonating with Canadians. What's your priority in serving
00:28:26.280 as opposition leader in parliament, but going up against him in an election as well?
00:28:30.500 Well, I think, you know, people know who Justin Trudeau is. The branding exercise on the liberals
00:28:35.260 said the three words they would use to describe them were liar, untrustworthy and corruption.
00:28:40.700 So they were looking for an alternative. We got an increase in the popular vote. We did get more seats.
00:28:46.080 People were really looking for that leader and that platform that would draw them to the party.
00:28:51.340 And I think those are the two things that I will deliver. That said, if you look at Trudeau's
00:28:56.580 ethical violations and you compare that to somebody who's a professional engineer, has always had to
00:29:01.840 have a code of conduct and ethics and integrity or we lose our license. My record is clean. There is no
00:29:07.760 skeleton to dig up in my past. And I think that along with a plan, the liberals never have a plan.
00:29:15.340 Even yesterday, they announced a billion dollars for the pandemic. And what are they going to do
00:29:19.000 with it? Well, we're not really sure. Well, that's not a plan. And so I have a plan and a plan to restore
00:29:24.560 Canada to prosperity, to safety, and I would say happiness.
00:29:28.020 What is your first bill or first motion as leader of Her Majesty's loyal opposition?
00:29:32.920 That's a great question. I think the first one would have to be a similar bill to what Jason
00:29:39.200 Kenney has put in place to establish the rule of law, because we can't restore the prosperity in
00:29:43.980 the West and start building these projects if we have anarchy.
00:29:46.980 I find I'm not laughing at your idea. I'm laughing at the idea that we're in this country now where
00:29:52.740 establishing rule of law has to exist. And it's not just a standard and a constant. I mean,
00:29:57.360 that's where we found it.
00:29:57.920 Well, how sad is that? That even when you looked at the polling, you saw 40% of people were okay
00:30:04.080 with folks that were illegally protesting. I was alarmed when I saw that. That's a real erosion
00:30:09.000 of the principle of the rule of law, which is what keeps society civil. And so we definitely have to,
00:30:14.620 you know, reinforce that. And we see from the foreign investment leaving that they also see that
00:30:19.500 shift, that it's not sure that the government is actually going to keep things stable here.
00:30:23.940 So when you look through your roadmap for the next few months, as we head from now to the
00:30:31.480 leadership, is there a faction of the party that you're trying to go after? Or are you trying to
00:30:37.580 say, listen, I'm the one that social conservatives should vote for? I'm the one that Alberta oil
00:30:42.280 sector workers should vote for? I'm the one that, you know, GTA suburban families should vote for?
00:30:46.920 Is that really the goal? For myself, my challenge is that I'm the least known. But I would say those
00:30:53.940 that are well known are not necessarily the best loved. The more people get to know me, the more
00:30:58.560 they love my message, the more they love me. And so my challenge is to get the message out there
00:31:03.560 through social media, through traveling around the country, folks like yourself in the media that can
00:31:08.200 help and to achieve the milestones. So by March 25th, to make sure that I'm on the ballot.
00:31:13.420 Once I'm on the ballot, then the strategy is to go where I'm going to be strong. I worked in Quebec
00:31:19.720 for 15 years, and my French is very good. And so depending on who's on the ballot, my French might
00:31:25.640 be the best. And that would be an advantage in Quebec, having worked there and understanding the
00:31:30.020 people of Quebec. I have roots in the East Coast as well. I know that Peter McKay is strong there.
00:31:35.860 But when I went down to the Halifax Convention, and people heard me, many that were going to vote
00:31:40.120 him first ballot, changed their minds. And so we've talked about the West, and I'll be popular
00:31:45.020 in the West, popular in Ontario, popular, I would say, in BC. And I just came back from Iqaluit.
00:31:50.920 So I'm certainly covering the whole country.
00:31:52.580 Yeah, you've gone from coast to coast to coast and in between.
00:31:55.040 Indeed.
00:31:55.580 All right. Well, I appreciate you taking the time to sit down with me. Marilyn Gladjew,
00:31:59.380 Sarnia Lampton, Member of Parliament, Engineer and Candidate for the Leadership of the Conservatives.
00:32:03.840 Marilyn, thank you so much.
00:32:05.080 Thank you, Andrew.
00:32:05.580 All right. This is the beginning of our series on leadership candidates here on True North. But
00:32:11.080 by no means the end. We'll have interviews with hopefully all of the candidates in the weeks to
00:32:14.940 come. My thanks to all of you for tuning in. We'll talk to you next time. Thank you. God bless. Good
00:32:19.380 day, Canada.
00:32:20.400 Thanks for listening to The Andrew Lawton Show. Support the program by donating to True North at
00:32:24.800 www.tnc.news.