00:02:07.180So what we said in our release today is that we will invest 25 billion as seed capital in the fund.
00:02:16.980As you know, Canada, because we're one of the very few countries in the world,
00:02:21.620I would say there's only two countries in the G7 which have a AAA credit rating,
00:02:26.480Canada can borrow on the international market at some of the lowest rates that you could see.
00:02:31.800And therefore, by putting the seed money, we will be able to invest in these projects, in these Canadian companies, and generate higher returns for Canadians.
00:02:43.420As you heard there, the fund is intended to provide financial support for Canadian startups.
00:02:49.960But not everybody is impressed. Conservative party leader Pierre Polyev says it makes no sense for government to bankroll businesses that can't attract private funding.
00:03:00.040If a project has a business case, why would the government need to fund it?
00:03:04.720If it doesn't have a business case, why would the government want to fund it?
00:03:09.520And why can't projects get funding now?
00:03:11.980Is it because investment doesn't exist?
00:03:15.180There's a trillion dollars of investment from Canada, now invested outside of Canada, according to Royal Bank.
00:03:24.060In fact, Statistics Canada reported in Q3 of last year that trustee Canadian pension funds held $1.33 trillion in foreign assets.
00:03:35.480That is, a majority of Canadian pension funds are now invested outside of Canada.
00:03:41.760There are more Canadians opening businesses out of Canada than in Canada.
00:03:45.900The investment exists. It comes from our country. It just can't get a return in our country.
00:03:52.080Putting another $25 billion on the national credit card to pad a liberal slush fund will not change that.
00:04:00.500We have a clearer picture today of how the liberals are luring opposition party members to cross the floor.
00:04:07.480So far, four conservatives and one new Democrat have joined the Carney liberals.
00:04:12.260Having failed to win a majority government at the ballot box, liberals have been using a combination of threats, flattery, monetary incentives,0.99
00:04:21.020and spending commitments to attract floor crossers.1.00
00:04:25.240We know this because conservative MP Kelly DeRitter0.99
00:04:27.900of Kitchener Center was targeted in this way
00:04:48.940It is Michael Ma, the undemocratically elected liberal member who floor crossed.
00:04:56.960So this committee spent four hours telling us how important this committee is in terms of oversight and the democratic process, and we should work together.
00:05:06.960And then they appoint the floor crosser, the one with suspicious ties to foreign interference, to this prestigious oversight committee.
00:05:17.420You can't make this stuff up, but it happened.
00:05:20.900And our guest today is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Kitchener Center, Kelly DeRitter.
00:05:25.200Welcome to the show, Kelly. Appreciate it.
00:05:27.520Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.
00:05:29.780All right. So thanks to you, we're getting a glimpse into how the liberal floor crossing machine actually works.
00:05:37.740And, you know, I think those types of details are very helpful when people want to figure out,
00:05:42.320why is this person making the jump and it seems very calculated it seems like they've got a plan
00:05:49.120and it includes things like threats uh then flattery and i guess if that doesn't work then
00:05:55.200certain subtle uh incentives are provided monetary and otherwise could you take us back to the start
00:06:01.760of how it began when the liberals reached out to you and said hey you know maybe you should
00:06:06.320consider joining our team so it was a phone call between um a liberal member of parliament and
00:06:14.320myself and as i posted in my video it started with fear that a person will be put into my writing
00:06:23.680that would be supported by both the liberals and the greens and so as a conservative i didn't stand
00:06:28.480a chance to win in the next election and when i responded with okay uh the next was flattery they
00:06:35.520see what i'm doing on the science and research committee and the interest i've taken in ai
00:06:40.560and digital policy and that they feel there's a spot for them on their team under that portfolio
00:06:47.440and so i thanked them for uh pumping my tires a little bit but still the answer is no and then it
00:06:56.240went into well you know as a technology hub kitchener center is canada's innovation capital
00:07:02.160and as a technology hub it would be good for your riding to be a part of government and so again
00:07:09.600thank you for you know your words but no and this and then the conversation ended there and said we
00:07:18.800it won't be brought up again from this point forward um unless you reach out to us was how
00:07:24.320it was left off so it sounds like the liberals did not take no for an answer at least for a while
00:07:30.000Can you tell us which Liberal MP reached out to you?
00:07:34.320So there is a level of, you know, parliamentary respect here in the House of Commons.
00:07:39.120And while I'm willing to share my story, I do want to respect my colleague
00:07:43.920on the other side of the House and not bring them forward as the individual who approached me.
00:07:50.320I don't want to get into, you know, is it bigger than a breadbox type of thing?
00:07:55.040Was it a cabinet minister, can you say, or was it somebody, a backbencher?
00:08:00.000I'd rather just focus on the tactics that were used in my conversation instead of putting out there who it was.
00:08:15.500I mean, the obvious answer is, well, that's what you are supposed to be trying to do is to defeat me, you know.
00:08:22.720Well, you know what, I'll leave that up to the voters.
00:08:24.760your head that you know we're coming after you next election and you're not going to win and so
00:08:30.540you might as well come over to our side is that pretty much the way you read it yeah when they
00:08:36.480say my writing has been both liberal then conservative then liberal then green before me
00:08:44.620and now back to conservative so when they say that they're going to put someone who's supported by
00:08:50.760the two parties that it has also been in my riding then yes i take that as though you know
00:08:58.520trying to say well then we'll just take you out the next go around so you might as well join us
00:09:03.480and but i say i'm gonna leave that to the voter right so you must have some thoughts about the
00:09:11.920people who went the other way and said oh sounds like a good deal michael ma for instance i just
00:09:17.300handed a plum assignment on the public accounts committee. And we heard from Stephanie Cusey,
00:09:22.380your colleague in caucus, put a video out of that. So this is obviously a message sent out to people
00:09:29.940like you, you know, you play ball with us, come over to our side and, you know, you're going to
00:09:33.920get a sweet, a sweetheart deal too, just like Michael Ma did. Yeah. So in my, in my conversation,
00:09:41.000It was very carefully worded as there was no offer on the table of a ministry or a parliamentary second secretary position or anything like that.
00:09:53.340But the words to me of it would be good for your riding to be a part of the government is a way of reading between the lines to say, we'll do we'll splash some cash into Kitchener Center if you cross sides.
00:10:08.680typical pork barrel politics, you know, that's what that's what that's all about. And so it
00:10:14.940sounds to me like they were trying not to break the law, because as you're aware, I mean, it is
00:10:21.760a criminal code of defense to bribe or offer financial incentives for somebody to do something
00:10:28.520an elected official to do something that benefits somebody else, and possibly yourself. So they're
00:10:35.260trying to just be on this side of the law by the sounds of it what do you think what i think is that
00:10:42.940we need to concentrate on democracy in this country and the voices of the people are what
00:10:49.900matter in this country and i don't think that we should be actively recruiting members of an
00:10:56.320opposition to form a government i just think that this is the this is the threat of our democracy
00:11:03.960right now and this is what's happening and and i'm hearing you know in main media news streams that
00:11:12.360you that this is a problem with the conservative party or a problem with our leadership
00:11:18.520and i just was really honestly tired of hearing that and so i wanted to come out with my story
00:11:24.840to say it has nothing to do with the conservative party and it has nothing to do with our leadership
00:11:31.560these were individual decisions that were made through active recruitment could you tell us when
00:11:38.040this happened does that was this a recent thing like this was after the last floor crosser
00:11:44.200no actually it was before the last floor crosser it was the last time that we were in our writings
00:11:48.680before we went back to sit this go around so we're talking about a month ago two months ago
00:11:55.640Yeah. About a month ago. And yeah, I mean, the media seems to be using the floor crossers as a
00:12:01.960way to bash your leader, Pierre Polyev. And so I think this is probably one of the things that the
00:12:07.460liberals particularly like about this. The more people we can get across, the more we know that
00:12:12.420our friends in the legacy media are going to just blame it all on Pierre Polyev. So not only do we
00:12:17.680get a floor crosser and add to our numbers, but we also turn up the heat on the guy we really don't
00:12:23.040like which is Pierre Polyev what do you think so I think that's exactly what's happening but the
00:12:28.220problem with that though is that it's not okay when the national news is holding the opposition
00:12:34.200to account more than the actual government but really our freedom is at stake here when this
00:12:40.900starts to happen and the question should be asked is why are you actively recruiting members of the
00:12:48.420opposition to form a majority government and even for the committee reshuffle I just saw in the news
00:12:54.740recently we're talking about an overreach of the committee reshuffle you only need six why are you
00:13:00.580putting in seven and the question was asked of the conservative party well if you had a majority
00:13:05.640government wouldn't you have committees structured for a majority government listen the answer is
00:13:11.380yes when elected as a majority government we will have committees structured to a majority but
00:13:18.400The question that isn't being asked is, if you were elected a minority government, would you recruit members of the opposition to form a majority government in parliament? And that answer is no. No, as a Conservative Party, we would not do that because we respect the voters' choice. We work for the people, not the other way around. We believe in democracy and we believe in these institutions.
00:13:42.040i mean there was a liberal floor crosser when harper had his minority um i think it's keith
00:13:49.740emerson i don't know if that was the case where he was recruited though or did he just
00:13:54.240volunteer to come over i don't know i mean it's it's kind of a fuzzy line
00:13:58.300but um i take your point that canadians did not vote for a majority government
00:14:04.740and yet they're getting one anyway and in fact they have one now and it seems like uh the prime
00:14:11.780minister has an extra skip in his step these days because he knows that he's not going to have to
00:14:16.260be held to account in these ethics investigations that have started. And, you know, the whole issue
00:14:23.000around him is relationship with Brookfield and stock portfolio and insistence that he sell it.
00:14:28.680All these pressures on the prime minister, a lot of that is going to be eased up once he's got the
00:14:33.540numbers on committee. So that's provided them, I think, a huge incentive to get that majority
00:14:41.680by hook or by crook. And unfortunately, it's added a great deal to the level of cynicism,
00:14:47.240I think, by the electorate. And I mean, in a way, I tip my hat to you and others because I'm sure
00:14:54.640you've got many colleagues who say, yeah, they tried the same thing with me. Have you done a
00:14:58.780head count on how many of your colleagues in caucus were approached? I don't know specifically
00:15:05.620how many were approached. I know I think we're at about seven right now who've come forward to say
00:15:09.640that they have been. I don't know beyond that for the ones that have come forward. I just know my
00:15:15.280own personal story and I thought it was time I shared my personal story so that Canadians can
00:15:21.460see the truth of what's actually happening here. And it was important to me to share what had
00:15:28.500happened for me and also very important for me to say unequivocally no. So let me get this straight
00:15:38.600here if I do the checkbox of their approach, because I assume it's the same with every MP,
00:15:44.280or very similar. They started off with threats. They moved on to flattery. Is that right?
00:15:51.400Then it was incentives of one type or another. Is that correct?
00:16:03.400Which I guess, according to Marilyn Gladue, was the
00:16:08.600thing that pushed her over the edge, I suppose, is that she said, well, you know, I'm going to be
00:16:14.260able to get so much help for my riding. That's how she thought she could justify it. And she's
00:16:19.140encountered all sorts of backlash in Sarnia and the surrounding area. Do your constituents,
00:16:29.060are they aware, I guess they're getting more and more aware of what you've gone through? Have they
00:16:34.180approached you and said you know one thing or another good for you or have they made any comments
00:16:39.540regarding what's happened to you yeah the constituents that have voted for me have come
00:16:44.500out to say thank you just thank you thank you for keeping your integrity thank you for
00:16:51.140allowing our voices to stand in this writing just thank you for not falling for the recruitment
00:16:59.300trap and being our representative in Kitchener Center. I mean, that must make you feel pretty
00:17:06.400good. It does. Well, it does. Yes. But I will always lead with integrity. You know, I didn't
00:17:13.360do this for personal gain. I did this to be voices for the people who feel voiceless. I did this
00:17:19.420to serve the residents of Kitchener Center. And I do truly value that members of parliament should
00:17:27.320be working for their writings and not the other way around when this started i'm going to assume
00:17:33.040that you put in a call to the leader's office and said you know this is happening i want you to be
00:17:38.140aware of it i've already said no hey can you recall what they responded to you with again thank you
00:17:46.740what else is to be said other than thank you for taking the path of integrity instead of you know
00:17:54.900self-need or want or whatever the reasons are that the other members chose to cross.
00:18:01.380I mean, could there be, and I want to watch my words carefully, but
00:18:08.180a quid pro quo down the road. In other words, you know what, we remember you. We remember that you
00:18:12.580stuck by us when we were in opposition. And, you know, we're going to reward you because you've
00:18:19.220earned it by sticking with our team rather than crossing the floor do you think that that might be
00:18:25.860a factor down the road sometime no i i did not do this again for my own gain or benefit i did
00:18:32.820this because i needed canadians to know what's actually happening here and that a person with
00:18:39.700integrity sitting here today is saying i'm not going to be recruited my answer is no and that
00:18:47.620i had to bring this story forward this has nothing to do with any sort of personal gain or anything
00:18:53.540to do with the party i individually made this decision to come forward on my own and talk about
00:18:59.140my own story so no i don't think that there's going to be anything coming in the future because
00:19:04.340of nor do you expect anything i understand anything about integrity how many calls did you get from the
00:19:11.220liberal person you're i guess the person who was trying to lure you across just just the one
00:19:17.620just the one call yeah I think I was definitive enough to say don't call me again yeah and so
00:19:26.200what are your thoughts about those who caved the Michael Maas of the world and the Chris
00:19:30.760D'Anthra Maas of the world the Marilyn Gladius of the world what I personally think is each
00:19:37.660individual member has come forward to tell their reason uh why they think that it was good for them
00:19:44.060across. But at the end of the day, Marilyn Gledo won with almost 52% of the vote. So when she says
00:19:50.760it's about her constituents, I don't believe it. Chris D'Entremont came forward and said that he
00:19:57.460didn't like the democratic process to become the deputy leader and that if he had to became the
00:20:04.540deputy leader, we wouldn't maybe be in this situation right now. So that speaks for itself.
00:20:10.320And at the end of the day, Michael Ma owes his seat to Pierre Polyev as well as I do and 25 other new members of parliament and to our leadership.
00:20:21.640And so he went against that and chose, you know, his own path.
00:20:26.820Kelly Derrider, thank you so much for coming on the show.
00:20:29.160We really appreciate what you've done and in fact, you've been able to come out and talk about it.
00:20:33.760Thank you so much again for having me today.
00:20:35.540If you enjoyed this show, consider supporting great independent journalism by becoming a
00:20:40.080premier member of Juno News. Please go to junonews.com backslash straight up. You can find
00:20:45.760the link below. It helps us do what we do. Thank you so much. We'll see you next time.