Juno News - Conservatives choose a NEW leader

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00:07:30.000 Transcription by CastingWords

00:08:00.000 We'll be right back.

00:08:29.980 Welcome to you all. This is a special edition True North broadcast for the Conservative Party of Canada's Leadership Results Show.

00:08:38.940 We know that the Conservative Party of Canada is just in about an hour and three quarters going to be unveiling the winner of the Conservative Leadership Race that's been going on for the last couple of months.

00:08:51.100 It's now down to five candidates, which we'll talk about at great length in the course of the show.

00:08:56.140 We have Roman Babber, Jean Charest, Leslyn Lewis, Pierre Paulyev, and Scott Aitchison.

00:09:02.960 There was a sixth, of course, Patrick Brown, but he was disqualified early on.

00:09:07.700 And we will get to all of that over the course of the evening.

00:09:10.680 I am very pleased to have a great panel here with me in the studio and also a couple of my colleagues in Ottawa.

00:09:17.540 But before we get to that, I just want to say that on behalf of the entire True North team,

00:09:22.240 our thoughts and prayers go to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's family.

00:09:26.140 We also say, God save the King.

00:09:28.880 It's odd to be having such a celebratory affair as the Conservative Leadership Night

00:09:34.580 in such a difficult week for the country, for the Commonwealth,

00:09:38.360 and I would actually say the world.

00:09:40.160 But the Conservative Party of Canada decided it would be proceeding

00:09:43.300 as scheduled with tonight's event with a bit more of a solemn tone.

00:09:48.800 So we are going to try to emulate that here.

00:09:51.100 We're not going to be depressed, though.

00:09:52.140 It is a moment of transition for the world.

00:09:54.120 We celebrate the king, may he live long, and may God protect him and all of the Commonwealth realms.

00:09:59.640 And there is going to be a tribute later on in Ottawa, which we'll be carrying live.

00:10:04.220 So I will tell you in a moment the structure for the evening.

00:10:07.980 But first, I want to introduce the fantastic guests I have with me in the studio.

00:10:12.760 Sue-Ann Levy, my colleague at True North, veteran journalist.

00:10:16.400 Sue-Ann, good to talk to you. Thanks so much for being here.

00:10:18.540 Thank you, Andrew.

00:10:19.180 And sitting to Sue Ann's right is Harrison Faulkner, my Fake News Friday co-host and also host of Ratioed on True North. Harrison, good to have you here as well.

00:10:27.700 Pleasure to be here, Andrew.

00:10:28.740 We'll get to our team in Ottawa in just a moment, but I want to ask both of you as we look at what's been, I think, a fairly uneventful leadership race in some respect.

00:10:38.860 We obviously have Pierre Paulyevu emerged as a pretty clear frontrunner early on. What is it that you will be looking for tonight? I'll start with you, Harrison.

00:10:47.540 Well, would it be too cliche, Andrew, to say that I'm looking forward to seeing some of these meltdowns,

00:10:51.560 some of these reactions? 0.71

00:10:52.260 We've already seen a few journalists get there, and I think there's going to be quite a reaction to a Polyev win.

00:10:59.360 There's obviously going to be far more many upset journalists if Pierre Polyev wins tonight,

00:11:05.200 and I've got to say I'm looking forward to seeing some of these reactions or some of these meltdowns.

00:11:09.140 So you're not even watching the politicians today.

00:11:11.300 You're watching the media.

00:11:12.220 Oh, absolutely, yeah.

00:11:13.000 We're going to be scrolling Twitter, making sure that if anything crazy comes through,

00:11:16.040 if any bad takes come through, we're going to be bringing them live.

00:11:18.960 All right.

00:11:19.660 Sue-Ann, I know you worked with some of these people that he's going to be watching tonight, us have I.

00:11:23.180 But what are you going to be looking out for this evening?

00:11:25.280 Well, actually, Harrison, I've seen a fair degree of meltdowns in the last two weeks.

00:11:30.580 I've had a lot of people warning that the world is going to come to an end

00:11:33.600 if Pierre Polyev actually does win the leadership.

00:11:38.200 It is unbelievable how these people work.

00:11:41.440 And it's just like in the States with Trump. It's no different. But the other thing I'll be looking at is whether how Jean Charest will handle if he doesn't win, because there has been a full court press from his campaign team.

00:11:56.240 Being as I'm a member of the Conservative Party, I've received many, many, many, many, many emails from his team, and I think he has a voice surrounding him, and I can't understand, in my view, how a former Liberal can be running for the leader, but we'll see what happens.

00:12:15.960 Yeah, definitely good things to watch out for.

00:12:18.020 I would say on my end, I'm always curious about who doesn't win and how exactly well they did.

00:12:24.880 Because we know in the past, like 2017 and 2020, it really was second, third ballots that delivered the victory,

00:12:32.240 especially the social conservatives in 2017 with Brad Trost and Pierre Lemieux that gave Andrew Scheer the win.

00:12:38.760 And even last time, the same thing from Lesley Lewis and Derek Sloan, which gave Aaron O'Toole the win.

00:12:43.680 So I don't see the dynamics as being like that this time around, but I do think it's going to be interesting to see, you know, how well Roman Babber does.

00:12:52.260 You and I were talking about that earlier, Harrison.

00:12:54.160 He's a guy who was a one-term Ontario MPP, not well-known outside the country, but has really, I think, impressed people in the debates.

00:13:01.520 Lesley Lewis, her second kick of the can, and as you mentioned, Sue, and Jean Charest, who a lot of people know as a Liberal and now is running here.

00:13:09.180 So we'll have lots to talk about here.

00:13:11.120 I also want to tell you that my colleague, Candice Malcolm, is going to be returning from maternity leave. 0.56

00:13:16.720 She's that dedicated to be with us in just about 23 minutes' time here.

00:13:21.420 But first, I promise you that we have a crew on the ground in Ottawa.

00:13:24.660 We have two of our fantastic True North colleagues, Jasmine Moulton and Ellie Kenton-Nantel,

00:13:29.500 who are doing the hard work, talking to people on the ground there.

00:13:32.620 And I want to get a little bit of a primer on what we have planned for this evening from Ellie.

00:13:36.560 Take it away.

00:13:37.040 Hi, I'm here at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa.

00:13:43.780 Behind me is the stage where in a couple hours we will find out, hopefully,

00:13:48.600 who is the Conservative Party leader.

00:13:51.600 I'm Elie Cantenatel. I'm here with my colleague Jasmine.

00:13:54.560 And we hope to bring you live, on the ground footage

00:13:57.520 to rub the knife of this exciting and historic event here in Canada's capital.

00:14:05.000 Thanks for that, Ali.

00:14:06.680 We will look forward to your updates as well as Jasmine's throughout the course of the evening.

00:14:11.680 I want to just give you a little bit of a sense of what it is that we can expect here, first and foremost.

00:14:17.040 So the result is already determined.

00:14:19.740 I think that's important to note here.

00:14:21.100 There's no voting.

00:14:21.940 There's no, you know, dramatic moment if you watch West Wing on the convention floor where, you know, people are going to come up and, you know, write in Stephen Harper.

00:14:28.740 The votes have been mailed in.

00:14:30.300 They had to be received, I think it was by September 6th.

00:14:32.960 So last week, and there was a, there's a counting that's taking place and it's a ranked ballot,

00:14:37.940 which is very important as we were just talking about in terms of deciding who the winner is

00:14:42.620 normally. And it's a point system. And this is important as well. So a lot of people saw

00:14:47.900 that Pierre Paulyev in particular would have these rallies with thousands and thousands of people

00:14:52.700 like in Calgary and Edmonton. But a lot of that doesn't matter when it comes down to the points

00:14:57.620 because, you know, Calgary heritage, which may have 5,000 conservative members has the same

00:15:02.420 100 points as Abitsi B. Tamiskaming, which may have 100 Conservative members. And you have to

00:15:08.040 win the most points, not the most votes. So that has actually been, if we want to talk about Jean

00:15:13.300 Charest, the strategy from the Charest campaign is that they said, yeah, you know what? We have

00:15:17.940 been focused on a strategic plan of winning points, of going to areas where Conservatives don't

00:15:23.260 typically do well, like Quebec, like Toronto. So let me ask you about that, Sue Ann, because

00:15:28.240 you know, one of the things that Charest has tried to do in this race is make it not about

00:15:33.160 policy as much as electability. His slogan, built to win, he says, yeah, we're never going to win

00:15:38.500 with a guy like Pierre Polyeb. You have to elect me, and I'm the guy that can give us a conservative

00:15:42.960 majority. Is that a valuable pitch in a leadership race? I don't think it's worked in the past. I

00:15:48.880 mean, we had Aaron O'Toole, who's placed himself strictly in the center. And, you know, last

00:15:56.360 election had policies that, you know, frankly, for a conservative, veered too far to the left.

00:16:03.860 I mean, he, you know, talking about the carbon tax and flip-flopping about various other issues.

00:16:11.800 And, you know, I think, I really feel the country is in a state of transition. You mentioned

00:16:17.940 transition before, with the dear queen passing away. And I think people are really, really fed

00:16:25.340 up with a Trudeau government and they're looking for someone tough who can beat him and I don't

00:16:32.200 think that electability he first of all Jean Charest is not going to win the center-left at

00:16:39.560 all I mean you know you and I have been in politics or discussed politics or you know

00:16:46.140 analyzed politics for enough years to know that you're not going to win those people over you're

00:16:52.260 going to win people who are looking. People don't vote governments in, they vote them out. And I

00:16:59.040 think people are looking for change. I really feel that. I would say, Harrison, it isn't just change

00:17:05.420 in strategy and change in messaging and change in tone, but change in that fundamental question of

00:17:12.720 what are you offering. And it was very difficult for me to not draw comparisons between Jean Charest

00:17:19.200 and what Aaron O'Toole tried to do in the last election,

00:17:21.620 which is that same thing of, you know,

00:17:23.160 I'm going to be the guy that delivers in the GTA.

00:17:25.380 I'm going to be the guy that delivers in Quebec.

00:17:27.220 And he really moderated his position tremendously

00:17:30.260 and just didn't do it.

00:17:32.120 And I mean, if Aaron O'Toole had won,

00:17:33.860 maybe we'd be having a different conversation

00:17:35.940 and saying, well, okay, I don't like how he did it,

00:17:38.160 but it worked.

00:17:38.840 It didn't work.

00:17:39.620 And I don't think it's ever worked.

00:17:40.840 I mean, Andrew Scheer tried it.

00:17:42.300 Aaron O'Toole tried it.

00:17:43.140 So it seems to be a bit of a hollow pitch

00:17:45.780 when you look at the track record.

00:17:46.960 I mean, I asked Jean Charest about that in one of my interviews with him, and he basically just had to say, well, yeah, but I'm different than Aaron O'Toole.

00:17:53.420 You know, I believe what I'm saying, and I'm consistent and clear.

00:17:55.860 But I always think when voters are confronted with that idea of, you know, liberal in red and liberal in blue, they're probably just going to go with the real thing.

00:18:04.440 Yes, and I think that there's two things going on.

00:18:06.200 There's a strategy for the leadership election, which is just for conservative party members.

00:18:09.820 You have to appeal to party members.

00:18:11.660 And then there's a strategy for the federal election.

00:18:13.860 The one thing you can say about John Chiray's campaign is that he's using the Aaron O'Toole, Andrew Scheer general election strategy in the leadership election,

00:18:21.200 which I don't think is going to end up being successful for him.

00:18:24.860 But I will say this. I'll say one thing about the result tonight.

00:18:28.800 Conservatives should be careful to assume that the leader they are choosing tonight is the leader they're going to get on the election night in a federal election.

00:18:35.960 We've been fooled. We were fooled by Aaron O'Toole, whose slogan was Take Back Canada in the leadership race.

00:18:41.740 We were fooled by Andrew Scheer to some degree.

00:18:44.320 Conservatives should be careful not to basically just to expect that there's going to be a different strategy in the federal election.

00:18:50.380 I don't think, however, when you're trying to win over the Conservative Party base, appealing to the center and appealing to maybe traditional liberal voters is going to work out.

00:18:58.360 But we'll have to see what happens. But there's really two different strategies in place here.

00:19:02.040 Yeah, I think that's actually a really critical point, because we know that Aaron O'Toole said all the right things in the leadership race.

00:19:09.420 And we had this conversation in 2020.

00:19:11.940 And by the way, I will say to the people at home, that one went until like 3 a.m.

00:19:16.000 because the party just couldn't manage to count ballots.

00:19:18.500 So I'm hoping, I mean, that's why the bourbon's here.

00:19:20.960 It's not for the first four hours.

00:19:22.120 It's for like the next four hours if we need to go into overtime here.

00:19:25.740 But the thing was, Aaron O'Toole was saying defund the CBC.

00:19:29.380 We're going to restore your firearms rights, conscience rights, balance budgets, all of that.

00:19:33.820 And then when the leadership ended and he switched to that general election mode,

00:19:38.180 he didn't just soften his stances he reversed some of them outright and I guess that would be my

00:19:44.380 question to you Sue Ann about Pierre Polyev he has also been very unequivocal about certain things

00:19:49.920 like at his rallies people chant defund the CBC and he chants with them how like the optimist in

00:19:56.700 me says that he's boxed himself in so much that he can't reverse on this but the cynic in me says

00:20:01.360 well I thought that about Aaron O'Toole last time so do you think he is gonna moderate how much do

00:20:06.380 think he is going to have to moderate and change and how much do you think he can get away with

00:20:10.220 between now and the next election interesting question i think he can get away with a lot

00:20:14.820 because i think the the mood people are angry canadians are angry i mean you see uh justin

00:20:21.500 trudeau i almost said pierre trudeau bite my tongue you see justin trudeau going out to various

00:20:26.460 events and being mobbed and heckled and booed and you know the the guy is i mean he's had to beef

00:20:33.000 up his security. He's had to cancel, you know, events. And I think Pierre Polyev reflects a very

00:20:41.200 refreshing, in my view, strategy and a very refreshing view of the way he's connected

00:20:50.080 with the Canadian mood right now. And I mean, Harrison, you said that. Andrew, you said you

00:20:57.380 can't appeal to the centre-left. They're not going to vote for you. They're going to vote for

00:21:02.740 they're truanons you know they're going to vote for trudeau and uh i think that you know i i really 1.00

00:21:10.100 honestly feel that this guy poliev is going to stick to his guns because that's what canadians 0.83

00:21:17.040 want they want the funding of the cbc they want better law and order um they i mean people are so

00:21:24.460 disenchanted with canada right now i talk to my conservative friends and they say canada is just

00:21:31.840 going downhill it's just really really depressing i think andrew if i could just if like you

00:21:38.360 mentioned about pierre boxing himself in and expanding the party to such a degree that

00:21:42.200 if he does turn his back on them on these new members that he's signed up and convinced

00:21:46.660 i don't know if if the conservative party base will tolerate yet another uh uh flip-flop yet

00:21:54.500 another trick basically yet another uh leadership a candidate telling them what they want to hear

00:21:59.040 throwing red meat to the base and then when it comes time to actually trying to win in a general

00:22:04.140 election basically campaigning on the opposite i don't know andrew if the conservative party will

00:22:09.520 tolerate yet another one of of the sort of this bait and switch tactic i think it's got to be

00:22:14.500 he's got to remain consistent and i also think that that requires him to figure out who's who

00:22:18.640 he staffs his office with with if he wins it really boils even down to that he's got to stay

00:22:23.080 on message i just don't see i don't see the party tolerating yet another bait and switch

00:22:27.640 Well, we've seen, and we've also seen the way the media has handled him and how scared they are of his winning and how scared they are of, I mean, the CBC has just gone crazy, how scared they are, Toronto Star, for example, how afraid they are of a Pierre Polyev win and how they mock him.

00:22:45.620 And he's held to his guns. And I really, I mean, you know, I've been in this game a long time. I really think that what you see is what you're going to get. And I sincerely hope that's the case. Because if the Conservatives haven't learned from the last two leaders, then, I mean, this party is a mess. It's just like, you know, what do you do with them?

00:23:06.340 Yeah, and I think that you are right about that. And I've had a number of conversations on air and off air with Pierre Polyev, and I do find there is an authenticity there. And I think that's important because, I mean, obviously, it doesn't mean there's not showmanship to politics and his style, but I do believe that he believes what he's saying.

00:23:26.600 And to be honest, I couldn't say that about Aaron O'Toole. I couldn't say it about Andrew Scheer during the leadership and even during the general election. And even after the general election, Andrew Scheer sort of admitted that in interviews that, yeah, you know, I wish I was a bit more myself and I wish I was a bit more authentic and all that.

00:23:42.320 So I think when we're looking at tonight and what's going to happen, you are absolutely right that the media is going to pounce.

00:23:51.300 And I think that the one lesson I would give the Conservative Party, if they haven't for some reason figured out on their own,

00:23:57.160 is that once someone becomes the leader of the Conservatives, they could be the most left-wing person imaginable.

00:24:03.480 But they're going to be Attila the Hun, they're going to be Hitler, they're going to be all of these things to the media.

00:24:07.700 And that was the thing, is that you can't actually play Mr. Nice Guy with them.

00:24:11.100 And the one thing that Pierre Polyev has always done very well is really try to flip the script on the media, not quite like Ron DeSantis, but very similar in style in that I've heard him say, well, actually, how can you say that?

00:24:24.080 Where's your factual basis? And reporters sort of clam up and go, uh, and I think that's the only way that the conservatives can actually change the narrative is to start questioning the narrative and questioning the premise.

00:24:35.340 What else can you do, Andrew, with the media? If the media, like you said, are never going to give a conservative leader a fair shake, no matter who they are or what they say, you have to at some point fight back. And I think Canadians just want to see that.

00:24:48.600 I don't think you would see Justin Trudeau, for example, bowing down to a very hostile media toward him.

00:24:55.720 I think he would actually go at them, and I think that's something that Canadians would actually respect.

00:24:59.780 They don't want to see a weak conservative.

00:25:03.420 They want to see someone who is ready to take charge right away that is going to rise to the occasion.

00:25:10.360 And, you know, backtracking, apologizing to the media, you know, apologizing for your own words. 0.93

00:25:16.600 We've seen Erin O'Toole do that.

00:25:17.840 you just can't be doing that now there needs to be a whole new shift and I like I said I think

00:25:22.380 the point goes down to who who is feeding these elite this conservative leader information who is

00:25:27.740 who is the staff that have that have created the climate where conservative leaders feel they have

00:25:32.000 to basically operate as liberals that needs to change I think and that's going to be something

00:25:36.080 that really needs to take precedent I just got a message from a friend of mine named Nancy who said

00:25:40.820 the headline is Sue Ann is right which I think is generally a good subject line in an email but she

00:25:45.300 He says, you know, my house ballots for Pierre, mid-40s parents and professionals, some admitted to having been liberals.

00:25:53.180 They're mad, frightened and deeply concerned.

00:25:55.460 Pierre is going to win tonight and his new improved army will be ready for the opposition media and the progressives.

00:26:00.320 We will not tolerate media lies about our leader or ourselves.

00:26:04.040 So there is a there is a fieriness in a lot of Pierre Polyev support.

00:26:09.160 And also when she says there that some of them admitted to having been liberals.

00:26:12.520 I've heard that story from a number of people, people that have told me, I just took out for the first time in my life a Conservative membership to vote for Pierre Pauly F.

00:26:20.320 So if that holds through the general election, this will be a very different election whenever it comes, won't it?

00:26:26.260 And let's not forget that, I mean, as we saw in the States, the media are not electing, are not electing our next Prime Minister.

00:26:36.560 It's you, me and Nancy that are electing the next Prime Minister.

00:26:41.860 And, you know, I think the distrust in the media, I hate to say it, I was in the mainstream media for 31 years.

00:26:49.180 The mistrust in the media is at an all-time high.

00:26:52.860 And I think people are seeing through it.

00:26:55.420 They've seen what's happened in the States with Donald Trump, God bless him, and with CNN and the very biased media.

00:27:03.700 And we see the people in Canada are now seeing that the bailout media, the legacy media, are just Trudeau talking.

00:27:13.480 They're secretaries, basically press secretaries.

00:27:16.780 The official stenographers of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery.

00:27:20.660 There's really nothing for the liberals in the left to attack Pierre with other than using the media.

00:27:28.220 That is their main vessel for attacking Pierre Polyev.

00:27:31.800 they've been successful at it whether we like it or not i was thinking about this they have they

00:27:36.140 have successfully painted pierre paulia whether he is or whether he isn't as a divisive figure but

00:27:41.160 that's all they have on him right now uh as as long as the conservatives can weather that

00:27:45.960 they're going to continue to convert new members they're going to get new people on their side

00:27:50.080 and i think that's we're seeing that i mean pierre paulia has has grown the youth vote

00:27:53.980 That's a huge thing.

00:27:55.200 Harrison, they portray anybody who is right of, you know, far radical left.

00:28:03.780 I mean, I'm painted as a divisive figure for speaking up about trans policy. 0.51

00:28:08.420 So, I mean, this is their tactic. 0.99

00:28:10.140 And I'm telling you that that is starting to not work.

00:28:13.600 People are starting to see through it.

00:28:15.280 If you are just tuning in, I'm joined by my colleague Sue Ann Levy and Harrison Faulkner in the studio.

00:28:20.920 I want to check back in with our team in Ottawa, though.

00:28:23.660 My colleague Jasmine Moulton is there giving us a bit of a sense of the mood on the ground.

00:28:28.720 Take it away, Jasmine.

00:28:32.860 Jasmine Moulton, I'm reporting here live from the Shaw Centre in Ottawa with my colleague Ellie Cantay-Mantel.

00:28:39.280 And we're here at the Shaw Centre just waiting for the leadership convention to start.

00:28:44.620 There's a buzz in the room.

00:28:46.540 Everywhere around Ottawa, you pass people, conversations are all about this race.

00:28:51.020 There's a lot of excitement and anticipation.

00:28:53.660 It should be getting underway soon, and it's quite a large space, and we anticipate it to be quite full.

00:28:59.640 So we're looking forward to, after a long race, it's been since February that former leader Erin O'Toole stepped down,

00:29:07.120 and we're looking forward to hearing the results from this evening. Thank you.

00:29:13.880 Just wanted to let you know, if you are just tuning in here, how the evening is going to shake out.

00:29:18.980 So you are not missing anything right now.

00:29:21.160 The Conservative Party of Canada's official broadcast starts at 6 p.m.

00:29:25.620 We have decided to give you some bonus pre-content and post-content,

00:29:30.060 mainly because, unfortunately, official Conservative Party of Canada events tend to be very, very boring at times.

00:29:35.420 So we're going to keep you company over the course of the evening.

00:29:38.120 But the official party program is set to begin at 6 o'clock and go until 8 p.m.

00:29:43.420 And in that time, there are going to be presentations by a number of people,

00:29:47.660 including Candace Bergen, who's the outgoing interim leader,

00:29:51.660 and also Aaron O'Toole, who's the former leader.

00:29:54.940 And we'll talk about that in a moment.

00:29:56.460 There was supposed to be a presentation by Peter McKay,

00:29:59.920 but he posted a video this morning that, I mean,

00:30:03.280 basically seemed like a very sick hostage video,

00:30:06.280 in which he was very ill, and I hope he is getting better.

00:30:09.000 And he said he was too sick to join the festivities in Ottawa,

00:30:12.240 so he's not able to be there.

00:30:14.220 So there is going to be some programming there,

00:30:16.800 And, of course, they're going to have a tribute, as I mentioned, to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

00:30:21.820 So we'll be carrying all that as it comes.

00:30:23.720 The results are expected at about 7.30.

00:30:26.780 And to be honest, 7.33 is what I was told.

00:30:29.540 And I don't know if that was a typo or if they've just gotten this down for the first time in their lives to military precision.

00:30:34.560 But the results are going to be coming at 7.30.

00:30:36.780 I don't like telling you that because then you'll tune out and come back in.

00:30:39.500 So Sue Ann has also agreed to do an interpretive dance later to keep you entertained until we get to 7.30.

00:30:45.820 And Harrison was going to join in, but he's in the corner, so I don't know if we'll be able to pull it off.

00:30:50.680 My colleague Candace Malcolm is going to be with us in a couple of moments,

00:30:53.640 but let's just talk very briefly about Aaron O'Toole sending a video in.

00:30:59.340 I don't want to read too much into this, but the fact that he doesn't want to be there on stage

00:31:06.080 to say his farewell and welcome the new leader strikes me as a very deliberate choice.

00:31:13.660 Yeah, it does.

00:31:14.680 I mean, I think that I think that Aaron O'Toole is bitter, obviously, about what happened.

00:31:19.720 But the truth is, Andrew, Aaron O'Toole didn't rise to the occasion at the time that he needed to rise to that moment.

00:31:25.960 He was a he was a victim of the Freedom Convoy protest, which, in my opinion, still continues to shape the Canadian political space.

00:31:32.620 And I think because of that, he knows he he made an error.

00:31:36.580 But I think that it's it's it's probably a sign that big changes are coming to the party.

00:31:41.380 And whether or not that was Aaron O'Toole's decision, I'm sure it was.

00:31:44.140 uh to put in a video i just think it is it does does say a lot whatever happened he did to himself

00:31:50.820 i mean there's an mba in my mba we had this expression called stick to the knitting he did

00:31:56.320 not stick to the knitting he deviated from true conservative principles he didn't support the

00:32:04.240 freedom convoy he didn't hear what people had to say he was out of touch with the average voter

00:32:09.660 and the Aaron O'Toole really has only Aaron O'Toole to blame um I was just devastated actually

00:32:17.420 when he lost the last election because I felt it was his election certainly to win he was there

00:32:24.560 was such disenchantment with with uh Justin Trudeau and that is just ramped up all the more

00:32:31.900 we're on our third leadership review in or leadership uh race in a couple of years that

00:32:38.940 shouldn't have happened. And, you know, so I have no sympathy at all for Aaron O'Toole.

00:32:44.360 Yeah. And I think the big challenge that I had, and I spent a lot of time with him on the campaign

00:32:49.320 trail, not one-on-one, but covering his campaign. And there was a frustration in the media that went

00:32:55.100 beyond the typical media bias you'd expect against conservatives. There was a frustration at his

00:32:59.640 inability to answer even the most basic of questions. And, you know, you'd ask him a question

00:33:05.020 that, like, in one case was right from the platform. I just needed to hear him say it, you know,

00:33:08.120 Or are you going to do X?

00:33:09.140 And in the answer, I was even more confused than at the beginning, because I'm like, well, like if you can't say a yes or no to something that's in your platform, that's an easy win that you've already prepared.

00:33:18.660 What are you representing?

00:33:20.300 What are you standing for?

00:33:21.280 And the one thing that we were talking about earlier is that if you try to trade in your base for other voters, you're not going to get them, but you're going to lose your base.

00:33:30.660 And at the end of it, you have no one that really likes you, respects you, wants to vote for you.

00:33:34.380 And it's unfortunate because I actually think he is a decent person.

00:33:37.320 But he made a decision. And I think you are right, Sue Ann. And I don't know if he's actually understood that he was responsible. The sense that I've gotten from seeing things he said previously is that he very much feels like he's the victim here.

00:33:50.720 Well, yeah. Start with Sue Ann.

00:33:52.840 Well, that's a narcissist for you, thinking that you're the victim. I mean, I think he was

00:33:58.280 the author of his own demise, frankly. And, you know, I'll tell you something. In politics,

00:34:06.760 I spent over 20 years covering politicians, mostly municipal and provincial, not as much federal.

00:34:15.560 But there is a dearth of backbone amongst our politicians today. I would like to see somebody

00:34:22.200 who could actually stand up for what they believe in and stick to it and i you know i think if there

00:34:29.960 is any hope for the conservative party hopefully they will elect a leader who can do just that

00:34:36.360 because i i'm telling you the wishy-washiness amongst politicians i have lost all respect for

00:34:43.000 most of them at every level of government the the old william buckley william f buckley jr rule was

00:34:48.760 elect the most conservative, most electable person. And it was like, you know, don't necessarily

00:34:53.340 elect Attila the Hun because you agree with his tax policy and don't elect the guy that stands

00:34:57.460 for nothing because he's electable. You have to find that balance. But I find often conservatives

00:35:01.660 lean towards electability rather than conservatism. Go ahead, Harrison.

00:35:05.400 Well, you don't even have to just look at the election. His performance in the federal election

00:35:08.720 was, in my opinion, shameful for a conservative leader to not only contradict the commitments you

00:35:15.380 made in the leadership but to then actually back down off of the platform he released in that in

00:35:20.500 that same election was unbelievable but my big problem Andrew was the fact that while in

00:35:25.740 opposition he was the opposition leader during one of the most significant I would say constitutional

00:35:31.700 problems and crises in our country where the federal government was instituting

00:35:36.780 major changes in laws that would impact our lives and limit our freedoms and we didn't get anything

00:35:42.020 from the opposition leader in fact even even worse andrew the opposition leader told all the other

00:35:46.640 all the conservative mps whose job it is to represent their constituents in the house and

00:35:51.020 to oppose the government to keep their mouths quiet so he basically with that decision brought

00:35:57.020 all the conservative members in the house down and and refused to let them speak and then we had

00:36:01.460 there were a couple rogue mps that would eventually slowly speak we saw some of them from the back

00:36:05.660 bench but that was a major failure in my opinion and something that i think i hope he i hope he

00:36:11.560 recognize and i hope the new leader quickly changes that you just cannot be having at the

00:36:15.640 opposition leader must oppose the government i was just going to say that the desperation that

00:36:20.300 canadians are feeling um who are conservative in nature or are thinking of shifting like

00:36:27.460 your friend nancy uh is because of that they feel they have nobody who stands up for them

00:36:33.240 and i like i said i see that at all levels of government they feel like people are so busy

00:36:38.860 politicians are so busy appealing to the woke media or to woke policies that you you feel like

00:36:46.040 you know your concerns are not being addressed and what has happened in canada with the whole

00:36:51.720 covid policy and the emergency measures act and all that kind of stuff nobody spoke up for you

00:36:58.380 and me and harrison yeah no very well said and i think we're going to have to talk later about the

00:37:03.320 convoy effect which is evidently near and dear to my heart but i think to a lot of canadians as well

00:37:07.720 But first, I have a very, very special guest.

00:37:11.260 The greatest Candice of the evening is not Candice Bergen, despite what they may tell you in Ottawa.

00:37:15.780 But it is our friend, colleague, and founder and editor-in-chief of True North, Candice Malcolm,

00:37:20.980 who has been very dutifully tending to her duties on maternity leave, but has come back and joined us tonight.

00:37:27.580 Candice, good to talk to you. Thanks for coming on tonight.

00:37:30.020 Well, it's my pleasure. I want to say the setup looks great.

00:37:33.280 I'm really enjoying the conversation that you guys are having.

00:37:36.040 I agree with Nancy that Sue Ann is 100% correct and everything you were talking about Harrison

00:37:42.540 as well. I haven't really been tuned in and thinking a lot about politics these days because

00:37:47.080 I have a three-week-old baby that I'm tending to but I have to say just watching you know the first

00:37:52.620 30 minutes of this broadcast here has gotten me really pumped up and so it's a pleasure to

00:37:57.320 to be here with you Andrew. Well glad to hear that. I just want to start before we get into

00:38:02.500 some of the politics. I mean, this has been a very significant week for the country and the world.

00:38:07.100 And we talked about this at the beginning with the passing of the Queen. And that actually does

00:38:11.840 tie into this leadership race, because I think there was a little bit of confusion about

00:38:15.740 what the proper protocol is and whether it even have this event tonight. And obviously,

00:38:20.620 the party did decide to go ahead with it, although they've apparently, I saw David Akin tweeted,

00:38:25.500 they had an $8,000 confetti contract, which they canceled. So we are getting no confetti tonight.

00:38:31.460 That's the solemn tribute to the Queen.

00:38:33.740 But I know this is something that, you know, is near and dear to your heart.

00:38:36.240 And I wanted to just ask you, in general, your thoughts and reflections on this week.

00:38:41.860 Well, certainly, I think it's a somber moment in world history and certainly in Canadian history, I have to say.

00:38:48.360 No one was really surprised to hear that Queen Elizabeth died.

00:38:51.860 She was very old, 96.

00:38:54.020 She didn't look her healthiest when we saw her just on Tuesday swearing in the new Prime Minister of Britain.

00:39:00.040 The fact that she did it from her Balmoral estate in Scotland rather than coming to Windsor Castle was, I think, quite telling.

00:39:07.540 But still, I think that losing someone of that caliber, I mean, she is the Queen of Canada.

00:39:12.680 She is the head of our state.

00:39:14.560 Her presence and her life is ubiquitous with our experiences as Canadian.

00:39:20.120 Every aspect of it, you know, new Canadians swear allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen and now they swear allegiance to the King.

00:39:27.620 So it's obviously a very important moment in our lives.

00:39:32.980 We've never known another monarch.

00:39:34.980 Queen Elizabeth, I think, was perhaps the most important living person, the most important

00:39:39.800 person in the world in our time.

00:39:41.240 And I know that a lot of our viewers might not feel strongly towards the monarchy.

00:39:45.780 I see the comments calling King Charles the WEF king.

00:39:51.080 And I think that there's something to that, the idea that he has been political and he

00:39:55.780 has put forth his his views on things which which is something that i don't i don't think that

00:40:00.180 canadians want i don't think that anybody wants that from a king that's not the role and again

00:40:04.340 it goes back to the importance of queen elizabeth and how incredible she was in that role again just

00:40:10.660 to say i think she was the most important public figure most important person of our time and

00:40:17.060 you know the idea that she has been a public figure andrew for 70 years she was she was crowned

00:40:21.700 King when she was 25 years old. You know, you think of a 25-year-old. I mean, she was a public

00:40:25.560 figure for much before that. I mean, her service started, I mean, that famous speech when she was

00:40:29.460 21. So she took that even before she ascended. You're right. You're right. And even when she

00:40:34.360 was 14, she gave a speech to the children of Britain at the time. And it's really incredible.

00:40:40.280 You know, you see people today sort of buckling under the pressure of public life. And you see

00:40:44.860 the way that Elizabeth lived her life focused on duty, focused on tradition, focused not on

00:40:50.840 politics and the things that divide us, but instead the things that unite us. And it made

00:40:55.640 me think, Andrew, do you remember a couple of years ago, Justin Trudeau, all he would ever say

00:40:59.660 was diversity is our strength, diversity is our strength. And it was just so annoying and loathsome

00:41:05.720 because it's not true, right? We're strong despite our differences, not because of them. Our

00:41:09.420 differences are not our strength. And you think of one of the most important things in the world

00:41:14.920 today. I mean, there's chaos all around us. There's huge crises, whether you're talking about

00:41:19.140 oil shortages or inflation or the way that governments are so far removed from their

00:41:24.640 people here in Canada. The elites are so out of touch and sometimes have disdain for the people,

00:41:30.460 the way that the people were treated during the COVID lockdowns. And you think what we really

00:41:34.400 need is unity. And I think that that is the role of the monarch is to unite people, not to divide

00:41:41.220 us, not to bring politics into things, but to be that sort of steadfast institution that connects

00:41:46.820 us to our past to our traditions uh remind us uh that that you know there's there there is a greater

00:41:52.100 purpose to all of this to government and i i love what i'm seeing now in the uk people are coming

00:41:57.220 together even just the images that we saw today of you know the brothers william and and harry

00:42:02.660 back together i don't think they've been together publicly uh for a very long time there's obviously

00:42:06.820 a rift there um so that unity and and that that's so much what the queen represented in and her

00:42:12.020 her legacy. I hope that Charles, King Charles, maintains that and leaves his politics out of

00:42:17.340 things. And I think it's fair for people to criticize Charles as the WF King because he's

00:42:22.380 been very public about his views on all kinds of things that the World Economic Forum love to push.

00:42:28.560 And I think that obviously the role of the monarch, you know, I don't know if any of us

00:42:34.200 would choose, if we could design a system from scratch, if we would choose a monarchy,

00:42:38.640 a constitutional monarchy. That's the system that we have. It's the system that we've inherited.

00:42:43.080 And I think that the most important thing is not to have division, but to be united around that.

00:42:49.820 And I will say, Andrew, I'm a little disappointed with the Conservative Party. I think,

00:42:53.060 you know, you look in the UK and they've cancelled their parliament, aside from speeches and tributes

00:42:57.540 to the Queen and the new King, no parliamentary business will happen for the next two weeks. And

00:43:03.220 it seems a little odd that the Conservative Party would choose to go forth with this leadership

00:43:07.960 race tonight. I know we've all been anticipating it and anxiously awaiting to learn who the winner

00:43:13.380 is. But at the same time, it seems a little odd to your point, you know, dropping confetti

00:43:19.060 and celebrating when it is a sober, somber moment in our country and in the world.

00:43:26.260 Yeah. And I mean, I would love to find out what conversations went on behind the scenes on the

00:43:32.220 leadership election organizing committee, perhaps, you know, conversations between them and Pierre

00:43:37.640 Polyev's campaign, I don't have any inside knowledge, but like, obviously, if you're

00:43:40.760 Pierre Polyev's campaign is the presumptive winner, you probably want your moment to come

00:43:45.040 out on stage and say, you know, here I am and set the tone for the race. And the challenge is the

00:43:50.620 news of Queen Elizabeth's death is not just a one day story. There's going to be a funeral on,

00:43:54.940 I think, the 19th, if memory serves. So, you know, there you couldn't even just bump it back a week

00:44:00.200 or two weeks necessarily. But you are right. I mean, the one thing that we should all be taking

00:44:05.300 away from this past week is that there are some things that exist above politics and that our core

00:44:10.120 identity as a country does not come from the Liberals or the Conservatives or the NDP or the

00:44:14.840 Bloc or the PPC or the Greens, but it comes from the Crown. There's a reason the Mace is in the

00:44:19.340 House of Commons. And, you know, a lot of this stuff just sounds like stupid, you know, mundane 0.99

00:44:23.720 and arcane tradition to people, but it is actually quite significant. And I think you're very right 0.88

00:44:28.540 to point out that this thing has been a constant in our lives. And the fact that we know the Queen

00:44:34.200 is there but are not confronted with her presence every day is, I think, exactly a testament to

00:44:39.420 her grace, quite frankly. And Prince William at the time, or sorry, Prince Charles at the time,

00:44:46.860 and now King Charles III, has said in the past in interviews that he won't be an activist when

00:44:51.100 he's the sovereign. But I don't know how easy it is to put the genie back in the bottle when

00:44:55.640 people do know what you say and people do know what you believe, even if you're not saying it

00:45:00.580 now well you're you're so right about the queen's grace and and right i mean he's 73 years old and

00:45:06.340 he's finally getting his first job which is sort of the joke that you see in in the comments but

00:45:11.700 we you know we know him as a public figure and so it's hard to ignore and erase that i'll just

00:45:16.180 mention i i love the uh poster that you have up over your shoulder there the old flag the old

00:45:20.420 policy the old leader and it it does you know connect us back to me queen elizabeth wasn't

00:45:27.300 just a figure of the british monarchy and a sort of relic of the past she's a representation of

00:45:33.940 western civilization she's she's the person that you uh look to when you when you look to the past

00:45:39.860 and some of the greatest moments in the empire and in canadian history as well i mean you have

00:45:44.580 to remember that when she became queen uh winston churchill was the prime minister and in in the uk

00:45:51.940 and that just brings us back again so look i i don't think the family is perfect i don't think

00:45:57.140 that uh you know i don't like the the sort of drama and the celebrity um that sort of overtakes

00:46:03.700 things that the thing i love about the queen and why i admire her so much was that she didn't bring

00:46:08.500 her personal life into things uh she didn't have these scandals and the drama that we saw uh with

00:46:14.020 charles and unfortunately that we see with his with his younger son harry uh however i think

00:46:19.300 that that's sort of the model of of public service and i think we could all learn a lot from her

00:46:24.180 from her commitment to duty again, tradition, grace, all those things that you mentioned.

00:46:29.460 Turning things back to the Conservative leadership race, I know you've been tending to, I think,

00:46:33.620 a much more important job than politics over the last few weeks, looking after your newborn,

00:46:38.020 and we all wish you very well on that. But what is it that you have been watching for either

00:46:42.900 tonight or in general in the race? What is it that you want to see and kind of want to

00:46:47.620 basically find out the answer to? Well, I think we're all just anxiously awaiting

00:46:52.580 who's going to be the new leader of this party, what direction it's going to go, and sort of

00:46:56.960 keeping our eye on the prize, which is that Canada is led by an absolute failure of a prime minister

00:47:04.080 and a government, a despicable leadership under the Liberals. They've completely destroyed our

00:47:09.060 economy. They've treated the Canadians with contempt. The way that Justin Trudeau behaved 1.00

00:47:15.560 earlier this year with regards to the trucker convoy, the way that he demonized the truckers,

00:47:21.220 the names that he called them, the way that he treated the unvaccinated before that is absolutely

00:47:25.720 despicable on becoming of a prime minister. And he needs to go right away, like as soon as possible.

00:47:31.420 So I think that as soon as this leadership contest is over, we can focus on the more

00:47:36.380 important task at hand, which is for conservatives to unite, to present a governing alternative to

00:47:45.540 Canadians to move forth with an election, preferably as soon as possible, and get rid of

00:47:50.980 this train wreck of a prime minister and a government. And the fact that there's, you know,

00:47:56.120 this coalition with the NDP just makes it all the more undemocratic and frankly despicable. I

00:48:03.520 haven't been following the news too, too closely, but I have been reading True North's emails and

00:48:08.340 seeing, for instance, when Rupa Supramanya, our rock star podcaster, broke that story about the

00:48:15.520 fact that there was no science whatsoever involved in some of the Trudeau government mandates. And

00:48:20.940 then seeing MPs, liberal elected officials, condemning her on social media and calling

00:48:26.860 it disinformation, you know, the same government that's trying to ban disinformation. I mean,

00:48:31.200 the whole thing is so scary, frankly. It's Aurelian. It's despicable. And the way that

00:48:38.320 they continue to behave day in, day out is unacceptable. And Canadians deserve so much 1.00

00:48:43.840 better. So, you know, I think that there's a couple of really strong candidates here.

00:48:47.600 I hope that it's a clean victory and we can move on with a new leader and, again, focus on restoring our country, fixing the economy, getting things back on track, you know, living up to the potential of Canada.

00:49:00.600 I've seen this country slide down so far in the past seven years. It's just, you know, Canadians are so much better. And I think that that's something that we should all, again, be focused on uniting around whoever the leader is and taking our country back, frankly.

00:49:19.420 You mentioned the True North email list, so that I think brings up a great point here.

00:49:24.840 When C11 comes in and Justin Trudeau flips the switch on True North, you'll always have the emails if you subscribe now.

00:49:30.480 So head on over to tnc.news and you can subscribe.

00:49:33.560 And I would also say, please, please, please, if you like the kind of content we're doing now, both here in the studio and in Ottawa,

00:49:39.880 and whether it was covering the convoy or covering the leadership debates or in general covering the news that matters to you, please do donate to True North.

00:49:47.960 We often talk about the problems with government subsidies, whether it's CBC or the $600 million media bailout.

00:49:54.740 You don't have a say in that, but you do have a say in supporting independent alternatives to those like True North.

00:50:00.080 So please, please, please do head over to donate.tncnews and make your contribution if you can.

00:50:07.200 And also share our content, too, because we need eyeballs on it here.

00:50:10.720 Candace, I know that your colleagues, as well as mine, Sue Ann and Harrison, haven't talked to you in a little while.

00:50:15.480 So I want to bring them into the discussion here. I'll start with you, Harrison.

00:50:19.280 Hi, Candice. One thing I wanted to get your thoughts on was how you feel Pierre Polyev has led his campaign as a frontrunner.

00:50:26.700 I think I've seen it. I saw a big shift in his strategy when after the Canada Strong and Free Network debate that you moderated,

00:50:34.560 we saw Pierre Polyev attack John Charest really hard and come out really strong.

00:50:40.380 And then, in my opinion, since then, he's shifted his focus more to Justin Trudeau and painting himself as the leader in waiting.

00:50:48.280 What is your thought on how he's led this campaign as a frontrunner?

00:50:52.640 Because that's not really the easiest position to be in.

00:50:55.180 Yeah, you're absolutely right.

00:50:56.120 Well, first of all, it's great to see you, Harrison.

00:50:57.880 I've enjoyed watching Ratio and Fake News Friday while I've been away.

00:51:02.640 And great to see you, too, Sue Ann.

00:51:05.380 Look, I think that Pierre is clearly the crowd favorite.

00:51:09.840 it. He's got the momentum. He's got the crowds. He's got the message. And, you know, you were

00:51:16.080 talking earlier about how in the last election, it was Aaron O'Toole's to lose. I think I see it

00:51:20.740 the same way with Pierre in this leadership. He was a front runner. And, you know, his strategy

00:51:26.000 had to be, you know, to set himself apart. And I think, again, conservatives are going to do

00:51:32.340 better when they are focused on taking down the liberals, not tearing each other apart, because

00:51:37.140 we've seen so many times that uh you know what you say during a leadership race can be used against

00:51:43.460 you in a general election and uh i i don't know if there's any clips from any of the debates or

00:51:50.500 any of the back and forths that that will take take us to the general election and we'll survive

00:51:55.560 for that but i think that i think pierre's running a good campaign obviously he's got he's got a lot

00:52:02.120 of support from the people, also from the sort of rank and file of the party. When I was at that

00:52:09.440 Canada Strong and Free debate, I spoke to so many people that I've known for a long time in the

00:52:13.600 conservative movement, people who are new to the party, new to the movement, who hadn't been

00:52:18.440 conservative party members before, but showed up because they believe in his message and they

00:52:23.420 feel excited and motivated by what he has to say. So I think that he just has deep levels of support.

00:52:30.660 But as far as his strategy, I mean, you could probably comment on it better than I can, Harrison, because you've probably been watching it a little closer.

00:52:37.400 But it seems to me like he's he's been doing doing things right.

00:52:41.340 What what's what's your take on it?

00:52:43.820 No, I think that it's clearly he wanted to come out from the very beginning and paint himself as the prime minister in waiting, saying he saying in his opening video that he was running for prime minister and not running for conservative leader.

00:52:56.060 And I think that's really something that he's tried to stick with, despite the fact that people expect him to attack John Charest and attack other candidates and the media is painting him as this attack dog.

00:53:06.580 I think he's done an excellent job at staying on message, not falling into the media's traps, and maintaining his position, I think, as the out-and-out frontrunner.

00:53:18.080 Have you guys opened that bottle of Maker's Marks? It looked like you have a nice bottle of bourbon there.

00:53:22.380 I mean, you remember, Candice, because you were the co-host alongside me when we had the infamous like 3 a.m. leadership results.

00:53:31.460 So we were like, oh, we didn't want to like burn through it and then still have like eight hours left to go.

00:53:35.760 So we'll get into the maker's mark. But go ahead, Sue Ann. Sorry.

00:53:39.140 Hi, Candice. I thought those videos that Pierre Paulyer did, the one with the wood and the other one in the restaurant when he talked about prices of eggs and toast going up.

00:53:51.140 I thought they were brilliant. I thought the one in the restaurant was really well done.

00:53:55.960 The question for you is, and we were talking about it, is do you think he can stick to his

00:54:00.060 message once he gets into a general election campaign? Do you think that he can stand up

00:54:05.180 to the media, the legacy media? We've seen it already. I mean, right from the, even during

00:54:10.880 the trucker convoy, when they were out there saying, you know, basically just maligning the

00:54:15.480 truckers. And he was, I think, one of the only politicians that I saw that was willing to push

00:54:21.220 back, to ask them what they're talking about, to say what you're saying isn't true. I see Pierre

00:54:27.940 as an authentic figure. I don't know him too well, but every time I've talked to him, he's said the

00:54:34.580 same thing regardless of the, you know, whether it was on the record or off the record, public or

00:54:40.840 private. And I think that he really believes in what he says. He's obviously very dedicated to

00:54:47.240 the country. You know, he spent his entire career in public service. So look, I think that it's the

00:54:55.840 art of politics is the art of what's possible. So the role of the conservative leader is to

00:55:01.200 sort of bridge that gap between the conservative base and what people like us want to see and what

00:55:07.280 we want to hear and appealing to the broader public and convincing Canadians that a conservative

00:55:13.420 government, a conservative worldview is what's needed to fix so many of the problems in this

00:55:18.080 country. I think the pendulum is swinging and I hope that he could be. I think he's the messenger.

00:55:23.380 I think he's incredibly articulate, passionate. I think that he has what it takes. So if he is

00:55:28.840 the leader, I think that the Conservative Party will be in really good shape to match up against

00:55:34.560 Justin Trudeau and again, hopefully steer our country back on track. And I think, you know,

00:55:40.760 to compare him to the last two leaders, if he is chosen leader tonight, I think compared to O'Toole

00:55:46.800 and Andrew Scheer, he seems to be someone who has the conviction and who, you know, has that ability

00:55:53.360 to really communicate a conservative message stronger than what we've seen. So, you know,

00:55:59.380 I would be excited if he's the leader, and I think he's done a great job so far.

00:56:05.140 One thing that I would raise as a concern about Pierre Paulyev is the relationship with independent media,

00:56:12.300 which, generally speaking, has been quite strong.

00:56:14.140 I mean, he's made time to come on my show, I think, twice in the leadership race, a number of times outside of it.

00:56:19.180 I know he's been on your show, Candice.

00:56:20.900 And generally speaking, I mean, his campaign has had a fairly good relationship with True North.

00:56:25.020 They've sent us a lot of their materials and whatnot.

00:56:27.380 But I also go back to when we were involved trying to host the independent press gallery leadership debate and Pierre Polyev said no to that. And ultimately that ended up triggering other withdrawals and we couldn't have it. Same with Western Standard. They were hosting a debate. Pierre Polyev's campaign said no. They ended up pulling the plug on it and eventually they revived it with a bit of a different format, which we know all too well in 2020 we had to do when Peter McKay did the same.

00:56:52.120 And so I honestly would put as a challenge to him or a desire that you keep up that relationship, because we know that the mainstream media is never going to be the conservative leader's friend, no matter what.

00:57:04.560 And we saw Aaron O'Toole spend a lot of time talking to independent media in the leadership, and then, you know, we couldn't find him anywhere afterwards.

00:57:12.700 Yeah, you're absolutely right. And I think that that's something that we should all be on the lookout and hold them accountable.

00:57:17.240 You know, I said the role of a conservative politician and leader is to bridge that gap between the conservative base and what we know is best for the country and the general public and what's palatable and what, you know, the art of what's possible.

00:57:28.520 I think the role of journalists and pundits and conservative activists is to hold the politicians accountable for what they said before.

00:57:37.780 Andrew, you've done a tremendous job of this over the years to make sure that what a conservative leader says during the leadership race to the conservative base matches what they say on the campaign trail.

00:57:48.220 And to try to create the space, right, to try to articulate conservatism more broadly so that it becomes more palatable for the politicians.

00:57:56.360 Because at the end of the day, politicians are going to do and say what they need to do to survive in their in their career and their path.

00:58:03.440 And that is to get elected. And, you know, they're not always going to say the most conservative thing, even if it's true and even if it's what's needed.

00:58:11.060 And so, again, it's our it's our job to sort of help help that pathway to make sure that that that that the policies that the conservative party think are possible in a general election match up to to our values.

00:58:24.200 And I think it's so important. That's why I'm so proud of True North. I love what what even you know, even right now, I'm not part of the sort of content. I'm here as a fan. I'm watching. I'm reading the emails, watching all your shows. And, you know, the thing that True North does is we popularize so many of the stories that wouldn't that wouldn't have gotten out otherwise.

00:58:43.940 I think that so much of the success of the Freedom Convoy and the shift that we saw with regards to COVID came from independent media, the fact that we were out there covering it, that we were telling Canadians the other side of the story.

00:58:55.060 I can't tell you how many people have reached out to me to say, you know, I'll never be able to look at CBC the same way or the Globe and Mail the same way because I saw the way that they maligned the truckers and I saw your coverage and it just couldn't be more different.

00:59:07.860 And, you know, I think that the fact that we're out there pushing that, providing Canadians with that alternative really does help a conservative leader because they have the ability to tell their story, not just in the frame of the legacy media who are going to lie about them.

00:59:23.720 You know, you guys do a great job with Fake News Friday, pointing it out week in, week out, all the ways that the media misrepresent and malign conservatives.

00:59:31.760 And again, it's such an important role for service for Canadians to see that.

00:59:37.260 And again, I think that we, you know, we really do help conservatives stay true to what they're saying.

00:59:44.580 So hopefully all that is just to say, hopefully we can we can encourage whoever the conservative leader is to stick with what they've said on the campaign trail here.

00:59:53.420 I've been told by our COO to let you know that there's lots of love for Canada's on Facebook and YouTube in the comments right now.

01:00:00.160 So you've got to look in between the WEF King Charles ones

01:00:03.760 to find that everyone's so thrilled to see you

01:00:05.600 and so thrilled you're doing well.

01:00:07.080 And they all send their very best to you as well.

01:00:09.340 And we're always happy to see you

01:00:11.240 and can't thank you enough for creating this platform

01:00:13.820 that we get to have this discussion on now.

01:00:16.240 But any final parting words, Candice?

01:00:18.640 Well, hopefully you guys don't have to do

01:00:20.060 another eight-hour broadcast like the last time

01:00:22.100 because there was around.

01:00:22.760 But if you do, I'll be up watching.

01:00:24.520 I'll be up with my newborn throughout the night as usual.

01:00:27.580 We'll be sending you the overtime timesheet as well.

01:00:30.160 Well, keep up the great work, guys. It's really a pleasure to join you. Thanks, Andrew, for hosting the show and holding up the ship while I've been away again. It's great to know that the True North platform's in such good hands, such capable hands. I'm so proud of the progress that we've made at True North. I think some of the best journalists in the country are on our platform. And, Andrew, thank you so much, truly, for all you do for us.

01:00:55.100 Oh, that's really kind of you, Candice.

01:00:56.560 Thank you so much for giving me an opportunity to do it.

01:00:59.300 So Candice Malcolm, we give her a send-off as well,

01:01:02.740 and she'll be back soon enough full-time on the True North platform as well.

01:01:06.300 But thank you very much.

01:01:07.480 And I will just say, if you're tuning in, we have lots coming up here.

01:01:11.040 We are about five minutes away from the official start

01:01:14.660 of the Conservative Party of Canada's program in Ottawa.

01:01:17.760 My colleagues Ellie Kenton-Nantel and Jasmine Moulton are in Ottawa right now,

01:01:22.320 and we'll have some content from them throughout the course of the evening.

01:01:25.680 I'm joined in the studio by Sue Ann Leaney and Harrison Faulkner

01:01:30.040 as we've been talking for just under an hour now.

01:01:33.500 And I want to just put in context here the discussion.

01:01:36.500 We have five candidates in the race, Scott Aitchison, Roman Babber,

01:01:40.540 Jean Charest, Lesley Lewis, and Pierre Paulyev.

01:01:43.560 And undeniably, there has been a Paulyev tone to this.

01:01:47.520 And I've always thought it's a little bit awkward

01:01:49.760 when anchors pretend that reality isn't actually reality

01:01:53.940 and start talking about,

01:01:55.000 oh, well, you know, there's a chance

01:01:56.760 that Patrick Brown might pull this out tonight.

01:01:59.000 No, he's not going to win

01:02:00.240 and we don't have to pretend he will.

01:02:01.960 But I do think also we need to talk about

01:02:04.580 exactly why we have talked about this,

01:02:07.440 generally speaking,

01:02:08.380 as though Pierre Polyev is the front runner.

01:02:10.400 And I do want to talk about some fundraising numbers here

01:02:12.820 that were compiled by Eric Grenier,

01:02:14.840 who I believe is with CBC.

01:02:16.820 These are the first and second interim reports

01:02:19.680 for Leadership Fundraising posted by Elections Canada.

01:02:23.340 Polly Eve has raised $6.7 million.

01:02:26.920 Jean Charest has raised $2.7 million.

01:02:30.060 Lesley Lewis has raised $1.5 million.

01:02:33.160 Roman Babber, $647,000.

01:02:36.120 And Scott Aitchison, $549,000.

01:02:39.400 And if I'm not mistaken, someone on our show,

01:02:42.320 I believe the buy-in was $300,000, was it not?

01:02:45.180 I think so. I'm not totally sure.

01:02:47.000 I think it was like with a compliance deposit, $300,000, you get $100,000 of that back, if I'm not mistaken.

01:02:53.580 So that means, I mean, for Scott Aitchison and Roman Babber, half of their expenditures or half of their fundraising has gone to just paying the Conservative Party of Canada.

01:03:02.720 But Pierre Polyev, you know, almost $7 million, Jean Charest, almost $3 million.

01:03:06.880 Like, that's a pretty big disparity.

01:03:09.100 And again, money is not votes.

01:03:10.900 There is a difference there.

01:03:11.920 But this is why I think a lot of us have said Pierre Polyev is, in fact, a frontrunner in this.

01:03:17.720 And if you look at the membership numbers here, the Conservatives have more members than they've ever had in the history of the party.

01:03:24.240 You know, I love John A. Macdonald behind me, but he didn't have 670,000 Conservative members. 0.97

01:03:29.560 And of those, the majority have been claimed by the Polyev campaign.

01:03:33.480 So it does look like Pierre Polyev is going to win tonight.

01:03:36.380 However, that doesn't mean that there aren't surprises that we could see, notably involving how many people he gets or how many votes he gets, where he gets the votes, how many points he gets on the first ballot, the second ballot.

01:03:49.640 And also, I think generally speaking, I would also say where the other candidates lie, because Scott Acheson is a Conservative Member of Parliament.

01:03:57.480 Roman Babber may run for Member of Parliament.

01:04:00.980 Lesley Lewis is a Conservative Member of Parliament.

01:04:03.100 So all of these people are going to in some way have to work with each other with, to go back to your point, Sue Ann, the exception of Jean Charest, who hasn't said whether he is going to run again or whether he's going to run.

01:04:13.980 Yeah. And that would be a true commitment to the party. But I think he's sort of like a drive by candidate.

01:04:22.000 You know, let's see what happens. And if I don't win, bye bye. Go back to Hawaii or whatever he's done.

01:04:28.780 yeah i mean i think there's there's a lot of stories you can look at from the rest of the

01:04:33.500 candidates i think it's notable in my opinion and it hasn't gotten a lot of attention that there was

01:04:37.720 this push from the liberal media and even some figures in conservative establishment to have

01:04:42.680 leslie lewis disqualified from the race a few weeks ago uh because of comments she made i thought that

01:04:47.860 was interesting i think the big big takeaway from from my perspective has been the performance of

01:04:52.740 roman babber in this campaign yes if you look at any of our any of our content on the election or

01:04:57.260 are live shows i know there are comments coming in right now talking about roman babber people

01:05:01.900 saying that they support roman they think that he's run a great campaign and i think that speaks

01:05:05.660 to the fact that he's been able to thread the needle between two sides of the conservative

01:05:10.080 party he was he's been the only leadership candidate that was 100 from the very beginning

01:05:15.920 a voice for freedom a voice against lockdowns pierre pauliev can't say that as much as i'm sure

01:05:21.220 he liked to roman bat and leslie lewis can't say that either roman babber has been there from the

01:05:25.220 beginning he's a true he's truly committed to this sort of anti-lockdown position in this pro-freedom

01:05:31.200 side but at the same time you'll you won't see roman babber venture too far over to the right

01:05:36.220 he's really tried to thread the needle and i think there's something to be said about that and

01:05:39.800 my takeaway has been that he entered this race for his political survival he really had one

01:05:45.040 opportunity to boost his profile uh and this was the leadership race i don't think he was in it to

01:05:49.980 win it but i think he's been in it to maintain his position in the conservative space and he

01:05:54.020 certainly achieved that i think tonight that that to me is is a guarantee uh we will see roman

01:05:59.300 babber in ottawa as an mp uh and we weren't going to see him under doug ford again as an mp no you

01:06:04.820 know that was out of the out of the question oh yeah he was kicked out of caucus exactly for

01:06:09.020 taking a stand on the lockdowns when a lot of uh pc mpps in ontario uh and i mean sue ann and i you

01:06:15.260 and i are both former pc candidates so we know all too well the challenges of ontario politics but

01:06:19.500 But PCMPPs generally just shut up and fell in line.

01:06:22.580 Yeah, he had no choice, in my opinion.

01:06:24.440 If he wanted to maintain his space in the conservative movement for himself,

01:06:29.020 he had to run in this race, and he had to boost his profile, and he's done that.

01:06:32.120 So whatever result happens, I think Roman Babber has succeeded in his main objective.

01:06:38.100 You know what? I have a lot of time for Roman Babber.

01:06:40.680 I mean, I've been in touch with him through—

01:06:43.400 I was in touch with him when I was a columnist for The Sun

01:06:46.420 because of his covid policies and some of the things that were going on with masking no masking

01:06:52.360 vaccines and he stood up against some of the crazy policies and i mean you talk about sticking to

01:07:01.740 your principles he did he's not going to win tonight because he's just not well known enough

01:07:08.940 but um on social media and my contacts on social media i think there's a a general feeling of

01:07:16.100 huge respect for him for what he's done and for his leadership in, you know, fighting some of

01:07:23.960 these COVID policies and not being a politician who is an absolute sheep. Yeah, and I think you

01:07:30.560 are right about that. I mean, I had a lot of, I don't want to say a lot. I mean, he didn't occupy

01:07:35.300 a huge amount of my headspace, but I had qualms with Roman Babber early on when he was elected,

01:07:40.960 because he really just seemed to be a fairly moderate person. And that's not typically the

01:07:44.920 type of candidate I'm drawn to. But when push came to shove, he took a stand and at tremendous

01:07:49.760 personal sacrifice. I mean, he became a one term MPP when he stood up and he spoke out in the way

01:07:56.140 that he did. So we're going to talk a lot about all of these things here. I'm just getting an

01:08:01.180 update. The room is still filling up. The program was officially going to start at 6 p.m., but it

01:08:06.920 sounds like they're a little bit delayed, only at 60 percent full. So we will have to do a little

01:08:11.780 bit of talking on our end, but first I'm going to throw to an interview my colleague Elie

01:08:16.760 Quentin Nantel in Ottawa did with Conservative MP Pierre-Paul Hu.

01:08:27.960 It's been a very long leadership race. Today's finally the day where we're going to find out

01:08:31.640 who the next leader is. How are you feeling and do you think this is a good day overall

01:08:35.300 for the Conservative movement? Oh yes, it is. It's a very great day today and especially with

01:08:40.360 the weather we have today but you know it's a time to have a new leader because we need to be

01:08:46.020 ready to fight Justin Trudeau and it's what we need to do as soon as possible it's why today

01:08:50.880 it's a great day I'm supporting Pierre Pellievre so I hope Pierre will win tonight and then the

01:08:56.720 next Monday will be ready. If I may ask a lot of your Quebec colleagues have endorsed Jean Charest

01:09:01.620 the former Premier of the province so why did you decide to kind of do differently from most

01:09:06.620 of your colleagues and support Pierre Pellievre?

01:09:08.940 I think first of all, it's because Mr. Charest in Quebec is well known, former Premier, you

01:09:14.020 know, and a lot of my colleagues worked with him years ago, so it's a personal connection

01:09:20.700 with him first.

01:09:21.700 It's why I think they support him, but actually what I expect is that my colleagues to join

01:09:27.860 me with Pierre Pellievre and to stay in the team and to be ready for the next election.

01:09:34.180 didn't do well in quebec in both 2019 and 2021 despite that you know when i go there i find a

01:09:39.300 lot of people are conservative in in nature what do you think the party has to do differently to

01:09:43.060 gain seats in the quebec region and in both and other places where they didn't do as well as they

01:09:47.700 did in 2015. that's true i told you guys a lot of people who are comes up but it takes time

01:09:55.460 Sometimes we don't understand where we are exactly and it's why a lot of them vote for the vote.

01:10:01.460 Good evening, can you please take your seats?

01:10:03.460 They are not just separatists, they just have a place to put their vote.

01:10:08.460 So it's why next election we must talk maybe differently to people in Quebec

01:10:13.460 and let them know that we are strong conservative like they are

01:10:16.460 and they can choose us and vote for us.

01:10:19.460 Because actually we have ten seats and we want to expand this.

01:10:23.460 As I understand it, the official program is commencing now, so we go live to the Shaw Centre in Ottawa for the beginning of the Conservative leadership results.

01:10:53.460 Thank you.

01:11:03.720 To honor the memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, please join us all in a moment of silence.

01:11:11.420 Pour honorer Sa Majesté la Reine Elisabeth II, veuillez vous joindre à nous pour un moment de silence.

01:11:23.460 Thank you.

01:11:53.460 Thank you.

01:12:23.460 Thank you.

01:12:52.500 Please remain standing, and I would like to invite Rosemary Siemens and Eli Bennett.

01:12:59.560 They've been playing music for us earlier.

01:13:01.960 They are going to do an instrumental rendition of God Save the King.

01:13:07.900 Veuillez vous lever si possible pour une version instrumentale de l'hymne royal Dieu protège le roi par Rosemary Siemens et Eli Bennett.

01:13:22.500 Thank you.

01:13:52.500 Thank you.

01:14:22.500 Amen.

01:14:52.500 Thank you.

01:15:22.500 Thank you.

01:15:52.500 Thank you.

01:16:22.500 Thank you.

01:16:52.500 what a royal send-off to Her Majesty that was fantastic the Queen was named

01:17:11.160 Queen on February 6 1952 I was born July 1st 1952 and so I've been thrilled that

01:17:18.780 we've celebrated all our special anniversaries together. And I was so sad to hear the news,

01:17:24.360 but what a wonderful, wonderful Queen she has been to us. Please remain standing and

01:17:29.300 join our former member of Parliament and the CPC Leadership Election Organizing Committee

01:17:36.060 that Valerie and I both sat on, a LEOC member, former MP Nellie Shin, for the singing of

01:17:42.100 of all Canada.

01:17:43.100 Nellie Sheen, a deputy from 2019 to 2021, and a member of the committee of the

01:17:51.100 of the Chief to interpret our national hymn.

01:18:21.100 Oh, Canada, our home and native land,

01:18:39.100 True patron love in all of us command,

01:18:49.100 Christ, God can lead us forever for God!

01:19:11.540 God keep our land glorious and free, O Canada we stand on guard for thee, O Canada we stand

01:19:36.860 We stand on guard for thee, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee, for thee.

01:20:06.860 Merci Nelly, c'était magnifique.

01:20:18.800 She wouldn't tell you this, but Nelly played the music in the background for her to sing,

01:20:23.700 so another hand for Nelly.

01:20:25.420 Yeah.

01:20:26.420 Wonderful.

01:20:33.420 Good evening, fellow Conservatives and good evening, fellow Canadians.

01:20:37.220 Bonjour, chers amis.

01:20:43.720 This is a great day and it's been a busy time.

01:20:46.120 Yes, please be seated.

01:20:49.820 On behalf of our Conservative family, we also offer our heartfelt thoughts

01:20:54.820 and prayers to the victims and their families of last weekend's horrific events.

01:21:00.720 want to let people of Saskatchewan know that we are thinking about you we thank

01:21:06.840 you so much we also wish to acknowledge that we are gathered here in Ottawa

01:21:15.300 built on unceded Ashinaabe Algonquin territory thank you we're pleased to be

01:21:21.360 joined by our party's vice president and the vice chair of Leoc Valerie Asseline

01:21:25.860 my fellow co-chair, and our members – yes, yes, let's give her a hat.

01:21:31.860 Valerie, we serve together on REARC, and our members present here, many of you, and

01:21:38.860 lots more looking in from across the country, excited to meet our new leader tonight.

01:21:44.860 Good evening, dear friends.

01:21:46.860 I am happy to share this evening with you, Deb, and I am happy to be with you here in

01:21:53.860 and throughout Canada. Thank you. I also want to offer my knowledge to the victims,

01:22:00.860 their families, to the people of the Sashkatsumwan and Canada who also have a broken heart.

01:22:06.860 We are all with you. To offer us an indigenous blessing, let's welcome Leonard Hodgik.

01:22:14.860 A retired administrator and an Algonquin elder from Kitigan-Zibi, about an hour north of

01:22:27.860 Ottawa here, our guest was appointed by the Government of Canada as a director of the

01:22:33.580 First Nations Financial Management Board, and he's part of many other Aboriginal organizations.

01:22:40.860 Please welcome with us Elder Leonard Ojeek.

01:22:57.240 Ladies and gentlemen, Aboriginal people at our attendance,

01:23:04.720 Bonjour à tout le monde, mes amis Franc-Jafon.

01:23:08.540 Good evening to everyone.

01:23:11.040 Already being introduced, it's an honour for me

01:23:14.460 because I'm a proud Canadian Aboriginal person.

01:23:19.040 It's an honour for me to be the first...

01:23:20.560 Thank you.

01:23:28.420 It's an honour for me to be the first to be asked by the Conservative Party of Canada

01:23:34.060 to come and welcome you to the Aboriginal Algonquin traditional unceded territories.

01:23:42.560 This land that we are on, this Pacific land, is like the Algonquin capital to us.

01:23:52.320 My ancestors would come down from the trap lines in early spring from all over our land

01:23:59.420 and come and meet at this very spot we had two very important things to get

01:24:08.780 done one was the fertile ground to grow our crops that we needed to survive the

01:24:15.260 harsh winters ahead but more important we held government as you all government

01:24:24.040 we dealt with a lot of people ask well what did your government deal with you 0.98

01:24:31.220 were aboriginal savages like we dealt with trade negotiations elections 0.98

01:24:40.480 justice environment our trap lines had to be well taken care of because if we

01:24:48.320 didn't take care of the environment we would not survive. I could talk on and

01:24:55.400 on but I'm sort of limited on time and I really appreciate being offered the

01:25:01.340 time to be with you. It's a truly honor for me and I hope that we continue in the

01:25:08.540 future to include Aboriginal people to participate in your gatherings. With that

01:25:16.040 For that, I pray. I pray for the simple things in life, water, the air that we breathe, we take for granted.

01:25:29.040 I also pray and thank the Creator for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people that we are able and given the pleasure and the privilege to live in the greatest country in the world.

01:25:46.040 I also ask the creator to give as much support as the new members can to your new elected

01:26:04.000 leader and your new party.

01:26:05.960 Not new party, but your party.

01:26:08.860 I believe that in unity, there is strength, and we need a strong Conservative Party.

01:26:26.860 Just a couple of words quickly made for the Francophone population.

01:26:31.860 I would like not to repeat everything I said, but I would like to say that we are lucky to live in the most beautiful country in the world,

01:26:39.860 and also that we have a privilege. It's a privilege that we can't take for a key.

01:26:46.860 Thank you.

01:27:01.860 Thank you so much, Mr. Ojek, for those moving words and an offering to you to say thank you.

01:27:08.220 Thank you very much.

01:27:09.080 Thank you.

01:27:09.460 Thank you very much.

01:27:10.340 Thank you.

01:27:11.160 Merci.

01:27:16.640 Well, our next speaker is known to Conservatives right across Canada.

01:27:21.480 She's a former Minister of Health and the Environment,

01:27:24.760 Member of Parliament for Nunavut.

01:27:26.940 You know who that is.

01:27:28.200 She currently represents Nunavut on National Council, and we have had the pleasure of working

01:27:35.480 with her on LIOC as well.

01:27:37.760 Please join me in welcoming the Honourable Leona Agloukak, our friend and colleague.

01:27:46.440 .

01:28:04.440 Her late majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, has passed.

01:28:11.300 We wish to pay homage to her devoted dedication and

01:28:16.340 service throughout her life to the people of Canada,

01:28:20.980 the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, and the rest

01:28:25.040 of the world.

01:28:27.240 Her late majesty leaves behind an incredible

01:28:31.080 legacy which will stand the test of time as well

01:28:36.300 our late majesty's comforting words in

01:28:39.820 and difficult moments throughout the history of her reign.

01:28:44.020 The Queen's clear love and affection

01:28:47.420 for the women and men of Canadian Armed Forces

01:28:51.400 was always during her numerous visits to Canada

01:28:55.840 including four times to the Canadian Arctic.

01:29:00.000 Along with her patronage of so many military,

01:29:03.840 civic and charitable organizations

01:29:06.640 across our great country

01:29:09.820 which her late majesty considered her second home.

01:29:14.720 Simply put, her late majesty loved Canada

01:29:18.700 and Canadians loved her back.

01:29:22.660 Although the Queen stood above politics,

01:29:27.200 her late majesty supported the democratic process

01:29:30.900 throughout her life.

01:29:34.080 She and her representatives opened parliaments

01:29:37.220 and provincial legislatures.

01:29:39.820 Together, she and her representatives gave royal

01:29:43.960 assents to our legislation.

01:29:46.620 Her advice and her wisdom was sought by many

01:29:51.560 prime ministers.

01:29:54.160 Given her late majesty's steadfast support for

01:29:58.480 democracy everywhere, we are confident that in that

01:30:02.880 spirit, we can proceed with our announcement

01:30:06.980 We will now proceed with our announcement

01:30:09.940 tonight.

01:30:20.260 To elect a new leader who will become the

01:30:23.400 leader of his majesty's loyal opposition in a

01:30:26.660 week's time.

01:30:28.440 When Parliament reconvenes to recognize

01:30:31.280 her late majesty's passing and her

01:30:33.840 succession accord,

01:30:36.340 according to law.

01:30:38.380 We pledge to continue to

01:30:41.380 support her late majesty and her

01:30:43.980 family in this period of

01:30:45.840 mourning and offer our most

01:30:47.680 sincere condolences to her

01:30:49.460 family and loved ones.

01:30:51.260 May she rest in peace.

01:30:52.620 .

01:30:55.660 .

01:31:00.200 .

01:31:02.960 .

01:31:04.060 .

01:31:05.040 Thank you, Léonard, for your beautiful words.

01:31:10.040 His Majesty, Elizabeth II, has left us.

01:31:14.040 We wish to give her homage to her joy and to her remarkable service

01:31:19.040 throughout her life to the people of Canada,

01:31:22.040 the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and the rest of the world.

01:31:26.040 His Majesty gives us an incredible heritage

01:31:29.040 which will remain in our collective memory

01:31:32.040 not only for her joy and service, but also as an extraordinary example for all women

01:31:39.040 of the world, as well as her comforting words during difficult times during her reign.

01:31:45.040 We offer our sincere congratulations to her family and her friends that she rests in peace.

01:31:57.040 Thank you Leona and thank you Valerie for those beautiful words.

01:32:01.040 King Charles III was formally proclaimed as our king this very moment, this morning.

01:32:08.440 Please help us congratulate and celebrate His Majesty King Charles III.

01:32:24.140 Forgive me, I, like probably every one of you, are going to take a while to get used to that.

01:32:28.720 God saved the king.

01:32:30.060 And now on this historic day in so many ways, we're here together to announce and celebrate our new leader and thank our past leaders.

01:32:40.180 As we all know, and we need to tell the rest of the country, that there's more that unites us than divides us as a party.

01:32:52.340 Absolutely.

01:32:52.820 me we all want the same thing a strong and prosperous Canada and a party that

01:33:05.360 will keep its promises

01:33:13.860 how about a campaign platform they can believe it in trust not the one that

01:33:18.320 belongs in the fiction section of the local library like past liberal red

01:33:23.240 books I have some experience with some of those liberal red books if you could

01:33:28.380 remember that far back on this conservative team folks it doesn't matter

01:33:32.960 what position you play whether you play left-wing center ice or right wing we

01:33:39.940 We are all on the same team, and we have one opponent only.

01:34:09.940 I said we have one only opponent and you know who it is, it's the unholy alliance of Justin

01:34:16.440 Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh.

01:34:21.960 You know, Chrystia may have the pearls and hold the purse strings, but make no mistake, 0.76

01:34:27.260 Jagmeet has the power.

01:34:29.940 He's Deputy Prime Minister and now he's saying that he might just have to pull the plug on

01:34:34.880 the whole deal.

01:34:35.880 Well, you wonder about it.

01:34:38.660 You wonder who's Chicken and Chicken Little in this sweet deal, don't you then?

01:34:42.800 They're scared to call an election, but we can't wait.

01:34:45.880 The sooner the better.

01:34:58.060 You are not surprised to know that being a politician isn't easy at the best of times.

01:35:03.460 Trust me.

01:35:04.460 Been there.

01:35:05.460 I know that, and I thought about it the other day when I was on a long plane ride to Ottawa.

01:35:09.340 I thought, I remember what this feels like.

01:35:11.660 I've been there.

01:35:12.780 It is a rewarding job, though, and we are so thankful for people that step forward to take those jobs.

01:35:18.300 But it's tough.

01:35:19.440 It's hard on family.

01:35:20.920 It's hard on loved ones.

01:35:22.060 Just today, my husband Lou phoned me right before I left the hotel and said,

01:35:26.780 Deb, he was on his way to see his mom, and a big, huge deer just jumped out, just smacked our car.

01:35:32.320 I'm so glad he's okay, but boy did I feel a long way away. I wanted to be there to hug him

01:35:37.740 And I bet he wanted me to be there to hug him back our cars in Manitoba right now

01:35:42.120 We've been on a road trip and we have to drive it. He thinks he could tape it together for us to drive home to

01:35:48.080 Vancouver Island. Yeah, watch for that. Okay, it's coming soon

01:35:51.580 I'm sure it'll be on the national news

01:35:53.420 But we are so grateful those of us in elected life to have people that stand beside us and support us

01:35:59.440 And I want to say thank you to all those people who support members of Parliament

01:36:12.200 Before her election just last year as member of Parliament for Hastings, Lennox and Addington in Eastern Ontario

01:36:19.200 Shelby Kramp-Nyman worked as an educator a small business person and a municipal councillor

01:36:25.220 Oh, plus, she's a wife and a mother of two daughters.

01:36:55.220 Rick Perkins is another Member of Parliament, the Conservative Caucus, and just got elected in the Class of 2021.

01:37:02.220 Elected just last year as Member of Parliament for South Shore, St. Margaret's, and Nova Scotia,

01:37:08.220 Rick made national news by defeating one Adjusted Cabinet members.

01:37:19.220 Having defeated Trudeau's Fisheries Minister, Rick was appointed Conservative Shadow Minister

01:37:24.220 of fisheries, oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard.

01:37:28.220 Rick a rencontré son épouse Wendy

01:37:30.220 alors qu'il travaillait tous les deux sur la colline parlementaire

01:37:33.220 dans les années 80 pour le gouvernement de Brian Maroney

01:37:37.220 et a par la suite été cadre supérieur d'entreprise.

01:37:40.220 So please join us now in welcoming the member of Parliament

01:37:44.220 for Hastings, Lennox and Addington, Shelby Cramp-Nyman.

01:37:48.220 Et le député de South Shore, St Margaret, Rick Perkins.

01:37:54.220 Thank you Deb and Valerie Merci. Rick and I are so proud to be here with you

01:38:08.180 this evening to say thank you to Aaron O'Toole for his dedication to our party

01:38:13.000 and his tireless work as our leader. We also want to thank Rebecca, Molly and

01:38:19.480 Jack for supporting Aaron during his tenure as leader. While politics can be taxing on politicians,

01:38:26.680 we must never forget the sacrifices that our families and loved ones make allowing us to

01:38:32.840 serve this great country. As was said in our introduction,

01:38:36.760 Shelby and I are two of the 21 new MPs elected last year under Aaron's leadership.

01:38:42.360 It's been quite a year.

01:38:49.000 No matter how many years we each serve our respective constituents in the House of Commons,

01:38:54.640 it will be hard to forget our first victory and the critical role Aaron as leader played

01:39:00.360 in our first election.

01:39:02.360 Pour nous, le leadership d'Aaron a été un parti important de nos victoires.

01:39:11.560 Erin has consecrated a large part of her adult life to serve Canada.

01:39:16.320 First as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces for 12 years, then as a deputy, he represents

01:39:23.560 his hometown of Durham at the Chambre des Communes since 2012.

01:39:28.320 Today, Erin always works so hard to make Canada the best pay possible.

01:39:36.560 Serving as fellow Canadians has always been important, Darren,

01:39:47.760 as he co-founded, after his military service, the True Patriot Love Foundation,

01:39:54.080 the largest Canadian charity dedicated to serving veterans and military families across Canada.

01:40:06.560 erin was able to continue helping veterans when prime minister stephen harper asked him to serve

01:40:12.480 as minister of veterans affairs and use his network and his experience to turn around the department

01:40:20.640 erin continue oh go ahead

01:40:23.040 Eric and I would like to thank Erin, Rebecca, Molly and Jack for their dedication to our

01:40:49.360 movement. The O'Toole's have shown tremendous passion for the future of this

01:40:54.040 party and the potential of what Canada can aspire to become both here and abroad.

01:40:59.920 I echo Shelby's comments and would like to give a special Nova Scotia shout out

01:41:05.920 to my fellow Nova Scotian, Rebecca, for her support through Erin's public life.

01:41:11.800 And to our adopted Nova Scotian, Erin, who bravely rescued those in trouble on

01:41:18.340 the sea, all over my riding, and Nova Scotia during his time in the Air Force. Yours is

01:41:25.100 a life of service to Canada, in the military, in Parliament, and as leader of our party.

01:41:32.100 Au nom de notre caucus parti, et de tous les Canadiens et toutes les Canadiens, je vous

01:41:40.660 remercie Erin, Rebecca, Molly et Jacques pour tout.

01:41:48.340 Ladies and gentlemen, please turn your attention to our screens for a word from Aaron via video.

01:42:02.000 Thank you, Shelby and Rick, for your kind words.

01:42:04.920 You're both outstanding members of Parliament and great friends.

01:42:08.720 My fellow Conservatives and those Canadians watching tonight,

01:42:11.800 I would like to thank you for your recognition this evening

01:42:14.740 and for the distinct privilege I had being leader of Her Majesty's loyal opposition.

01:42:20.620 The sudden passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has hit our family hard,

01:42:25.720 like it has millions around the world.

01:42:28.200 Her service above self is an inspiration to us all,

01:42:32.040 and I hope her family and our friends in the United Kingdom find solace in that.

01:42:37.240 I want to begin by tonight repeating what I said in my final speech as leader.

01:42:42.980 Being elected to represent my community in Parliament and becoming leader of the Conservative

01:42:47.540 Party has been the honour of a lifetime. For a kid from Bowmanville raised to value service,

01:42:53.620 to get the chance to serve his country during a challenging time has been a true blessing.

01:42:59.060 For too short a time, I had the privilege of leading the Party of Confederation,

01:43:03.620 a party of important policies, of relentless progress and of steadfast principle. A party

01:43:09.780 that throughout our history has helped forge the incredible country we cherish today i want to

01:43:15.940 thank canadians from coast to coast to coast for the unique privilege of being invited into their

01:43:21.620 lives whether it was thanking veterans for their service in a coffee shop in doke town new brunswick

01:43:28.020 or learning about compassionate addiction treatment at the last door recovery center in

01:43:33.140 in New Westminster, B.C., or serving meals to the hungry alongside tireless volunteers

01:43:39.640 at a Sikh goudwara in Brampton, Ontario.

01:43:42.740 My love for this country has deepened the more I saw its citizens in action.

01:43:47.800 I am inspired by the true patriot love of Canadians who work hard, provide for their

01:43:52.780 family and help their neighbour.

01:43:55.700 Their quiet confidence is the source of our country's true greatness.

01:44:00.260 It was for me an honor to direct the Conservative Party of Canada and to meet Canadians and Canadians from all over the country, from east to west, from fishing on the Fjord of Saguenay, and to say that I had the best plan.

01:44:18.260 It was a privilege to meet so many Québécois and Canadiens francophones who spoke to me about their concern.

01:44:27.260 I want to thank the millions of Canadians who have demonstrated their confidence in me and our plan for the country.

01:44:36.260 My friends, the Conservative Party needs to be united behind our next leader because our country needs unity more than ever before.

01:44:45.260 The Conservative Party needs to be compassionate because Canadians need to be heard and need to be understood more than ever before.

01:44:54.820 And the Conservative Party needs to be strong, not with the strength to overpower our rivals,

01:45:00.980 but with the strength of character needed to carry those in need or those who are losing

01:45:06.500 faith in our country. Conservatives must put the unity of our country first,

01:45:11.780 because the fabric of our federation has been stretched thin over the last few years.

01:45:16.740 loss, fear, uncertainty. The pandemic came to our shores three years ago as a health crisis

01:45:24.720 but has transformed into a political crisis. Dislocation and frustrations are eroding trust,

01:45:32.340 weakening our institutions and harming our democracy. Social media makes it easier than

01:45:38.420 ever before for millions of people to hear you speak but harder than ever to convince others

01:45:44.120 to listen. A strong, compassionate and united Conservative Party can ensure that all voices

01:45:50.900 are heard and begin the process of stitching the country back together.

01:45:56.000 We need a unified Conservative Party that will give priority to the future of our country.

01:46:04.240 We must protect divisions in this country and we must have unity and not division.

01:46:12.240 Canadians in Quebec and everywhere in the country

01:46:15.040 need a strong, professional, conservative team and united.

01:46:20.840 So it is up to our party to always put the country first.

01:46:24.840 From every grassroots member of our party

01:46:27.740 to every elected member of parliament,

01:46:30.340 we must put the unity of Canada first.

01:46:33.640 Because then, we can show Canadians

01:46:36.440 that with unity, there is prosperity.

01:46:39.140 For the small business owner in Nova Scotia,

01:46:41.540 the oil patch worker in Alberta. With unity there is dignity for the family who just arrived on our

01:46:48.660 shores or an Indigenous family on the path to reconciliation. With unity there is also hope

01:46:55.940 for the nurse returning to the hospital front lines or for the recent graduate heading out

01:47:01.220 into the workforce. And we can show Canadians that with unity there is greatness from the brave

01:47:08.500 exploits of those in uniform to the unsung heroism of the local food bank volunteer we are a great

01:47:15.940 country and we should never be scared to shout that from the rooftops and to my conservative

01:47:21.940 friends remember where there is unity there is always victory so let's show canadians a united

01:47:29.700 strong and compassionate conservative party i wish the next leader fair winds and following seas

01:47:37.380 as they take the helm. Merci beaucoup. Thank you very much.

01:47:51.380 Thank you.

01:48:08.020 Please welcome another LIOC member and a candidate for our party in Manitoba during the last

01:48:12.940 election and the founding president of the Manitoba chapter of the Association of Black

01:48:19.140 不知道. Shola Akbula for a special announcement. Shola.

01:48:24.060 J drake Mc Привет.

01:48:25.120 LORENZ O' Can welcome our colleague from the Director of the Elbow Committee of

01:48:28.280 the election. And an former candidate from the Manitoba

01:48:31.660 during the last election, Shola Akbula for a special announcement.

01:48:49.140 As a candidate for our great party in Manitoba during the last federal election under the leadership of Erin O'Toole and as a founding president of the Manitoba chapter of the Association of Black Conservatives in Canada,

01:49:13.720 Now, I can say without any equivocation, any ambiguity or any doubt that Conservatives

01:49:23.720 need to be and we must be united to win the next election.

01:49:38.660 are looking for us to present a credible, progressive, and good plan for Canada to reach

01:49:50.500 our full potential.

01:49:57.180 They know, Canadians know, that Canada can be, can do, and must be better than this.

01:50:05.940 Together, as United Conservatives, we are the credible alternative that this great country needs.

01:50:21.800 And Erin, you've served our country and you've served the party diligently and you continue to do so.

01:50:31.520 your passion for our party to exerce and motivate many, like myself, to get involved and do our part to make this country greater for all.

01:50:45.740 Our Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, was dedicated to helping others through our various charities,

01:51:04.180 to order a commitment to charitable causes, and to thank Aaron O'Toole and his family

01:51:10.740 for their service and dedication to our party, both before, during, and after Erin's time as a leader.

01:51:21.220 It is my honor to announce tonight that the Conservative Party of Canada will be making a donation

01:51:29.100 in the name of Erin, Rebecca, Molly, and Jack O'Toole to the True Patriot Love Foundation.

01:51:38.180 Thank you very much.

01:51:40.740 Thank you, Shola.

01:51:49.980 I think it's fair to say that this next speaker has had a lot of work in his two-plus years

01:51:53.880 as president.

01:51:54.880 Rob Bathurston, you have a very understanding wife.

01:51:58.740 In the 18 months as president of our party, he has been very busy.

01:52:04.740 He had to navigate in a general election and a race to the cheffery.

01:52:08.740 He is a man that I admire and that I love very much.

01:52:10.740 Please welcome the president of your national executive, Mr. Rob Batterson.

01:52:28.740 Thank you, Deb.

01:52:31.780 Folks, we made it.

01:52:41.820 As we gather as Conservatives tonight, like Canadians from coast to coast to coast,

01:52:45.760 our friends in the United Kingdom and people around the world,

01:52:48.760 we are here with heavy hearts on the loss of Her Majesty the Queen.

01:52:52.760 Elizabeth II is the only head of state that most Canadians have ever known.

01:52:56.740 We celebrate her commitment to Canada, her lifetime of service, and the examples she set for us all.

01:53:04.000 20 years ago, in her annual Christmas broadcast, Her Majesty said,

01:53:09.540 each day is a new beginning.

01:53:11.760 I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right,

01:53:17.100 to take the long view, to give of my best in all that the day brings,

01:53:22.020 and to put my trust in God.

01:53:24.500 One of the Conservative Party's guiding principles is a belief in the constitutional monarchy, the institutions of Parliament, and the democratic process.

01:53:35.160 Tonight, we are doing our part to support Canada's constitutional monarchy, the institutions of Parliament, and the democratic process.

01:53:43.960 As we mourn the passing of Her Majesty the Queen and mark the beginning of a new reign

01:53:55.460 of His Majesty the King Charles III, we follow the example she set to live our life,

01:54:03.380 to do what is right, take the long view and give our best in all that the day brings.

01:54:13.960 or new chefs, there are a lot of people to recognize this evening, our five candidates

01:54:20.100 and their campaign team.

01:54:25.100 My colleagues, all of the members of the national executive executive, absolutely.

01:54:36.120 My colleagues, all of the members of the executive executive committee, who is president

01:54:41.460 by Ian Brody. The personnel of the National Bureau led by our Director-General, my friend

01:54:52.380 Wayne Benson. The parliamentarians of the Conservative Party, the deputies and senators

01:55:03.940 Later in our program, we will say thank you to my friend and a friend to many in our

01:55:19.460 conservative movement, our outgoing leader, the Honourable Candace Bergen.

01:55:33.560 To the 278,000-plus Canadians who are members of the Conservative Party, thank you for stepping

01:55:41.060 up to participate in Canadian democracy. You have a home in our party. You are at the

01:55:48.340 Conservative Party. Absolutely. No matter what your choice is, no matter what your choice

01:55:55.480 to every conservative party member get more involved in your party this fall get active in

01:56:12.440 your local electoral district association that's how we build a better party a party canadians can

01:56:19.480 count on to build a better country.

01:56:28.520 Friends, that's why the work we do to elect the next

01:56:32.920 Conservative leader matters.

01:56:35.160 One of our guiding principles, spelled out in the

01:56:37.900 constitution of the modern Conservative Party that

01:56:40.900 Stephen Harper and Peter McKay forged together in the

01:56:44.440 2003 merger, let's thank Prime Minister Harper and

01:56:47.540 Peter McKay, absolutely.

01:56:56.920 Part of their legacy is that our Conservative Party is a coalition.

01:57:02.160 Today, our Conservative Coalition is larger than it has ever been.

01:57:09.160 But coalition building is not just the work of the

01:57:13.200 conservative leaders we elect.

01:57:15.200 Coalition building depends on each and every one of us

01:57:19.200 to respect and embrace our differences as conservatives.

01:57:22.180 To invite people in, not turn them away.

01:57:25.180 To focus on what we agree on.

01:57:27.180 To build a better Canada.

01:57:29.180 Let us resolve to put aside the differences that

01:57:32.180 occur in any country in the country.

01:57:34.180 Let us resolve to put aside the differences that

01:57:37.160 the differences that occur in any leadership race. Let us unite for change, the change

01:57:43.540 that Canada leads. Each and every one of us, let us support our new leader, a new Conservative

01:57:56.400 leader who tonight will be elected through the largest Democratic vote of any political

01:58:02.360 party in Canadian history.

01:58:23.560 wins, Canadians win, when Conservatives win. Thank you. Thank you, Rob. I've known our

01:58:51.320 next speaker for more years than I care to admit to you know and I tell people

01:58:56.240 stories about back when I was in office they think for goodness sakes here's a

01:59:00.440 living museum piece talking to us but I've known this guy for a long time he's

01:59:06.200 been a presence throughout our party's history serving as the conservative

01:59:09.980 party of Canada's first president of National Council helping navigate the

01:59:14.600 early years of our United Party the senator plate a été nommé au Sénat

01:59:19.520 on the Council of Stephen Harper in August 2009.

01:59:23.520 He has occupied several positions,

01:59:25.520 including the WIPP of our Senate caucus

01:59:28.520 and the Chief of Opposition in the Senate since 2019.

01:59:32.520 Senator Plett and I have been colleagues

01:59:34.520 within the organizing committee of 2020.

01:59:39.520 To thank the Honourable Candice Bergen for her service,

01:59:42.520 amazing service as interim leader.

01:59:49.520 He's going to thank her and present a video in your honor, Candace.

01:59:56.420 That'll be special.

01:59:57.420 I love it.

01:59:58.420 Please welcome her fellow Manitoban, Senator Don Platt.

02:00:03.520 Don.

02:00:06.520 Well, merci and thank you, Deb and Valerie.

02:00:18.520 And good evening, fellow Conservatives.

02:00:22.520 Bonsoir, cher ami.

02:00:24.520 Comment va?

02:00:26.520 What a great night to be a Conservative, friends.

02:00:31.520 I also want to begin my comments by acknowledging the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

02:00:39.520 Her lifelong service to her country and the Commonwealth will remain a shining example of selfless duty and devotion.

02:00:47.520 and I wish to pass on my sincere condolences to the royal family at this time.

02:00:54.580 The loss of such a long-standing monarch is indeed sad,

02:00:58.420 but tonight, friends, I have the privilege of introducing a very, very good friend of mine

02:01:08.320 and a great friend of the Conservative Party of Canada.

02:01:13.380 The Honourable Candice Bergen and I met for the first time some 20 years ago in 2002

02:01:19.740 when Candice was working as a volunteer for the Canadian Alliance Party

02:01:24.700 in a by-election in St. Boniface, Manitoba.

02:01:29.060 I, at that time, was a member of the Canadian Alliance National Council.

02:01:33.060 We worked together during that campaign, during that by-election,

02:01:38.160 and quickly became friends for life.

02:01:42.400 It has been a true pleasure for me to deal with Candice and work with Candice in all the roles

02:01:51.040 that she has taken on in our party. From being a volunteer to running for the Conservative Party

02:01:58.400 of Canada in the riding of Portage Lisgar when that opportunity presented itself in 2008,

02:02:05.760 to being a cabinet minister in a strong Stephen Harper majority government.

02:02:18.700 To then being the opposition house leader.

02:02:21.660 For four years, Candace was the opposition house leader,

02:02:25.240 both under the leadership of the Honorable Ronna Ambrose

02:02:29.340 and then under the leadership of the Honorable Andrew Scheer.

02:02:32.860 then being the deputy leader of our party under the Honorable Erin O'Toole and for the last seven

02:02:40.700 months and Candace doesn't like to be called the interim leader she likes to be called the leader

02:02:46.660 in the interim and that is what she has been

02:02:50.740 I am asked often, and I did this just a while ago when I was speaking to a group of interns

02:03:06.280 in the Senate of Canada building, and I get asked, how can I get involved in politics?

02:03:13.680 Candice is a leading example for all Canadians who are looking to get engaged.

02:03:20.680 She started as a volunteer, and with skills and devotion, she created a remarkable path for herself,

02:03:29.680 one that led to one of the highest positions in our country, the leader of the loyal opposition.

02:03:43.680 Candace has shown her strength and her abilities in each and every role and each and every

02:03:51.300 decision that she has made.

02:03:54.880 She is not only a great speaker, but more importantly, she is a great listener.

02:04:03.000 Someone that has listened to your concerns as well as mine, someone who has listened

02:04:07.880 to the concerns of the members of the Conservative Party of Canada, to the Conservative Caucus,

02:04:14.120 and has acted on them.

02:04:16.580 Candace is a peacemaker, something she comes by honestly, being of Mennonite heritage.

02:04:24.000 Now I'm also of Mennonite heritage, and I have never quite had the same gifts as a peacemaker

02:04:30.600 as Candace Bergen has had.

02:04:33.680 The Conservative family has benefited greatly from her peacemaking abilities.

02:04:38.260 With everyone here tonight, I wish to take an opportunity to thank her for that.

02:04:47.680 Friends, Candace has achieved in our caucus what had not been achieved in quite some time,

02:04:58.960 and that is complete party unity.

02:05:02.940 A unity that will be passed on to a new leader later on this evening.

02:05:08.220 A unity that will be able to be taken by the new leader as he or she moves our party forward

02:05:16.080 to winning the next election.

02:05:26.060 This is no small feat as you think of leading a Conservative caucus.

02:05:33.240 Conservatives inherently are not followers, they are leaders.

02:05:37.560 And Candace has done a remarkable job of bringing us all together.

02:05:43.780 We have not only become colleagues, Candace, you and I have become lifelong friends.

02:05:52.000 We and I look forward to spending more time with you and Mike at the lake as your place

02:05:58.460 is just down the street from ours.

02:06:01.680 You are a true friend of the Conservative Party of Canada, Candice.

02:06:06.520 It has been an honour to serve in caucus under your leadership.

02:06:12.600 Thank you very much.

02:06:22.000 Candace, you stepped up where the country needed you.

02:06:44.000 When you took over as leader, you inherited a really badly divided caucus.

02:06:48.000 You've taken a very diverse group of MPs, brought them together, refocused and reunited us

02:06:52.540 to do what we need to do as the official opposition.

02:06:55.120 Your leadership and dedication in keeping the party united is greatly appreciated.

02:07:01.060 You are the right person at the right time.

02:07:03.300 You were successful in uniting us into a high-performing team.

02:07:07.120 You know how to build good teams, and that's a skill in itself.

02:07:09.900 When critics said it would be impossible to hold things together, you proved them wrong.

02:07:14.840 Starting off in the class of 2008 as an MP, to a committee chair, parliamentary secretary, cabinet minister, house leader, deputy leader, culminating in the past few months as our leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

02:07:29.060 You've done such a great job in that time.

02:07:30.920 You've been a pillar of strength for our party these last six months.

02:07:33.420 You did a great job in a trying time.

02:07:35.600 You did an amazing job.

02:07:36.940 You did it with such great class.

02:07:38.740 Well done.

02:07:39.700 You've proudly represented Manitoba and all of Canada.

02:07:42.800 You've challenged us to always do what is right and stand for Conservative principles.

02:07:47.600 In question period, you outmatched the Prime Minister each time he decided to show up for work.

02:07:53.460 You've given the Prime Minister no days off.

02:07:56.140 Your character, your common sense.

02:07:58.380 Your compassion while you let us.

02:08:00.160 Your steady hand, positive attitude and strong performance have served us well.

02:08:04.460 Working under your leadership has been the highlight of my career.

02:08:06.880 Effective leadership is leaving something better than you found it.

02:08:10.160 And that will certainly be your legacy.

02:08:12.640 It's so nice to have a leader who really appreciates the people who are in the party.

02:08:19.040 And allowing members to express themselves freely on matters that are important to Canadians.

02:08:23.560 You've also maintained an approachability that I've personally appreciated

02:08:27.280 when I've come to you and when I've even brought your constituents to you.

02:08:31.360 If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.

02:08:34.760 And I felt that's what you did with caucus.

02:08:37.720 Which is precisely why the party and movement are in a better place.

02:08:41.420 You are not only a leader, an inspiration, and a mentor to our caucus, and especially the women in our caucus, but also to women and girls across the country.

02:08:52.660 I admire and respect you as a friend, a colleague, and a great Canadian.

02:08:56.380 I've always said that you are the heart and soul of our party.

02:09:00.440 It is a testimony of the type of person that you are.

02:09:03.120 You have so much to be proud of.

02:09:05.000 You are a steady hand and a principled leader.

02:09:07.120 You have united our caucus.

02:09:08.580 You've worked really hard, we really appreciated it, and you made it fun.

02:09:12.860 But most of all, you never forget who it is you're fighting for.

02:09:16.640 The people here and across Canada.

02:09:19.080 And you certainly left us in a great position with a new leader coming forward because of all your hard work.

02:09:23.680 And for that, all of us are thankful for your leadership.

02:09:27.160 Merci pour tout ton travail comme chef Interimaire.

02:09:29.840 Merci infiniment, Candice.

02:09:31.940 For the way that you have served caucus and served our party.

02:09:34.720 For everything you've done to bring everybody together through very difficult times.

02:09:38.020 For your leadership during this period of transition, your resilience, and to lead us to a good part in this choice for a new leader.

02:09:45.980 Thank you for having taken the opportunity to our future chief.

02:09:49.560 Many thanks for your time, your friendly listening.

02:09:52.920 For being our fearless leader for the last six months.

02:09:55.420 For keeping us united and focused on holding the government to account.

02:09:59.420 For helping us to move our conservative movement forward.

02:10:02.980 For your contribution to forming the next conservative government.

02:10:08.020 We're staying calm in the face of much adversity.

02:10:11.600 As we came out of COVID and dealt with all of the issues of an incompetent government.

02:10:16.180 Very much appreciated the confidence that you had in a rookie year.

02:10:19.620 You've studied the ship and you were certainly a leader for a time such as this.

02:10:23.780 We've been very lucky and privileged to be a leader in this period that was not easy for

02:10:29.420 a person.

02:10:30.000 I really appreciate what you, Michael, have done for us, just carrying us through this

02:10:33.800 bit of a trying time as a party.

02:10:35.940 I'm very happy to work with you. You're an extraordinary woman.

02:10:38.940 I'd like to thank you very, very much for helping me to serve all those nice people from my writing.

02:10:44.940 The membership was proud to say that you're their leader.

02:10:48.940 Coast to coast to coast, conservatives all over Canada say thank you as well.

02:10:54.940 I'm looking forward to walking with you this fall in the House of Commons.

02:11:00.940 I look forward to continuing to serve alongside you as we get back to Parliament this fall.

02:11:04.940 and after the next election when we're in government and defeat the Trudeau liberals

02:11:09.320 and bring common sense and good governance back to this country and I can't wait for what your

02:11:13.900 next achievements in public life are going to be anyways thanks so much it's all good

02:11:17.900 all the best to you thanks a lot

02:11:20.000 Ladies and gentlemen, friends, please help me in welcoming our leader, the leader in

02:11:38.000 And the interim, the Honorable Candace Bergen.

02:11:45.000 Thank you very much.

02:12:09.000 So nice.

02:12:10.000 Wow.

02:12:12.000 wow thank you so much i um i do want to begin by saying how saddened i am at the passing of our

02:12:22.960 beloved queen her majesty queen elizabeth ii she served with honor she really was our queen

02:12:31.680 and i've no doubt that her place will be as great as that of queen victoria in the story of canada

02:12:38.000 may we all friends may we all strive to emulate the dignity and the grace that she personified

02:12:48.500 throughout michael and i are praying and are thinking of the royal family during this time

02:12:54.120 long live the king

02:12:56.080 wow thank you so much dawn for your incredibly kind and generous words and introduction my

02:13:07.240 heart is truly filled with gratitude. Don, you and I have been very good friends for many years as

02:13:13.720 we've worked together in our party and like many good conservatives, we did disagree occasionally

02:13:20.120 but we always respected each other. We've been intensely loyal to our friendship and our cause

02:13:27.220 and that's what conservatives do, sharing many laughs, sharing some tears, many dinners and late

02:13:34.400 night talks. And because of that, Don, you and Betty are lifelong friends to Michael and I. And

02:13:40.740 we're very grateful for you. And thank you all. I look across this room and I say thank you all.

02:13:50.660 I know so many of you. It's wonderful to see your faces, to see your smiles, to see so many people

02:13:56.920 that I've seen at conventions and campaigning and throughout the country. So thank you very much

02:14:03.460 for your kindness and your welcome.

02:14:06.460 I know I speak for Michael as well

02:14:08.520 when I say thank you for the appreciation

02:14:10.680 we have felt from all of you

02:14:12.880 not only this evening but over the last

02:14:15.500 seven months. Whether in

02:14:17.360 airports or restaurants, out at the

02:14:19.800 mall or at EDA events,

02:14:22.260 through phone calls and emails

02:14:24.140 and even some social media posts,

02:14:27.180 I'm hearing a strong message

02:14:29.320 that our grassroots conservative

02:14:31.680 memberships, the foundation of our party, you are hopeful and you are excited about

02:14:38.220 the future and you are proud to be conservative.

02:14:47.640 You are proud that we stand for fiscal responsibility, national unity, law and

02:14:55.600 order, and freedom of expression and belief.

02:15:01.680 freedom, not liberal light, but conservative.

02:15:07.360 And in addition to that, literally hundreds of thousands of more Canadians have joined

02:15:11.920 our party and are feeling that same optimism and excitement.

02:15:16.700 So thank you for helping confirm to me and our entire Conservative Caucus that we were

02:15:23.480 on the right track by being a strong, consistent, conservative voice in all that we have said

02:15:29.920 and all that we have done.

02:15:36.920 My heart is filled with gratitude as well to my

02:15:39.940 incredible caucus.

02:15:41.960 First of all, my leadership team made up of

02:15:44.960 Luke Berthold, my deputy leader.

02:15:50.940 Thank you to Blaine Calkins, our whip,

02:15:52.980 John Broussard, our house leader, as well as

02:15:55.940 MPs Tom Kamich, Melissa Lanceman,

02:15:58.920 You are all extraordinary leaders and I thank you and to the rest of our caucus, including senators who work day in and day out in Ottawa and their ridings and would come to Ottawa every week and bring advice and strategy and passion on how to deal with issues of the day.

02:16:20.440 thank you to my caucus. Thank you to our caucus chair, Scott Reid, who has done a fantastic job

02:16:28.660 over the last several months. Ladies and gentlemen, our caucus is made up of so many smart,

02:16:36.580 experienced, wise and compassionate individuals. And if there's one piece of advice I want to give

02:16:44.240 to the new leader whoever it is it's this respect listen to and trust our caucus they will not let

02:16:54.560 you down now you know every leader leaves a mark and that pertains also to the those who serve as

02:17:08.560 in the interim capacity, leaders in the interim.

02:17:12.000 And I'm thinking of people like Deb Gray.

02:17:16.000 Give Deb a hand. 1.00

02:17:17.580 She's doing a great job emceeing tonight.

02:17:20.260 She opened the doors of Stornoway, using it as a working home

02:17:24.260 and starting the wise practice of meeting frequently there with MPs,

02:17:28.860 supporters and staff to hear and understand more thoroughly

02:17:32.400 what they had to say.

02:17:33.600 One of Deb's marks was openness and outreach.

02:17:38.560 Or, the other one I'm thinking about is Rana Ambrose, my dear friend Rana.

02:17:48.440 Rana took over our party after our party suffered a difficult defeat.

02:17:53.760 She brought hope and optimism to our party.

02:17:56.940 With a broad appeal, Rana attracted people to us, 0.83

02:18:00.480 and she lifted women like me into positions of leadership,

02:18:04.700 not as tokens, but because of merit. 0.57

02:18:07.820 Rana is a builder who lifts people up.

02:18:14.160 And then there was John Reynolds.

02:18:16.860 Now, rumor has it John finally got the decaying kitchen redone at Stornoway.

02:18:21.660 Nobody wanted to take the political hit, but as urban legend has it,

02:18:26.540 he accidentally put his foot through a rotten floorboard at Stornoway,

02:18:30.280 and when he did, he said, enough is enough, I'm going to do it.

02:18:33.360 And he left the official opposition residence with some new floors

02:18:36.840 and a sturdy, durable chopping block kitchen counter built to last.

02:18:42.580 John Reynolds left his mark as a steady and experienced leader.

02:18:47.380 And then there was Dr. Grant Hill.

02:18:49.660 Grant was our first interim leader after Stephen Harper and Peter McKay led us to unification.

02:18:56.480 Grant's mark was the solid, sober professionalism that was so critically required in the early days of a new party.

02:19:04.660 And so to all of my predecessors, all of the leaders of our party, all who have left their mark, both permanent and leaders in the interim, you have our deep and respectful appreciation for the strength and the success of the party that you helped build.

02:19:24.200 So, yes, go ahead, give them all a hand.

02:19:28.000 We all leave a mark, and we want it to be lasting, and we want it to be a good mark.

02:19:35.840 And I hope I've been able to leave my mark as well.

02:19:43.100 I want to be remembered as a leader who helped bring unity and pride to our Conservative Party.

02:19:50.700 I want to be remembered as a leader who helped us move away from identity politics and labelling in our party and towards unity in disagreement.

02:20:01.340 Unity while still holding different views.

02:20:04.500 Unity, not uniformity.

02:20:11.140 So, my friends, my fellow Conservatives, as I leave, I want to once again ask you,

02:20:17.560 Please don't allow yourself, whatever kind of conservative you are, to be broken into groups and labelled.

02:20:25.980 Do not descend into the cauldron of identity politics and division in our own party.

02:20:32.020 Do the opposite.

02:20:37.760 Live, talk and walk unity.

02:20:41.300 Even when you disagree with each other.

02:20:44.300 Actually, especially when you disagree with each other.

02:20:47.560 Unity as Conservatives and Unity as Canadians.

02:20:55.000 I love this party.

02:20:57.140 I love this party.

02:20:58.440 It was so interesting, Dawn, as you talked about what I've done

02:21:02.680 and how I started as a volunteer.

02:21:05.620 I cannot imagine, I cannot believe that I stand here before you

02:21:09.520 as your leader.

02:21:11.240 It has just been an incredible experience

02:21:13.560 and I feel so blessed to be able to be here.

02:21:16.680 but to be able to tell young people the opportunity that they have, not just young people,

02:21:22.080 people of all ages, to be able to get involved and make a difference for their country and in their party.

02:21:28.720 So it was with mixed emotions that I announced earlier this week that I will not be seeking re-election.

02:21:35.300 After 14 remarkable years and five elections, I've decided it's time to open new doors and pursue other interests and passions.

02:21:44.360 But no matter where I am, my friends, or what I am doing, I will always be a proud Conservative, doing all I can for our leader and our party.

02:21:59.440 Now, speaking of leader, tonight is the night.

02:22:03.660 Tonight is the night we're going to find out who our members have selected to be the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

02:22:11.020 I want to thank each one of the candidates, Jean, Leslin, Pierre, Roman and Scott, for putting your names forward and the great work that you and your teams have done. Thank you so much.

02:22:41.020 And friends, I have no doubt we will support our new leader, we will buttress the new team,

02:22:50.460 we will help them, we will prop them up and advise them. We will give our new leader the

02:22:55.740 chance to flourish and pave the way for a new federal conservative government.

02:23:03.900 Now I have served federally for 14 years and on one hand it does seem like a long time but on the

02:23:09.820 other, it really goes by in a flash.

02:23:12.960 I started as a volunteer, and as I said, I'm

02:23:15.400 leaving from this stage as the person in whom

02:23:17.700 has bestowed the trust of leadership.

02:23:20.700 And so I want to say a special thank you to

02:23:23.100 Manitoba, to my constituents,

02:23:25.840 to my home,

02:23:28.340 to my home,

02:23:30.380 to the people of Portage Lisgar.

02:23:32.780 Manitobans are great people.

02:23:35.180 They are resilient, innovative,

02:23:37.320 compassionate, hard-working and generous and I want to thank all of those who supported me not

02:23:43.080 only in the last seven months but those who helped bring me to Ottawa in the first place.

02:23:49.160 Over the last several months a very special thank you goes out to Mr Wayne Benson,

02:23:55.000 the executive director of our party and a fellow Manitoban. Wayne came out of retirement in PEI

02:24:03.560 and he took on the job of executive director at my request during a very difficult time in fact

02:24:09.560 it was literally when the emergencies act had been called so in the literal middle of a so-called

02:24:14.520 emergency wayne benson came forward what a hero he was to me and with the help of rob batherson

02:24:25.240 ian brody james dodds and a host of staff and volunteers they guided us through this leadership

02:24:32.440 embrace. And I want to say thank you to each one of you. To my family, my siblings, and

02:24:39.820 especially my children, Lucas, Delaney, and Parker, and your children, thank you for sharing

02:24:46.020 your mom and Grammy, your daughter and sister with the country. And to my husband, Michael,

02:24:52.440 who has been a true partner and companion to me through this entire journey as leader.

02:24:58.640 He has worked with me, he has served, and his love he gave to me and I could give to you.

02:25:05.600 And I want to thank you so much, my love.

02:25:12.060 And finally, again, thank you to my wonderful caucus, the members of Parliament that are elected across this country to represent as Conservative members of Parliament.

02:25:24.580 It has been the honour of my political life to have been your leader.

02:25:28.840 From the bottom of my heart, thank you to all of you.

02:25:31.880 What a privilege to serve you.

02:25:33.440 I am grateful.

02:25:34.320 I am blessed.

02:25:35.580 God bless all of you.

02:25:37.440 God bless Canada.

02:25:39.060 And God save the King.

02:25:41.000 Merci beaucoup.

02:25:54.580 Well, when you're a volunteer president, there are good days and days that aren't as good.

02:26:21.340 But I had a great day earlier this week getting to do a little bit of a backroom scheme with Candace's husband Michael and my friend James Dodds, Chair of Conservative Fund Canada.

02:26:38.620 And I don't know if the surprise got out.

02:26:40.680 We tried to keep it from you, Candace.

02:26:42.180 But we wanted to thank Candice for her work as our leader in the interim

02:26:47.280 and her 14 years and counting of dedicated service to the people of Portage-Lesgar.

02:26:53.880 So here's our special announcement.

02:26:56.760 On behalf of James Dodds, the chair of the Conservative Fund,

02:27:00.800 our party is proud to make a contribution in the name of the Honourable Candice Bergen

02:27:06.240 to Turning Leaf Support Services.

02:27:09.300 And please go online and find out about this amazing organization.

02:27:24.360 I think one thing that shines through about Candice Bergen is compassion.

02:27:30.140 Turning leave support services at an organisme de bienfaisance chère à Candice

02:27:34.840 who offer these services of crisis and treatment

02:27:38.180 centered on vulnerable people and marginalized

02:27:41.140 at low and high risk, living with a mental disease

02:27:44.680 and intellectual challenges,

02:27:46.840 so that for the traumatism,

02:27:48.840 the intolerance, the poverty,

02:27:50.840 the toxicomancy, the discrimination,

02:27:52.840 the sexual exploitation,

02:27:54.840 the stigma,

02:27:56.840 which are only some of the obstacles

02:27:59.840 that their participants are confronted every day.

02:28:03.840 A small token of appreciation for everything Candice Bergen has done for our party.

02:28:08.660 Not only since becoming a Member of Parliament in 2008, but also for her tireless work since February.

02:28:15.680 Keeping everything running smoothly, ready for our next leader.

02:28:19.560 Thank you, Candice, for everything.

02:28:33.840 Thank you.

02:28:54.720 And one of my favorite Deb-isms.

02:28:57.160 Way to go, girlie.

02:28:58.160 You did a great job.

02:29:00.280 Thank you so much.

02:29:02.960 you can is for everything. Well, we're getting close to the moment that you've

02:29:06.620 actually all been waiting for. We're not offending. We don't really think you came

02:29:12.840 here just to see us. This is sort of like high school graduation. You know, you have

02:29:16.940 to get through all this stuff and then comes the good part. We're getting close

02:29:21.080 to that moment. Valerie and I've had the honor of serving as members on LEOC. We

02:29:26.540 We are now 678,000.

02:29:31.940 It just gets bigger and bigger all the time, the number.

02:29:34.560 We are ready, focused, energized, and we're united to bring Canada back to what it can

02:29:39.300 be and what it should be, and the sooner the better.

02:29:48.920 We're getting ready to tap in to what we're hearing from Canadians.

02:29:53.260 are telling us we want and we need change and we tonight here are prepared to give it

02:29:58.780 to Canadians. So now on with the show. If Ian Brodie hasn't done every single possible

02:30:05.260 job in this party, I think he's pretty close. A long time dedicated Conservative, he served

02:30:11.220 as Prime Minister Harper's first Chief of Staff at the critical start of the Harper

02:30:15.820 government. When asked to serve our party again, Ian didn't hesitate. I have known

02:30:21.500 Ian for a very long time, and when I heard that he was chairing LEAWC and I was asked

02:30:27.000 to sit on it, I said, yes, I'll do that, and happily, because Ian was there.

02:30:32.380 So I think we could agree, I hope we could agree, that this is going to be the last leadership

02:30:37.780 race for a long time.

02:30:39.780 This course has established a Canadian record.

02:30:51.780 More of 678,000 Canadians are currently members of the Conservative Party.

02:30:58.780 The record is a lot of people who want change.

02:31:03.780 And each member from all horizons brings its own history, its own ideas, and finally its own experience and energy to our party.

02:31:14.280 We have the chance to welcome people who never bought a card of a political party before.

02:31:21.280 Each person injects a new energy into our cause.

02:31:25.280 There was a lot of interest in the part of the members across Canada to participate in the COEC.

02:31:31.280 The people called to serve represent each region of our country and reflect the composition

02:31:37.580 of our party and of our members.

02:31:39.680 I was proud to represent Quebec as Vice-Président of COEC and to work with President Ian Brody

02:31:46.760 and my colleagues.

02:31:47.760 Please welcome the President of COEC, Mr. Ian Brody.

02:32:01.280 Dear friends, the membership of our leadership election organizing committee was a broad

02:32:11.020 representation of our country and the membership of our party from coast to coast to coast.

02:32:16.960 And I would like to recognize that every member who served on our leadership committee did

02:32:21.660 so as a volunteer.

02:32:30.640 Every member that I served with committed untold hours to the task at hand, taking time

02:32:35.900 away from their families, from their professional commitments and from the rest of their lives

02:32:41.200 to make sure that we had a fair leadership election.

02:32:45.120 The process and everything that involved the running of this leadership contest took place

02:32:50.780 in consultation with the campaigns.

02:32:54.200 Everything that went on regarding the validation of ballots, the tabulation of ballots and

02:32:58.800 later on, the counting of the results took place in the presence of scrutineers from

02:33:04.120 each of the campaigns, under the watchful eye of our Chief Returning Officer and his

02:33:08.980 Deputy Chief Returning Officers, and from the personnel on loan from the party.

02:33:28.800 Thank you to the party staff and the party volunteers who helped get us to this point

02:33:36.520 this evening.

02:33:44.840 It was our remarkable range of candidates, and there are thousands of organizers and

02:33:49.920 volunteers from coast to coast that recruited all of these new members to our party.

02:33:55.900 Each candidate and their teams and their experienced volunteers brought ideas to recruit Canadians.

02:34:02.500 The party staff processed the hundreds of thousands, half a million new memberships

02:34:08.580 added to our party.

02:34:15.980 We got more than 670,000 ballots out to our members.

02:34:20.820 We got them all back to be counted and it all went as smoothly as possible.

02:34:25.480 I want to thank the candidates and their teams for their hard work, I hope every candidate

02:34:30.640 and every volunteer is proud of the work they did during this race.

02:34:41.000 I would also like to thank National Council for the confidence that they showed in our

02:34:45.080 committee and our team, and along with that, our thanks to Candice Bergen for her extraordinary

02:34:51.420 support and her personal friendship to me.

02:34:59.940 It would be remiss if I did not thank my predecessors as LIOC co-chairs of the past, Dan Nolan

02:35:06.840 and Lisa Raitt, for their extraordinary work and for the inheritance of the expertise and

02:35:12.220 track record that we got when we got our flying start.

02:35:16.700 Thankfully together we met the challenge of a record-breaking membership along with the

02:35:20.520 trust of our members. At this time, I'd like to invite my fellow volunteer, Don Nightingale,

02:35:27.960 our Chief Returning Officer and the Director of the Conservative Fund Canada, and my dear

02:35:32.440 friend Wayne Benson, the Executive Director of the party, to come forward and review some

02:35:36.680 of the relevant rules and outline the role of Deloitte. Don and Wayne are both former

02:35:41.560 three-term national councillors of our party, and like me, somehow when the call comes,

02:35:47.320 They just don't know how to say no.

02:35:50.100 I can testify that they are both extraordinary loyal and committed members of our party.

02:35:55.200 They put in tireless hours to deliver this race, and I am personally thankful that they

02:35:59.660 did agree to serve when they were asked. 1.00

02:36:01.560 Don and Wayne, please.

02:36:17.320 Try not to be nervous.

02:36:20.540 I remember well that evening in February when I answered the phone, Hi Wayne, it's Candace.

02:36:30.640 I need you to come to Ottawa as executive director of the party.

02:36:36.080 This was not how I planned to spend the next seven months of my retirement.

02:36:42.120 I inherited a staff at headquarters that, for the most part, had been working from home

02:36:48.060 for the better part of the previous two years.

02:36:51.580 Personally, I had a very steep learning curve ahead of me.

02:36:57.180 However, I will say this.

02:37:00.300 Without the commitment, dedication, and unwavering support of our staff, we would not be where

02:37:07.500 we are today.

02:37:12.120 Staff stepped up each and every day, faced the challenges that come with any leadership

02:37:24.020 contest with determination and resiliency, and got the job done as they had already done

02:37:32.560 twice before.

02:37:34.800 But let's not forget, this time our membership tripled in size, and every task along

02:37:42.080 the way, yes. Every task along the way was similarly magnified. Every single member of

02:37:56.240 our party needs to know how valuable our staff is and was to this undertaking. I am fortunate

02:38:05.120 and honoured to have become part of their team. I want to thank them from the bottom

02:38:11.600 of my heart, we could not have done it without each and every one of you.

02:38:24.600 Thank you, Wayne. When you asked me to serve on your team as the Chief Returning Officer,

02:38:30.600 I said to myself, this is going to be really interesting, but I had no idea how interesting

02:38:36.600 turned out to be.

02:38:38.020 I didn't foresee, and I don't think any of us foresaw,

02:38:41.600 the unprecedented interest of Canadians

02:38:44.400 in this leadership race and the historic numbers.

02:38:49.500 My microphone not working, let me go here.

02:38:51.920 And the historic membership numbers

02:38:55.300 in the Conservative Party.

02:38:59.960 Oh, you're right, Don.

02:39:01.280 It's been quite a ride.

02:39:03.180 And I want to add to that,

02:39:05.740 Despite the many challenges we faced over the past seven months, it has been an absolute

02:39:11.740 pleasure to work with you and Ian on this leadership race.

02:39:17.840 I think we are a really good team.

02:39:26.340 Yes, I wholeheartedly agree with that, Wayne.

02:39:28.340 It was a real pleasure.

02:39:29.340 I'd like to say a few words, ladies and gentlemen, about my duties as Chief Returning Officer.

02:39:35.340 The duties of the Chief Returning Officer in this leadership race are primarily to monitor the process to ensure compliance with our Constitution and with the rules and procedures determined by the Leadership Election Organizing Committee.

02:39:52.340 And I'd like to take a moment to remind everyone of a couple of the more important rules in this race.

02:39:58.840 First, our Constitution requires that this race will be conducted on a one-member, one-vote point system. 0.57

02:40:09.840 What does that mean?

02:40:12.840 It means that each of the 338 ridings in Canada are allocated 100 points.

02:40:19.840 The Constitution, however, states that only writings that have achieved a minimum of 100 valid votes cast will receive the full complement of 100 points.

02:40:32.760 Leadership candidates are allocated points based on the percentage of votes they receive in each writing.

02:40:40.860 30% of the votes means 30 points.

02:40:44.200 To win, a leadership candidate must attain a majority of points from across the country.

02:40:51.780 If no candidate receives a majority of points on the first ballot, we will hold a second ballot.

02:40:58.840 This is what is called a single transferable ballot.

02:41:02.980 On the second ballot, the candidate receiving the fewest points is dropped,

02:41:07.860 and that candidate's points are reallocated to the second preference,

02:41:12.180 with the vote totals, or the point totals rather, being recalculated for all the candidates.

02:41:18.160 This process is repeated until one candidate receives a majority of points and is declared the winner.

02:41:26.200 I would like to add that the point totals at the close of voting are verified by Dawn as CRO and independently by Deloitte LLP.

02:41:39.420 The results are then reported to Ian, Chair of LEOC, and Ian will then announce the results

02:41:48.020 here at this podium.

02:41:50.700 One excerpt from our Constitution in part states, National Council or the Leadership

02:41:58.040 Election Organizing Committee will engage an independent third party to count the ballots

02:42:05.040 in the votes specified.

02:42:07.180 LIOC, pursuant to their rules, appointed Deloitte to monitor and verify the leadership election process and result.

02:42:17.600 And then, Deloitte LLP was retained by Conservative Fund Canada, the Leadership Election Organising Committee, and the Chief Returning Officer to act as an independent advisor and observer for the 2022 leadership election.

02:42:37.580 Conservative Fund Canada will be, and was, solely responsible for the provision of oversight

02:42:46.440 and staff for carrying out activities adhering to all applicable election rules, including

02:42:53.900 the credentials rules and counting rules.

02:42:58.140 Well, ladies and gentlemen, the moment has arrived.

02:43:13.280 Ian and I and Wayne are going to walk over to the results room and obtain the vote results

02:43:22.140 for round one.

02:43:24.200 Assuming everything goes according to plan, we will be back here on stage in 10 to 15

02:43:30.620 minutes with the results.

02:43:34.940 They have not been calculated yet.

02:43:37.160 They're ready to press the button on the computer and give us the results.

02:43:41.440 So don't go away.

02:43:54.200 We'll be right back.

02:44:24.180 Lawton in the studio. You are tuned in live for the, I was going to say, Conservative Party of

02:44:30.980 Canada Leadership Results Show. I don't even know if that's what it is. I think it's actually

02:44:34.700 the Canadian reboot, you know, Canadian content, Bill C-11 and all that, of Schoolhouse Rock. So

02:44:41.800 we were actually just learning how a bill becomes a law. And as one person on Twitter commented,

02:44:46.740 I think it's actually really unfortunate. They missed an opportunity to tell us the exact weight

02:44:51.220 of paper that was used for the ballots it was trees that came from the gas bay peninsula

02:44:56.820 which were sewn down on november not november 14th not november 16th but november 15th

02:45:04.500 and they cut the trees at a 45 degree wait no here we are i'm told that the leadership results

02:45:11.300 are actually coming in 10 to 15 minutes because one of the great things is when you're planning

02:45:17.020 a reveal for results, you don't

02:45:19.100 actually bring the votes out with you.

02:45:21.220 You go out, you give

02:45:23.020 a lengthy speech, and then you go off stage

02:45:25.000 and get the results and come back

02:45:26.920 10 or 15 minutes later. This is

02:45:28.940 actually, if they did that at the Oscars, we'd still

02:45:30.980 right now be waiting for them to come back with

02:45:32.920 the fact that The Sound of Music won in like

02:45:34.820 1967 or whatever it was.

02:45:37.160 So, at some point, we are going

02:45:38.960 to get results.

02:45:40.740 See, last time, they delayed it until 3am

02:45:43.040 because they didn't know. This time, they're just

02:45:45.040 i think toying with us i'm joined to the studio by sue ann levy and harrison faulkner in ottawa

02:45:50.640 we have my colleague ellie kentin nantel and also my colleague jasmine molten let's start with you

02:45:56.960 sue ann i know you've been paying attention pretty closely to what's been happening here some of it

02:46:01.680 was just that sort of usual very circular stuff and then they got to thanking o'toole thanking

02:46:06.880 candace bergen but are is this party instilling confidence in you right now not with the beginning

02:46:13.680 No, I mean, you know, we're talking about getting rid of woke politics and we've got the, you know, the land affirmation and...

02:46:24.980 Two, they had two land acknowledgments, yeah.

02:46:26.920 And then the gentleman in the, it was a really nice color and it was a nice suit in the, I guess, the indigenous man in the suit who came up.

02:46:38.160 and you know it's just why did they have to pander to political correctness um all the stuff about

02:46:46.620 the queen and you know giving tributes to the queen they would have been better uh off spending

02:46:53.860 some time actually showing pictures of the queen in canada uh you know i would have even given them

02:47:00.900 one or two, because I did cover two Queen's tours during my time at Postmedia. So, you know,

02:47:07.860 but that would have been more appropriate, I think. Yeah, I mean, I think there were two things

02:47:13.180 that jumped out early on. Number one was the, well, there was the one land acknowledgement,

02:47:17.560 which used the word unseeded, which is actually not an insignificant term for the Conservatives

02:47:22.120 to adopt, because it's like, okay, if you've unseeded it, then get off. Why were you paying

02:47:25.680 the Shaw Centre for use of the venue? Why weren't you paying the Algonquin community?

02:47:29.400 and then the other part of it was using and i get it's official but using the new lyrics the

02:47:35.820 gender neutral lyrics to oh canada like anytime i've ever been at a conservative leaning event

02:47:40.860 since justin trudeau's government changed the oh canada lyrics the loudest line is always in all

02:47:46.200 thy son's command because it's like a point of pride whereas they did like in all of us command

02:47:50.780 which is like i get it it's official but you know as conservatives you should hold on to it but

02:47:55.420 But again, I mean, none of that is really coming from whomever the next leader is.

02:47:59.400 It's just coming from the party administration.

02:48:01.900 But I think if I'm reading too much into it, let me know.

02:48:04.060 But I think it's indicative of that default position of let's try to be as inoffensive as possible.

02:48:08.960 Let's try not to make the CBC pundits be mean to us.

02:48:11.700 But none of it is going to do anything.

02:48:14.380 No, there's no point to any of it, Andrew.

02:48:15.860 And I think it started off really bad and then it just got worse and worse.

02:48:20.440 That bourbon bottle was full when we started.

02:48:22.820 So if you can see that, the maker, like that was full.

02:48:25.420 and now it's down to like two-thirds this was supposed to be kept andrew in the event that

02:48:29.660 the conservative party does what they usually do which is keep us for hours yeah it turns out we

02:48:33.340 broke into right at the beginning if the chief returning officer comes back it's going to be

02:48:36.380 down to about a third in the next 10 minutes but carry on i can't actually believe that they have

02:48:40.540 the results ready i'm i'm shocked to say it i think that this was i thought this was going to

02:48:43.980 be another late night they were going to have it have delays again but i mean where do you begin

02:48:47.900 with that that shocker of a of a of a start really the fact that andrew you were talking

02:48:52.540 about the unseated territory landing acknowledgement that is a step that is even that is a step above

02:48:56.860 the landing acknowledgement it's an incredible thing for them to say the fact that they they

02:49:00.780 they did the woke lyrics in no canada shows you i think just where this party really is

02:49:05.820 you can look at you can read the comments on our stream you can look at twitter people are fuming

02:49:09.740 about this this is just a it exposes the conservative party and i think really it

02:49:13.180 exposes people who are working on the inside of that party not the not the candidates running

02:49:17.500 not the mps but those that work behind the scenes as you said i don't even know if it's really they

02:49:21.900 They don't want to offend anyone.

02:49:23.560 I don't know where this is coming from,

02:49:25.000 but this is liberal, woke content

02:49:28.280 being put right into this.

02:49:30.120 So it's just incredible to me.

02:49:31.200 I can't believe they did it.

02:49:32.500 We'll get back to you in a second.

02:49:33.780 I just want to give a note here

02:49:35.660 that someone earlier put some numbers out

02:49:37.840 as for where people are viewing

02:49:40.140 this election night show.

02:49:42.620 And True North is actually beating

02:49:44.000 most of the legacy media pages.

02:49:45.780 So I just want to thank,

02:49:46.880 there are over like 5,000 of you on YouTube,

02:49:49.580 plus many more on Facebook that are watching.

02:49:51.560 So thank you. And let me just say to all of you here, I mean, we're in a studio here which we've rented out specifically for this because we want it to look our best, which normally is not the intention when you put me on camera, but nevertheless.

02:50:02.700 And also we have a team in Ottawa and we're going to be covering, more importantly, conservative politics.

02:50:07.880 And that includes the broader conservative movement, PPC, alternative parties, the UCP leadership race in this country.

02:50:15.200 But we cannot do it without your support.

02:50:17.140 So please, please, please head on over to donate.tnc.news and give a contribution.

02:50:23.480 And for every $10 you donate, we will cut out of the returning officer speaking just like one minute early.

02:50:29.700 So that's not a real promise, but you know what?

02:50:32.020 You can dream and you can hope.

02:50:33.320 So that's the pledge I make to you.

02:50:35.700 And apparently they've closed the bar at the event.

02:50:37.960 So this maker's mark is actually a valuable commodity now in this.

02:50:42.020 But Sue Ann, just pick up on what Harrison was talking about here.

02:50:45.620 I mean, you have on one hand a new leader that's going to come in and set the tone for what the party is supposed to be about.

02:50:51.140 But you have all of the people that were trying to do that wokey woke stuff here that are still a part of that party.

02:50:56.580 So how does a new leader, whether it's Pierre Polyev or through some strange occurrence, someone else in the race, how do they come in and clean house?

02:51:05.200 Clean house. Just put your own people in and be determined about it.

02:51:10.760 I mean if I can criticize Doug Ford for one huge thing is that he came in as

02:51:18.800 premier in Ontario made all kinds of promises and did not clean house and the

02:51:24.840 reason we have so many problems in education in Ontario and we have the

02:51:28.800 woke politics the trans ideology the critical race theory problems is because

02:51:34.520 he didn't clean house in the education ministry you've got all the old Kathleen 0.99

02:51:39.100 win guard. So, I mean, that is imperative. I mean, it shows to me all this wokey-wokey stuff, 0.94

02:51:48.320 although I did like the color of that man's suit. It's a really nice yellow.

02:51:51.800 No, no one's objecting to the Algonquin man was fine. And I actually think, just on that note,

02:51:56.640 I want to say something here, because I think Indigenous issues in Canada are very important.

02:52:00.800 And I think the failure of Liberal governments to deal with them has left a huge opening for

02:52:05.640 indigenous people and i think for conservatives to reach out to them and i think we saw in the

02:52:11.180 course of the convoy this in particular when you had indigenous communities there which had a

02:52:15.580 lower than average vaccination rate and were thus disproportionately affected by

02:52:19.880 vaccine mandates that were saying yeah we support freedom we want to be a part of this movement

02:52:25.120 so the issue is not within i think indigenous participation is huge and i want to make very

02:52:29.800 clear i think it's the the pandering of it it's that conservative no one in that room believes

02:52:36.320 that that is not canadian territory which is the premise behind this is the unseated language in

02:52:42.220 land acknowledgement so so why are they pretending yeah and i mean this has gone on for quite some

02:52:47.420 time i mean when i was at city hall for years they they did land acknowledgements at toronto city

02:52:52.580 hall and you know it's it's just so hypocritical because i always say to people when they talk

02:52:59.300 about i live in the occupied territory of auto or whatever or turtle island i say well if you're so

02:53:06.340 concerned give up your home give up your business give up your office and move and let a nice

02:53:13.380 indigenous person even the man in the nice suit come and live in your domicile but it you know

02:53:20.000 it's just all tokenism and that's what troubles me really trouble i like yeah i liked this this um

02:53:26.680 video that polyev put out during the campaign it was right at the near the top of the campaign

02:53:30.720 when he was it was meeting with indigenous leaders and he made the point to talk about

02:53:34.700 it's all the woke stuff is not going to actually better the lives of any canadian in particular

02:53:40.080 the indigenous canadians who you know there is work to be done there is real government there's

02:53:45.480 there's real government work that needs to be done and it doesn't involve pandering it involves it

02:53:49.520 involves giving them the power to unlock their potential and giving them the skills to do that

02:53:54.300 How about clean water?

02:53:55.500 Well, exactly. 1.00

02:53:55.860 Let's start with clean water. 0.99

02:53:57.500 The government has failed to finish the job on that.

02:54:00.460 And really, there needs to be talk about that.

02:54:02.800 And I want to make one point again about just the whole show from the Conservative Party.

02:54:09.320 I think they had time to adjust their presentation due to the Queen's passing.

02:54:14.260 And I think that what they decided to do has been, you know, has not been good.

02:54:18.980 It's not shown any respect, I believe.

02:54:21.380 Well, in fairness, this might have been bad before.

02:54:23.260 It might have had a terrible program a week ago.

02:54:26.380 The saxophone, God Save the King, that's just not appropriate in my opinion.

02:54:32.240 The kind of, the joking around almost that the MCs were doing, I just felt like it missed the mark.

02:54:39.180 It didn't hit the right tone to me.

02:54:41.040 And I think that the Conservative Party generally can do a lot better.

02:54:43.760 And if you just look on social media, everyone was letting them have it.

02:54:46.900 And if you notice, they were all in black suits, morning suits.

02:54:50.300 They were all dressed in black.

02:54:51.920 the party president uh everybody who came up to the podium well that's the convention i mean that

02:54:58.340 is the protocol for members of parliament in the period of mourning but it raises i think the issue

02:55:02.780 candace malcolm uh raised earlier of why are they having this this week i mean we're not talking

02:55:08.760 about you know this is big i mean this is a once in a generation actually once in a three generation

02:55:14.420 event so i think if we are in a state of mourning why are we we doing this where

02:55:18.800 you can tell they're all really having trouble finding that balance between celebration and

02:55:25.200 future and this period of statutory mourning. They could have really trimmed this whole thing

02:55:31.740 down. I think they could have hit the right tone. I don't believe that we should necessarily have

02:55:38.960 put this on pause. This is a huge moment for our country. We need to know who the new leader of

02:55:44.060 opposition and is and who could be our next prime minister but they did not need to do all of the

02:55:50.140 all the talking about the party and winning and and and and all that kind of at useless dialogue

02:55:56.620 that just fills time they could have really just trimmed the whole thing down and and hit the right

02:56:01.260 tone um i think i think you know the queen would have wanted us to go on and to you know go on with

02:56:06.940 this process i i don't i mean i i didn't know her majesty but i don't think the queen wanted to hear

02:56:11.420 more about, you know, the balloting process. No, certainly not. No one, no one wants to hear any

02:56:15.480 of that. Actually, I want to know what's happening with her corgis. That's the big question. I just

02:56:20.200 think we could have just trimmed this down. Yeah, it, you know, they could have done a better

02:56:24.500 tribute to the Queen, I think. They had a few days. How many people are working on this? Yeah,

02:56:31.440 and I guess it's tough, and you don't want a Monday morning quarterback, so we can Saturday

02:56:35.200 night quarterback instead, which is even better. We can do it in real time. Obviously, the tribute

02:56:40.900 that they did was not really i mean they had some graphics they've they've all tried to make

02:56:46.780 acknowledgements of it they're they're dressed the way they're supposed to but they're there

02:56:51.140 again it's tough because i don't think let's assume it's pierre paulia or jean charay or it

02:56:55.420 doesn't matter i don't think they wanted to give up their opportunity for the big giant speech i

02:57:00.180 mean i i mentioned earlier in joking that tweet the report from david aiken that they scrapped an

02:57:05.300 eight thousand dollar confetti display which i don't maybe that's the going rate for confetti

02:57:08.980 I don't know. But, you know, that's actually not an insignificant thing, because when you elect a

02:57:14.080 leader, you're trying to do this big, grand celebration. Like, just look at a Republican

02:57:19.240 convention or a Democratic convention. So actually taking that away from the next leader is quite a

02:57:24.440 significant thing. But I would also say, if we're talking about planning here, this is a news cycle

02:57:29.160 that is automatically shared with the Queen's passing, and then the Queen's funeral, and then,

02:57:34.260 you know, discussion about the coronation for Charles III, whenever that's scheduled. So,

02:57:37.720 like it just it does disadvantage the next leader i think well i think we'll see to some degree i'm

02:57:45.080 sure it will but i just believe that they they they'd all have to do this no matter what party

02:57:52.500 it is they'd all have to juggle this this this thing that they did not predict and handle it

02:57:56.780 well um i don't believe that you know some sort of saxophone rendition of god save the king and

02:58:03.560 And any of that was just right.

02:58:05.520 I think everyone will agree on that, that it wasn't done right.

02:58:08.860 And I think it was poorly planned.

02:58:10.200 And they shouldn't have postponed it, in my opinion.

02:58:12.740 I'm glad they maintained it and kept it going on this day.

02:58:16.280 But again, it was not easy.

02:58:18.680 It was not hard, I think, to do it right. 0.61

02:58:21.800 And they managed to inject all this woke garbage into this and still get it wrong. 0.78

02:58:27.680 And still get, in my opinion, the memorialization of the Queen wrong. 0.97

02:58:31.080 And that's a shame.

02:58:31.620 If you're just tuning in, we are broadcasting live the Conservative Leadership Results Show,

02:58:38.420 which the party started at 6 o'clock.

02:58:40.780 They were supposed to have a result in by about 7.30.

02:58:44.560 It's now 7.52 Eastern Daylight Time, and there is no result.

02:58:48.620 It's supposed to be forthcoming in the next five to six minutes or so.

02:58:52.660 At last, we heard it would be coming in 10 to 15 minutes, assuming nothing had gone wrong.

02:58:57.600 Now, I've talked to a couple of people that are involved in the party process,

02:59:00.600 And they say that a lot of this is just theatrical, that the result is already in.

02:59:04.460 It's pretty clear.

02:59:05.680 We've had other media reports that have actually gone to what the expected result is.

02:59:10.920 And I haven't heard any of this firsthand, so I'm not going to share any of it.

02:59:14.680 But again, we're told that a result is coming very quickly.

02:59:18.240 We have a team in Ottawa.

02:59:19.880 We have a team here in the studio.

02:59:21.700 We're going to have post-show analysis.

02:59:23.220 And we are going to have the leader's first speech as leader, which will be coming shortly after the result.

02:59:28.780 So do keep tuned to this live stream.

02:59:32.260 You know, you were looking earlier, Harrison, out for wacky media takes.

02:59:37.660 And I'm wondering if I know the results not in yet, but have you found any yet?

02:59:40.980 So I did see I did see some things, nothing, nothing serious.

02:59:45.540 No blow ups have happened.

02:59:46.600 No meltdowns yet, although I'm sure that they will come.

02:59:50.520 Yes, absolutely.

02:59:52.400 There really hasn't been too much going on.

02:59:54.480 I haven't been tuning into the CBC.

02:59:56.780 I haven't been listening to what they have to say.

02:59:59.660 There's been some chatter about some people talking about how just the CBC getting peers messaging wrong

03:00:05.560 and saying that he's been appealing to men who are living in their parents' basement who can't talk to girls. 0.76

03:00:12.820 I saw that. That was apparently something Althea Raj said on CBC, but I haven't been watching.

03:00:16.820 That's just a tweet I saw.

03:00:17.760 Now, again, I think it's just going to be the meltdown will be after the results, and that's for sure going to come.

03:00:22.960 I think we're all just waiting.

03:00:23.660 That comment you mentioned, though, I think is a significant one because it shows that the media doesn't understand Polyev's appeal in the same way that they didn't understand the convoy and they didn't want to understand these people.

03:00:35.460 And like I remember when last week, I think it was, and Pierre Polyev met with a baker in Nanaimo, B.C. who made Nanaimo bars.

03:00:42.060 And she was talking about how inflation was so bad, the cost of flour had gone up.

03:00:46.400 And Tasha Carradine, who I get along with very well, very nice woman,

03:00:49.720 she's the co-chair of Charest's campaign, you know, tweets out,

03:00:52.720 oh, well, there's no flour in Nanaimo bars, as though this whole thing is fake.

03:00:56.020 And Harrison, you and I talked about this on Fake News Friday,

03:00:58.940 and the baker herself actually emailed me after that show and said,

03:01:02.260 yeah, you were right, I was talking about, in general, the cost of ingredients.

03:01:05.500 I use flour and everything else.

03:01:06.860 But, like, a lot of people are very disconnected from the fact that people are struggling right now,

03:01:12.100 and Pierre Paulyev is speaking to those people.

03:01:14.300 That's exactly what I was saying about the, I guess it was a video that went on Twitter and Facebook or social media, which he was sitting in a restaurant having breakfast, doing an imaginary chat with Justin Trudeau and talking about the price of eggs, the price of toast, the price of coffee, how everything's going up.

03:01:36.200 And I don't know about you two, but I've certainly noticed when I go shopping how much more expensive everything is.

03:01:42.780 And people are suffering.

03:01:45.020 And, you know, Andrew and Harrison, it's no different than, I hate to mention Trump's name again,

03:01:51.800 but it's no different than what happened in the States where everybody totally underestimated his appeal,

03:01:57.560 totally misread the tea leaves.

03:01:59.420 and you know here i we hear in canada people talking about i think it was the star talking

03:02:05.880 about those who support pierre paulievre deplorables does that not sound like hillary

03:02:12.280 clinton and deplorable so i guess i'm a deplorable if i support you know somebody who's connected

03:02:18.940 with people political staffers and the cbc and legacy media are out of touch with canadians i

03:02:25.340 I mean, what a shock there, right?

03:02:27.340 Of course, they have no real grasp, in my opinion, to what's really going on.

03:02:32.980 And we saw all that frustration come from the Freedom Convoy.

03:02:37.380 Pierre Polyev seized that moment and was able to capture the feeling of Canadians.

03:02:43.500 And what a surprise.

03:02:44.820 He's actually grown the party and converted people who are not conservatives into the conservative movement

03:02:50.840 because he's just the only person who's actually reaching out

03:02:53.780 and saying, I understand you're going through this.

03:02:55.620 And that's coming from an MP who's been in Ottawa since 2004,

03:02:59.060 an Ottawa-based MP.

03:03:00.360 Pierre Polyev is certainly not struggling right now financially,

03:03:03.680 not suffering a lot of the problems that his supporters are,

03:03:07.200 but at least he's able to recognize that.

03:03:08.640 He doesn't look down on them.

03:03:10.020 He speaks to their issues, and obviously that resonates with people.

03:03:14.120 Obviously they respect that.

03:03:15.200 It's not really rocket science.

03:03:16.960 He hears their pain, and he takes it in,

03:03:20.040 and he understands it or you know someone like him as opposed to our current prime minister who

03:03:26.380 in some ways mocks people's pain and mocks yeah you know and makes up this narrative about the

03:03:33.240 freedom convoy nobody would know that better than you andrew i mean the narrative that was made up

03:03:37.540 about these people yeah when in fact one of my close friends who you know you wrote about in

03:03:43.100 your book and i interviewed ben dichter was one of the organizers but they're all supposed to be 0.94

03:03:47.800 white supremacists and Nazis. And he's a Jewish man. I just, I have a quote, the actual quote 0.82

03:03:53.020 that I was mentioning from, uh, from Alfie Raj on CBC news talking about Paul Yev. This, this is

03:03:58.600 the quote, Paul Yev's talking to young people who don't have a home, who live in their parents'

03:04:02.660 basements and are having trouble bringing girls home. That was said on the CBC. And now she's

03:04:07.600 describing the Jordan Peterson demographic, but, but there's a value in speaking to those. First

03:04:12.300 off, it's not an accurate representation, but there's a value in speaking to people that are

03:04:15.520 otherwise excluded from society of course but it just shows you the tone that the cbc takes when

03:04:20.160 talking about canadians that fund them that canadians that actually unwillingly end up

03:04:25.760 funding this journalism which has been which has been used pretty much against a significant number

03:04:31.040 of people who consider themselves to be conservatives this constant talking down this

03:04:34.240 constant looking down at canadians who are not up to up to their level or don't don't agree with what

03:04:40.160 they think it's it's it's really really gross for them to be talking like that it's elitist

03:04:45.200 speak i mean what about rachel gilmore miss tick tock uh global star who you know went on and on

03:04:52.560 and on about pierre poly of inadvertently posing with some a diagonian uh forgive me if i'm not

03:04:59.700 pronouncing it right but you know and and how terrible that was i mean he happened to show up

03:05:05.640 at an event and maybe tried to hide you know hijack pierre poly we don't really know the

03:05:12.720 Well, yeah, I mean, he did say he did it on purpose to get the media's attention.

03:05:17.020 It just goes to show you, really, that, I said this at the beginning of the show, that

03:05:20.820 the media and the left in this country have nothing to offer against Pierre Polyev other

03:05:26.100 than to use the media and to use headlines and opinion articles to paint Polyev as someone

03:05:31.680 he's not, and that's all they got.

03:05:33.840 So, of course, they're going to go to the deepest depths to do this, and it's backfiring,

03:05:40.700 And I think it's going to backfire on them significantly in just a few minutes.

03:05:43.600 We are about to see, I say about, I mean, I'm optimistic here.

03:05:47.420 If the party's prediction is correct, if you see me staring down at my computer,

03:05:51.600 because I'm desperately looking for any signs of life on the conservative leadership stage,

03:05:56.260 legitimately, when some of the procedural stuff was going on earlier,

03:06:00.000 it made me long for the dulcet tones of Tom Clark's sad trombone,

03:06:03.520 because I felt that would actually be better than a lot of what we were getting.

03:06:06.960 But now we have radio silence, dead air, which is still actually more interesting than what we were having earlier on.

03:06:13.720 I think the dead air actually should do the leadership results.

03:06:16.420 They were a lot more interesting.

03:06:17.940 But we are going to have in any any moment now, we hope, the official result in the conservative leadership race.

03:06:25.040 And just to give you a very brief primer, and I'll try to do it more interestingly than the party did.

03:06:28.940 There are five candidates.

03:06:31.780 It's a point system.

03:06:33.140 Each riding, regardless of the number of members, has 100 points.

03:06:36.180 and it's a single transferable vote.

03:06:39.260 Oh, see, now I'm sounding boring again.

03:06:40.860 So basically you need 50% of the points

03:06:42.860 on the first ballot to win.

03:06:44.300 Otherwise they invoke the ranking system

03:06:46.760 and we see how that goes.

03:06:48.280 So that's going to be the real question here.

03:06:50.980 How decisive this is?

03:06:52.360 Because Candice Bergen was talking about unity.

03:06:55.280 Aaron O'Toole was talking about unity.

03:06:57.300 This has been a fairly divisive race

03:07:00.240 at a number of occasions.

03:07:01.540 You had Jean Charest saying that

03:07:04.040 Pierre Paulyev's support for the convoy

03:07:05.740 was disqualifying. You had

03:07:07.700 a lot of nastiness between Patrick Brown

03:07:09.980 and Pierre Polyev.

03:07:11.540 Even Lesley Lewis and Roman Babber

03:07:13.820 and Polyev, they were really bickering

03:07:16.000 about who was a better supporter of the

03:07:17.660 convoy and who supported it first.

03:07:19.940 I mean, not huge stuff, but still

03:07:21.620 significant. Scott Aitchison, he's

03:07:23.740 actually tried to rise above and say, you know,

03:07:25.560 he was like Mr. Congeniality, like the why can't

03:07:27.720 we all get along candidate.

03:07:29.700 Is unity possible?

03:07:33.000 Well, that all

03:07:33.740 depends on the leader, doesn't it?

03:07:35.020 really it depends on whether the leader can pull everybody together and I think if I'm told sorry

03:07:43.860 to cut you off there we go back to Ian Brody live on stage at the Conservative Leadership Results

03:07:48.620 Show. It's my great privilege to announce the results. Nous avons un nouveau chef. We have a

03:08:02.540 new leader, the next

03:08:04.320 Prime Minister of Canada, 0.96

03:08:05.820 the prochain Premier Minister

03:08:08.260 of Canada, the Honourable

03:08:10.000 Pierre Paulyeva and Anna Paulyeva.

03:08:23.240 Well, as you just heard it there,

03:08:25.680 Pierre Paulyeva, the leader

03:08:27.700 of the Conservative Party of Canada,

03:08:30.220 with a whopping 68% of the points on the very first ballot.

03:08:35.380 I mean, we were talking a few moments ago about unity, 68%.

03:08:39.780 Like that is as decisive a victory as you can get.

03:08:43.280 Not just a first ballot win, better than Harper had in 2003, 68%.

03:08:48.420 Are you surprised by how large that margin is, Harrison?

03:08:51.960 I'm not surprised.

03:08:52.800 We all knew it was going to come.

03:08:54.020 We all knew that he was going to win, but that is a big number.

03:08:57.260 So, I mean, we all knew this was coming, right?

03:09:00.220 But nonetheless, huge night, big victory for Polyev, and the work really begins now.

03:09:06.160 The work begins for Conservatives to hold his feet to the fire.

03:09:08.220 Don't let him bounce. Don't let him fall back.

03:09:09.720 You talked about unity. With such a decisive victory, I think that, you know, the party better pull its act together.

03:09:18.420 And it's up to him, but I think the party needs to pull its act together.

03:09:21.600 You can see there Pierre Polyev taking the stage with his wife Anna, shaking Ian Brody's hand, Rob Batherson's hand,

03:09:28.320 Conservative Executive Director

03:09:30.800 Wayne Benson. We now go

03:09:32.640 to Pierre Polyev's acceptance speech.

03:09:34.840 Beautiful kiss with his wife Anna there.

03:09:36.660 Live from Ottawa, the

03:09:38.620 new leader of the Conservative Party

03:09:40.920 of Canada with again 68%

03:09:43.340 of the

03:09:44.800 points in this race. 68%.

03:09:46.820 That is huge. Specifically

03:09:48.840 68.15%.

03:09:51.080 22,993

03:09:53.800 points.

03:09:54.920 Here is Pierre Polyev

03:09:56.660 and his wife Anna.

03:09:58.320 thank you thank you thank you very much before before I begin thank you very much

03:10:21.780 Before I begin introducing my husband, allow me to express my sadness at the passing of

03:10:28.680 our queen. May she rest in peace. Long live the king. My husband and I share the same values,

03:10:38.880 although our background is a little different. I was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and my family

03:10:50.720 immigrated to Canada in 1995, in a working-class neighborhood in the east end of Montreal,

03:10:57.840 Ochelaga-Mezeneuve and Pointe-Otram.

03:11:00.960 I came to Caracas, Venezuela, and my family immigrated here in 1995 to Montreal, in Ochelaga-Mezeneuve

03:11:09.840 and Pointe-Otram.

03:11:11.840 My father, he went from wearing business suits and managing a bank to jumping on the back

03:11:34.420 of a pickup truck to collect fruits and vegetables because that's what he had to do to feed his

03:11:40.220 family. The Yolanda family, present here tonight, taught us hard work and that there is no greater

03:12:03.460 dignity than to provide for your own family.

03:12:24.960 Years later, here we are.

03:12:27.100 My father is a small business owner and my siblings went all from their humble beginnings

03:12:32.460 including me, working at McDonald's, to being a renovator, a registered practical nurse,

03:12:39.960 a proud member of the Canadian Air Forces, and here I am, la suite de Puente Tram, standing

03:12:47.660 in front of you and by my husband's side.

03:13:00.240 My husband's story is a little different.

03:13:03.140 He was born in Calgary to a teenage mother who had just lost her own mother.

03:13:09.540 She gave Pierre for adoption to two wonderful school teachers from Saskatchewan.

03:13:14.340 And again, they're all present here tonight.

03:13:30.240 So, we both grew up the same way, our families living paycheck to paycheck, knowing that filling

03:13:45.580 your tank of gas, it is not a luxury, but a way of transportation to go to work and

03:13:51.400 to bring your children to school.

03:13:55.080 So, we have grown very similarly, our families still live in waiting for the next pay fee,

03:14:03.860 knowing that making a full of money is not a luxury, but a way of transport to go work

03:14:10.640 or bring children to school.

03:14:12.940 So, ladies and gentlemen, mesdames and messieurs, a principled man, a good son, a wonderful

03:14:20.020 father, and a loving husband.

03:14:25.080 This is the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, my husband Pierre Poilievre.

03:14:55.080 I begin on behalf of everyone here, expressing my sorrow at the passing of our beloved Queen.

03:15:20.440 Two tiny words, the Queen.

03:15:24.240 But on every continent, those two words conjure up more than a picture.

03:15:30.600 They also express an idea, the idea of decency and duty.

03:15:37.000 Elizabeth II, though she might have recoiled at the thought, was the world's most famous

03:15:43.580 woman.

03:15:44.580 Yet, she was our queen, our sovereign, for almost half of our nation's existence.

03:15:50.080 In her 22 visits here and her dealings with 13 Prime Ministers, she exhibited the virtues

03:15:59.000 we most cherish—dignity, civility, humility, candor, and above all else, service.

03:16:09.680 That's why her death, though not unexpected, is nonetheless shocking.

03:16:15.500 We felt we knew her.

03:16:16.540 We felt that her strengths were ours, the strengths of a country which by good fortune

03:16:21.480 and God's grace we call home.

03:16:31.180 And that, perhaps, is why I feel a small catch in my throat when I utter the words that no

03:16:38.040 No leader has stated in this country for over seven decades, God save the King.

03:16:55.060 Tonight begins the journey to replace an old government that costs you more and delivers

03:17:00.840 you less with a new government that puts you first, your paycheck, your retirement,

03:17:06.360 home, your country. By tackling liberal inflation, we'll put you back in control of your life

03:17:21.920 and your money.

03:17:22.920 Le travail commence ce soir pour remplacer ce vieux gouvernement qui vous coûte plus

03:17:32.620 cher et qui vous apporte moins avec un nouveau gouvernement qui vous place en premier votre

03:17:39.400 chèque de paie, votre retraite, votre maison, votre pays.

03:17:43.800 And it is about you. This is not my victory, it is yours, and I have so many people to thank.

03:18:04.880 Merci à ceux et celles qui m'ont soutenu et qui se sont portés volontaires pour cette victoire.

03:18:12.980 Merci aux autres candidats d'avoir renouvelé notre parti.

03:18:17.700 Thank you to Scott Aikesson for running on, identifying and lowering taxes.

03:18:23.980 Thank you very much, Scott.

03:18:25.280 thank you to Roman Babber for standing up for and making sacrifices for freedom for everybody

03:18:37.940 and thank you thank you to his wonderful partner Nancy for championing children with autism thank

03:18:50.420 Thank you.

03:18:53.640 Thank you to Leslyn Lewis for standing for family, faith and freedom.

03:19:06.500 And to her husband John for supporting her along the way.

03:19:11.700 And thank you.

03:19:13.880 And thank you to Jean Charest for your service to our country.

03:19:29.260 And for ensuring that we still have a country that is united in which we can call ourselves

03:19:34.940 home.

03:19:35.940 Thank you for fighting for Canada, Jean, when the nation's back was against the wall in

03:19:40.300 In the 1995 referendum, you stood with courage and passion.

03:19:44.420 You defended our country, and our nation will ever be grateful for your work.

03:19:49.300 Thank you.

03:19:54.300 Absolutely.

03:19:59.300 And that's why I recognize Michelle.

03:20:20.860 For those four decades, there have been countless occasions when her husband was fighting causes

03:20:27.020 on behalf of all of us when you had to carry the extra load and take the extra sacrifice.

03:20:33.700 Countless invisible sacrifices.

03:20:36.140 And we as a nation, we as a party, we thank you, Michel, merci beaucoup.

03:20:49.680 To supporters of all of these fine candidates, I open my arms to you now, today, we are one

03:20:56.880 One party serving one country.

03:21:11.500 Most importantly, thank you to my brilliant and beautiful wife.

03:21:15.500 Merci à ma belle et brillante épouse pour avoir été mon art, mon pilier, tout au long

03:21:27.960 de cette folle aventure. Tu as rendu cela possible. Tu es ma meilleure amie et l'amour

03:21:35.420 de ma vie. À la famille d'Anaïda qui a pris soin de nos enfants lorsque nous étions

03:21:44.340 So that's all the Spanish I speak.

03:22:03.100 If you ever come over to our house for one of our grand family gatherings, it's usually

03:22:08.800 20 Latinos and Latinas arguing, telling jokes, telling stories in Spanish and one guy standing

03:22:16.380 around having no idea what anyone else is saying.

03:22:22.160 My wife's family not only raised this incredible woman, but they came to this country from

03:22:27.120 Venezuela with almost nothing.

03:22:30.200 And they have since started businesses, raised kids, served in the military and, like so

03:22:35.080 many immigrant families, built our country.

03:22:37.940 And I want to thank my brother Patrick, my father Don, his partner Ross, my mother Marlene,

03:22:51.780 and even my biological mother Jackie is here today.

03:22:56.180 We're a complicated and mixed-up bunch, like most families, like our country.

03:23:08.000 I want to thank my parents, though, in particular.

03:23:11.340 I want to thank my parents' two schoolteachers who adopted me from a teenage mother.

03:23:17.380 They taught me that it didn't matter where I came from but where I was going.

03:23:21.400 It didn't matter who I knew but what I could do.

03:23:24.300 That is the hope I want my kids to inherit.

03:23:40.640 But that hope has melted into worry for many.

03:23:45.540 Today people feel like they've lost control of their pocketbooks and their lives.

03:23:52.000 The cost of government is driving up the cost of living.

03:23:55.820 This government, this liberal government, has doubled our national debt, adding more

03:24:00.440 debt than all previous governments combined.

03:24:04.520 That means another half trillion dollars bidding up the cost of the goods we buy and

03:24:10.220 the interest we pay.

03:24:12.320 Inflationary taxes increase those costs further.

03:24:15.960 Now they plan to triple the carbon tax on gas, heat, and everything else.

03:24:22.960 The cost of the government increases the cost of life.

03:24:27.960 This government has added to our national debt more than all other governments in the history of our country.

03:24:33.960 That means $500 billion that adds to the inflation and increase the interest rates.

03:24:40.960 This is the most expensive government in history.

03:24:42.960 Meanwhile, it is the most expensive government in history, and the more they spend, the more

03:24:48.600 things cost.

03:24:49.840 The result?

03:24:51.720 Families downgrade their diets to cover the 10% year-over-year jump in food prices.

03:24:58.920 Seniors delay their retirements and watch their life savings evaporate with inflation.

03:25:06.480 30-year-olds who did everything we asked them to do, got degrees, worked hard, are trapped

03:25:13.480 in 400 square foot apartments, or worse, their parents' basements because house prices have

03:25:17.960 doubled under this government.

03:25:22.860 And those who do own homes are paying more interest on their mortgages, even though this

03:25:28.140 government promised interest rates would not rise for years.

03:25:32.360 Mères monoparentales mettent de l'eau dans le lait de leurs enfants pour pouvoir leur permettre la hausse de 10 % de la nourriture d'une année à l'autre.

03:25:42.360 Les personnes âgées voient leurs économies s'évaporer avec l'inflation.

03:25:47.360 Des jeunes de 30 ans qui ont fait tout ce que nous avons demandé d'eux,

03:25:52.360 obtenir un diplôme, travailler fort, vivre dans le sous-sol de leurs parents parce que les prix des maisons ont doublé.

03:25:58.360 and those who have a house have more interest for the hypotheque.

03:26:04.200 No wonder people are worried.

03:26:06.660 Most are lucky to be just getting by.

03:26:10.040 Many are falling behind.

03:26:11.840 And there are people in this country who are just hanging on by a thread.

03:26:18.020 These are citizens of our country.

03:26:20.460 We are their servants.

03:26:22.240 We owe them hope.

03:26:23.200 They don't need a government that sneers at them, looks down on them, calls them names.

03:26:27.780 They don't need a government to run their lives. They need a government that can run a passport office.

03:26:45.940 They need a prime minister who hears them and offers them hope that they can again afford to buy a home, a car, pay their bills, afford food,

03:26:54.100 have a secure retirement, and, God forbid, even achieve their dreams if they work hard.

03:26:58.840 They need a Prime Minister who will restore that hope, and I will be that Prime Minister.

03:27:15.900 We will rekindle the hope that people's paychecks and savings can again buy a decent life.

03:27:20.200 We will make government affordable so that life is affordable.

03:27:22.400 We'll cap spending and cut waste to reverse inflationary deficits and taxes.

03:27:27.220 That includes axing new taxes on your paycheck, gas, heat, and other essentials.

03:27:36.180 It means fighting climate change with technology and not with taxes.

03:27:46.140 We will restore hope that hard work will again pay off.

03:27:49.400 Do you know that today, if a single mom with three kids earning $55,000 a year goes out and earn another dollar, she loses 80 cents of it to taxes and clawbacks?

03:28:02.180 So she can't get ahead. 0.57

03:28:04.400 I will reform programs and cut taxes so that when that single mother and people like her earn more, they keep more, and hard work always pays off in this country. 1.00

03:28:19.400 Instead of creating more cash, let's create more of what cash buys. 0.99

03:28:38.640 Think of it.

03:28:39.720 If you've got 10 loaves of bread and $10, well, it's a buck, a loaf.

03:28:46.280 If you double the number of dollars to 20 but you still have 10 loaves of bread, well

03:28:50.240 then it's $2.

03:28:51.860 You see, spending more doesn't get us more.

03:28:55.620 We need to make more.

03:28:57.220 So instead of doubling the money, let's double the bread.

03:29:00.740 Let's remove the government gatekeepers to build more homes, grow more food, and produce

03:29:09.540 more energy right here in Canada.

03:29:19.520 We need to restore the hope of home ownership.

03:29:21.720 Right now, youths and newcomers can't get a home because local government gatekeepers

03:29:26.180 block housing with heavy fees and long delays for building permits, leaving us with the

03:29:31.140 fewest houses per capita of any country in the G7, even though we have the most land

03:29:38.260 to build on.

03:29:39.260 of government. We'll require big cities that want federal infrastructure money to speed up and lower 0.74

03:29:44.060 the cost of permits and to approve affordable housing around all transit stations so that our

03:29:50.400 young people can live there and don't even need to afford a car. We will also sell off 15% of the

03:29:59.840 underutilized 37,000 federal buildings to turn them into housing and use the proceeds of sale

03:30:04.980 to reduce our deficit. In other words, stop printing money, start building homes for our people.

03:30:13.700 Speaking of homes, we must make stuff here at home again, here in Canada. Look, trade is great,

03:30:23.860 trade is just great, but we learned during COVID that we can't count on the rest of the world to

03:30:28.100 take care of us. That is why we must be the best place on earth for workers and businesses to build

03:30:33.620 factories mine critical minerals for electric cars and develop other resources right now

03:30:39.300 we lose wages because we import 130 000 barrels of overseas oil mostly from dictators every single

03:30:48.020 day even though we have the third largest supply right here in canada and that is all because our

03:30:53.780 government prefers dirty dictator oil to responsible canadian energy

03:30:58.980 We will repeal this government's anti-energy laws and replace them with a law that protects

03:31:08.980 our environment, consults First Nations and gets things built. We will greenlight Newfoundland

03:31:18.700 and Labrador's planned increase in oil production, which will allow us to fully replace every single

03:31:25.520 barrel of oil we're importing from abroad, and within five years, we will set the goal

03:31:30.520 to end dictator oil in Canada altogether.

03:31:43.520 And instead of helping Putin to sell his natural gas to Europe to finance his war against Ukraine,

03:31:50.520 Un gouvernement poilievre soutiendra des projets comme GNL Québec.

03:31:54.520 Nous savons tous que les Québécois ont une source d'énergie propre, l'hydroélectricité,

03:32:00.520 qu'ils peuvent utiliser pour liquifier le gaz naturel sans émissions.

03:32:04.520 L'Europe a besoin d'acheter du gaz. Voici le choix.

03:32:08.520 Certains préfèrent que l'argent du gaz naturel finance les armes de guerre de Poutine.

03:32:14.520 We will greenlight mining and manufacturing of minerals like lithium, cobalt and copper to make electric cars and batteries.

03:32:31.360 We will allow for technology to be unleashed here instead of our money to go to foreign dictatorships.

03:32:36.420 And that also includes repatriating food production by standing with our farmers here at home.

03:32:44.520 This government's high energy taxes and proposed fertilizer cuts will only drive food production

03:32:56.140 abroad, to more polluting foreign jurisdictions, which would have to then burn fuel to ship,

03:33:02.760 train, and truck that food back to us. But didn't we learn how irresponsible it was to rely on the

03:33:08.940 rest of the world to provide us with our essentials during COVID? A poly of government

03:33:13.680 repeal these taxes and fertilizer mandates to get out of the way and off the backs of our farmers so

03:33:19.200 that we can grow affordable food, feed our people, and be the breadbasket of the world. 0.56

03:33:31.280 We will restore to First Nations more control of their land, money, and decision-making. 0.96

03:33:37.600 And those communities that want to develop resources and invite commerce to fight poverty

03:33:43.360 will have an ally rather than an obstacle in me. We must remove other unneeded barriers

03:33:52.940 by axing the disastrous Arrive Can app and by ending the remaining COVID vaccine mandates

03:34:08.180 to let people work and travel freely.

03:34:24.180 We will bring hope.

03:34:26.180 We will bring hope to doctors, nurses, engineers and others

03:34:30.180 who are immigrants to this country but are blocked

03:34:33.180 from working in their professions for no other reason 1.00

03:34:36.180 than that they come from another country we'll team up with provinces to guarantee that within 60 0.69

03:34:40.980 days an immigrant applying to work in their profession will get a yes or no based on their 0.98

03:34:45.700 tested abilities not based on where they come from we'll back up 30 we will back up 30 30 000 0.99

03:34:57.220 small study loans for those in need of time off work to study up to the canadian standard enough

03:35:02.740 talking remove the gatekeepers to get more doctors more nurses more engineers and more

03:35:09.300 inflation-proof paychecks for our brilliant immigrants

03:35:15.140 and we will restore the hope of safe streets a hope that has turned into fear in all too many

03:35:24.180 places after killings in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and, most recently, Saskatchewan.

03:35:33.560 Weakened laws allow chronic and violent re-offenders out of prison early at great danger to our

03:35:40.500 people. Instead of spending a fortune targeting licensed and law-abiding, trained and tested

03:35:48.320 firearms owners, Conservatives will bolster the laws, bolster the borders and put the

03:35:53.120 real criminals in jail.

03:36:23.120 place toute spatiale dans mon corps. Mon père, qui a des origines canadiennes-françaises

03:36:29.500 et qui vient d'un village françasquois, m'a transmis l'importance de préserver

03:36:34.220 le français dès mon plus jeune âge. En grandissant à Calgary, malheureusement, j'avais trop

03:36:40.000 peu d'occasion de le parler, donc j'ai beaucoup de travail à faire. Maintenant,

03:36:46.520 je continue de perfectionner cette langue que j'aime, langue fondatrice de notre pays.

03:36:52.440 With my wife, Montréal, we transmit our children to the francophones, who are going to the

03:37:01.800 francophones.

03:37:02.800 Our children, Baby Cruz and Valentina, will have the French language as the first language,

03:37:10.880 the second language, of course, is the Spanish language, and after that, the third language,

03:37:17.500 the English language.

03:37:18.500 I'm going to go further in talking about Quebec. I would say that the conservatives from all over the country have a lot to learn from the Québécois.

03:37:26.500 The Québécois defend their heritage, their culture and their language. They don't excuse me.

03:37:32.500 La nation québécoise tient tête au hawkisme.

03:37:40.500 Mon gouvernement ne va pas se mettre le nez dans tout.

03:37:47.500 Un état fédéral plus petit va faire grandir des citoyennes du Québec et du Canada.

03:37:53.500 Small government makes for big citizens who own their homes, build their dreams, raise their families, look out for their neighbors, and earn powerful paychecks and savings free from inflation and overtaxation.

03:38:08.520 We will restore Canada's promise in a country where it doesn't matter who you love,

03:38:13.780 or if your name is Smith or Singh, Martin or Mohammed, Chang or Charles.

03:38:18.840 A country where the dreamer, the farmer, the worker, the entrepreneur, the survivor, the fighter,

03:38:26.160 the ones who get knocked down but keep getting back up and keep going can achieve their purpose.

03:38:30.620 A country where the son of a teenage mother adopted by two teachers can dare to run for Prime Minister of Canada.

03:38:38.520 In the words of the great Canadian Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker,

03:38:55.000 I am a Canadian, a free Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship God in my own way,

03:39:02.120 free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong,

03:39:05.900 free to choose those who shall govern my country.

03:39:09.240 This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all of mankind.

03:39:15.060 Merci beaucoup. Thank you very much.

03:39:27.000 That was Conservative leader Pierre Polyev,

03:39:31.320 Just elected by members with a sweeping 68.15% of the vote.

03:39:38.220 A very solid, very strong introduction by his wife, Anna Paliyev,

03:39:42.600 who spoke in three languages, as did Pierre Paliyev as well.

03:39:46.880 And there you see them leaving the stage.

03:39:48.900 This was quite significant.

03:39:51.000 He talked about all of the things he's going to do for the Conservative base in those remarks.

03:39:55.760 He talked about gun rights.

03:39:56.820 He talked about getting rid of the gatekeepers,

03:39:58.880 the theme that really dominated his campaign.

03:40:02.080 He spoke about a lot of these things that have really mattered to a lot of the people,

03:40:05.960 but also talking about broadening that coalition, broadening that party,

03:40:09.980 which I think is a very key message,

03:40:11.660 and it goes to what we were talking about in the studio early on.

03:40:15.660 If you're just tuned in, this is True North, a live leadership election results show,

03:40:21.040 and what we'll see now is, of course, the presumable that we were talking about earlier,

03:40:26.580 media hand-wringing about this,

03:40:28.340 Polyev derangement syndrome, and

03:40:30.420 again, I should say, I mean, this is a coverage

03:40:32.340 that we've already had a few complaints from

03:40:34.540 people that are PPC supporters, saying

03:40:36.580 we're promoting the Conservatives. I said, well,

03:40:38.720 if there was a PPC leadership race tonight,

03:40:40.640 we'd be covering it as well, but there isn't.

03:40:42.520 There's a Conservative, or was a Conservative

03:40:44.420 leadership race, and now Pierre Polyev

03:40:46.700 has won it. Now, I just want to

03:40:48.560 take a quick look here through the

03:40:50.640 results. So the Conservatives have published

03:40:52.540 these results, and you can go through riding

03:40:54.640 by riding and see

03:40:56.000 who the winners were. And I haven't gone through everything, but the one thing that's notable is

03:41:00.620 that in every province but Quebec, there were only two ridings where Polyev was not the winner.

03:41:06.300 And those two ridings were Ottawa Centre and University Rosedale. University Rosedale being

03:41:11.580 Christopher Freeland's riding, Ottawa Centre being formerly Catherine McKenna's riding. I can't

03:41:16.180 remember who's in it now, but I think that's actually very key here. So in all of these parts

03:41:21.760 of the country, he was winning, and not just narrowly, like 60%, 70%, over 80% of the vote.

03:41:26.640 When you get to Quebec, he's winning in some ridings. You start to see, however,

03:41:30.060 some Jean Charest wins as well. And like I said, I haven't done a detailed crunch.

03:41:33.820 But again, I'm looking through here. Saint-Jean, Paulyev, 70%.

03:41:38.280 Cynthia Sint-Pagot, 52% for Paulyev.

03:41:41.640 Marc-Arel Fortin, 59%. Like, a lot of these Quebec ridings where he was still edging out

03:41:46.440 the former Quebec Premier. So, Sue-Anne Levy joins us in studio.

03:41:51.060 as does Harrison Faulkner. Sue Ann, obviously this is for Conservative members. It's not the

03:41:56.160 general population. But do you think Polyev is a guy that could actually pull out a surprise in

03:42:00.240 Quebec in an election? One would hope. As we talked before, there is a tremendous,

03:42:06.340 tremendous disenchantment right across the country. And I think these results

03:42:10.080 show that Pierre Polyev spoke to disenchanted, disenfranchised Canadians. He spoke to people

03:42:19.940 who were you know just so upset with the way things went during covid and post covid i mean

03:42:27.240 i know that he even talked about the ariv can app that he's going to get rid of it well let's hope

03:42:31.720 we don't have to wait till 2025 for him to do that for the next election but you know the big

03:42:38.700 thing is that he's a threat a huge huge threat to justin trudeau and i'm wondering now if he'll

03:42:45.720 actually show up to work answer questions in parliament you know and you know this might

03:42:52.740 light a firecracker under him um but uh yes i i think that uh that he has the chance to really

03:43:01.220 pull it off right across canada we have uh two colleagues in ottawa right now elie cantin nantel

03:43:06.360 and jasmine moulton i want to go to jasmine who joins us by the telephone here jasmine good to

03:43:12.740 have you with us thanks very much for calling in my pleasure thanks for having me so i don't think

03:43:17.340 there was a huge surprise in the result i think the margin was the big question but i kind of how

03:43:23.260 did this feel in the room because it looked like this was very much him speaking to a crowd of

03:43:27.860 supporters andrew it was absolutely electric let me tell you it was standing room only at one point

03:43:34.900 i had to run to the bathroom and try to make my way back to the media section and it was very

03:43:40.000 difficult yeah you got to hold it in events like this it's quite difficult yeah so yeah i would

03:43:45.440 have appreciated that tip before but uh i'll know for next time uh no it's it's the room is packed

03:43:50.560 there's a certain energy here that really is palpable um and it really there was this

03:43:56.000 overwhelming sense of unity as well there uh you know was barely anybody um in their seat the

03:44:02.480 moment before it was announced and then certainly as it was announced uh the crowd uh erupted so

03:44:08.260 let me ask you then about whether there was anyone who you could see really wasn't applauding

03:44:13.780 because we know it did get very tense between the Charae campaign and the Polly F campaign in

03:44:18.780 particular did there seem to be anyone that you know is very deliberately not having any of this

03:44:23.340 certainly not from my perspective the one notable thing that I saw was the message delivered from

03:44:31.100 Erin O'Toole was done as a pre-recorded video message and maybe I'm digging too much into that

03:44:36.700 I thought maybe he would have delivered it live. Perhaps he is here. I'm not sure.

03:44:41.700 But that was perhaps the one notable, you know, absence tonight.

03:44:47.340 But it should really be confirmed whether he is here or not. I'm not sure.

03:44:50.100 But his message was delivered by pre-recorded video.

03:44:54.320 That said, everybody really did seem excited at how high the number was, 68 percent.

03:45:01.560 And for any other kind of fellow nerd that's on a political related group chats, everyone had, you know, wagers going, how high is this going to go?

03:45:11.100 I never came across anyone guessing anything as high as 68 percent.

03:45:15.100 And so I think there was a level of surprise as well as, you know, just happiness that there's a united party here and that they're all moving forward united under under a leader.

03:45:27.500 What would you say? I mean, you heard the speech there.

03:45:30.780 He wasn't talking about some of the really red meat issues. 0.60

03:45:33.200 I didn't hear any defund the CBC.

03:45:34.840 But what were the issues that really seemed to resonate with the crowd the most?

03:45:39.260 Well, perhaps not surprisingly, Arrive Can when he said he ditched that up.

03:45:43.220 There was a massive applause.

03:45:45.420 But it's, you know, you got to give the guy a word or applause for being consistent.

03:45:50.920 It was a lot of the things that he had talked about in his campaign.

03:45:53.720 There weren't any real surprises here tonight.

03:45:56.100 It was housing, you know, hard work should pay.

03:45:59.960 People should be able to get ahead instead of, you know, when you ask them to do everything right,

03:46:04.220 that they're still struggling to afford a home, that sort of thing.

03:46:07.540 So it really was consistent with the message he campaigned on.

03:46:11.560 So what would you say?

03:46:13.160 I mean, I don't know because the Conservative Party of Canada shut off its feed relatively soon after.

03:46:18.400 Is he working in the room? Is he doing photos? Or did he get out of the room?

03:46:22.660 He, to be honest, there's a lot of jubilant music going on in the background right now.

03:46:27.840 it sounds like maybe east coast i i rushed out to take this phone call but i'd be surprised if

03:46:33.040 he's gone because there's a lot of people that are really really excited to cheer him on and not

03:46:37.180 just him uh his wife as well made uh quite an impressive speech but i think surprised a lot

03:46:43.300 of people that maybe weren't as familiar with her she's uh very impressive and uh i think that

03:46:49.060 uh there were a lot of people here who were happy to hear uh hear from her and that might have been

03:46:53.820 really impressed um on their first impression of her all right well i'll let you get back in there

03:46:59.060 jasmine molten in ottawa if you can get uh within arm's reach uh pierre poly have call us back and

03:47:03.620 give him the phone we'd love to chat with him but uh thank you very much jasmine for coming on keep

03:47:07.340 up the great work in ottawa thanks andrew all right that was jasmine molten we also have elite

03:47:12.460 cantin nantel so the unity question is going to be the big one and i i don't expect and i don't

03:47:17.780 think i'm speaking out of turn here jean charade who announced that he is seeking a seat for the

03:47:22.820 Pierre Polyev led conservatives. But I guess the question is, and I don't want to be snide here,

03:47:27.700 and I don't want to be glib, but we're talking about in the case of Jean Charest, a guy who

03:47:32.260 commanded, you know, 16% of the points here. So if he's not throwing his support behind Pierre

03:47:39.440 Polyev, I really don't think it matters. No, it doesn't. I think he's going to drift away into

03:47:45.960 the sunset and probably go back to why why i i don't think i don't think he's going to stick

03:47:52.320 around like i said he's kind of like that fly by night you know drop in candidate um and uh he's

03:48:00.400 he's not going to be a factor at all i was going to say before the vote the results were announced

03:48:06.040 that what really drives unity is a common purpose and a common purpose one would hope with a really

03:48:13.040 good policy platform and a strong leader is beating justin trudeau isn't that what the

03:48:19.440 conservative party is all about and this is what they should be focusing on in the next two years

03:48:24.320 not petty infighting and one would hope that someone as strong and i think he is a strong

03:48:29.760 leader as pauliev will keep that that party together well pauliev is certainly a strong

03:48:35.760 leader uh suanne he's a strong speaker as well i think the unity question when looking at that

03:48:41.440 number 68 percent that's a that is a major major victory and that in my opinion i don't think that

03:48:46.400 68 percent represents where the party establishment is right now polyam in my opinion ran outside of

03:48:52.960 the line of the political the conservative party establishment and i think really the unity is

03:48:56.960 going to happen whether or not it's it's really the people that work inside the party that really

03:49:01.680 are the establishment in the party they are the ones that talk about unity and they they kind of

03:49:05.760 are the ones that decide when the party's unified or not and it's the media it'll be up to the party

03:49:10.560 in my opinion to react to this result and recognize hey you know what it looks as though

03:49:14.360 we've been offside a little bit with our base with conservatives in this country i think they

03:49:19.520 have to react to the 68 percent polio needs to stick to what he's been doing stick to what has

03:49:23.840 been successful and don't forget don't forget who brought him to the dance here this was this was

03:49:28.200 the real real conservative base this was not an erin o'toole andrew sheer kind of spin-off he

03:49:33.660 cannot abandon the people that brought him to this dance and if he doesn't he'll be successful

03:49:37.860 Yeah, and the question is, is he expanding the base in an election context, a general election, without compromising the base and compromising the values?

03:49:46.700 And I think that is going to be key.

03:49:48.000 I just want to share very briefly here.

03:49:49.800 We've had some congratulations pour in, including from Justin Trudeau, who sent a tweet out at 8.36.

03:49:56.780 Congratulations, Pierre Polyev, on being elected leader of the Conservative Party tonight.

03:50:01.240 As parliamentarians, we must work together to deliver results for people across the country.

03:50:05.620 Canadians expect and deserve nothing less. Jean Charest has also tweeted, congratulations to

03:50:11.580 Pierre Palliev and his team. You deserve a clean slate and the opportunity to unite the membership.

03:50:16.660 We must end the internal mudslinging. Only Liberals benefit from a divided Conservative

03:50:21.120 party. Thank you to Roman Babber, Scott Aitchison, and Lesley Lewis for stepping up.

03:50:26.220 A competitive race is healthy in party politics. Congratulations to you and your teams as well.

03:50:31.260 thank you to my supporters and team members i'm so proud of our campaign we stuck to our

03:50:36.860 principles we will have a critical role to play in shaping our forward-looking policy agenda

03:50:42.600 and attracting new voters to the conservative party i will have more to say tomorrow so maybe

03:50:47.280 i spoke too soon and maybe sean charay does want to be a part in some way of what's going to happen

03:50:52.140 or maybe he's going to run for the conservative party of quebec i might be a little late for that

03:50:55.940 one with the election ongoing. Again, a very gracious statement, and I don't want to dunk on

03:51:01.000 the guy, but I honestly do wonder, because it was clear early on that this was going to be his

03:51:06.560 problem. His campaign never really launched. It never really had a large success, and he stuck

03:51:11.760 in. He didn't withdraw. But I honestly wonder what the calculation was for him, because here

03:51:17.600 was a guy who's making money in the private sector. He's had his time. He knows he would

03:51:21.240 be coming back with baggage what did he think he saw in the conservative party that no one else

03:51:27.900 saw i think he i think he wanted the opportunity to be prime minister i think unfortunately that's

03:51:34.200 really what it was i don't i don't really think it was anything other than the opportunity for him to

03:51:37.740 seize a role in political office that he's always wanted um but again it was a major

03:51:43.420 miscalculation the the decision to demonize the freedom convoy when we know that this country is

03:51:48.480 in the wake of that political protest this political protest has morphed into something

03:51:52.380 in my opinion that well it started off as a protest outside of politics but it's become

03:51:56.860 this political force that's uncontrollable if you stand in the way of this of the convoy protest to

03:52:01.620 this day you are going to feel it and people can rise to the occasion people can stand in the way

03:52:06.900 of it and it is it is it continues to take victims erin o'toole was the first john chariot who chose

03:52:12.100 to demonize that convoy protest is now the second major victim to fall from this and it's it's really

03:52:17.180 a major political force in this country, Andrew.

03:52:19.140 You would know that the best.

03:52:20.520 But I really think this was a miscalculation,

03:52:22.720 and what he saw was an opportunity to seek a higher public office, unfortunately,

03:52:26.940 and he made a big miscalculation on that.

03:52:29.880 I think he wanted the UK thing, where you just win the leadership

03:52:32.360 and you're the Prime Minister immediately

03:52:33.760 without actually having to go through the process to get there.

03:52:37.540 Sue Ann, go ahead. 0.53

03:52:38.620 I think his candidacy was evidence of the old boys' network in the party

03:52:43.360 trying to grab on, keep...

03:52:45.900 I mean, didn't Brian Mulroney endorse him?

03:52:49.080 Yes, yes.

03:52:49.660 Did some of the old guard endorse him?

03:52:51.680 And I think he, you know, and I don't want to say this because I'm not as young as you fine people.

03:52:59.060 But so it's not an age thing, but he's yesterday's man.

03:53:02.500 He did not read the tea leaves.

03:53:04.840 His old guard did not read the tea leaves.

03:53:07.700 There has been a sea change in Canada.

03:53:10.400 People are begging for change, and they're disgusted and tired of all the crime, the lax consequences for said crime, and all the impulsive and impetuous decisions that have been made by the Liberal government that have affected our lives.

03:53:31.800 I have to say, this John Charest statement, to say that it's time for us to end the mudslinging, the internal mudslinging, to release that so soon after this campaign in which he was the chief mudslinger, he was the lead mudslinger in this campaign, and it wasn't just him, of course, it was his campaign.

03:53:48.380 I think that's I think that's that's a pretty interesting thing to say I can't really believe

03:53:53.440 he said that to be honest that everyone who's followed this race knows that his campaign have

03:53:58.760 been going after Pierre Polyev and basically parroting the attacks the legacy media and the

03:54:04.520 CBC have been have been laying on to Pierre Polyev talk about mudslinging I mean it's going to end up

03:54:09.980 having to be people that support him and his campaign and his people that that were involved 0.99

03:54:14.620 in his campaign to actually recognize yeah they they're the ones that need to stop the mudslinging

03:54:18.220 Scott Acheson has tweeted out a photo of Pierre Polyev.

03:54:22.280 So he's going for the full headshot here.

03:54:24.120 He says, congratulations to my friend Pierre Polyev

03:54:26.340 on becoming the new Conservative Party leader.

03:54:28.760 Pierre will be a great leader for our party

03:54:30.540 and a great Prime Minister.

03:54:32.060 He says he has my full support

03:54:33.480 and I can't wait to get to work with Pierre

03:54:35.060 and our Conservative team to deliver on his plan

03:54:37.600 to get Canada back on track.

03:54:39.620 I'm extraordinarily proud of the campaign we've run,

03:54:42.000 a campaign based on hope and respect,

03:54:44.320 solid Conservative principles,

03:54:45.640 and a vision for a better Canada.

03:54:48.220 I am extremely grateful and blessed for the thousands of Canadians who purchased memberships, donated to my campaign, and voted for me as leader.

03:54:55.220 I hope to speak to many of you in the coming weeks to thank you for your support and encourage you to support our next leader, Pierre Polyev, from the bottom of my heart.

03:55:03.380 Thank you.

03:55:04.260 I do want to speak about Scott Aitchison for just a moment because I do feel like in a lot of ways he was a bit of a punchline because he wasn't well-known.

03:55:12.800 And a lot of people were looking and saying, like, who are you? Why are you here?

03:55:15.320 However, he's always been a consummate gentleman in the race, and more importantly, he's always been the most policy-focused in the race. 0.97

03:55:24.380 I mean, he actually was coming out with some really red meat issues that I wish Pierre Polyev would have.

03:55:28.880 Like, he was talking about, let's recognize Taiwan as a country, and let's end supply management, and let's support free speech.

03:55:35.420 And I did find he was a little bit, he pulled his punches a little bit on some stuff, because he wanted to be the nice guy.

03:55:40.740 But I do think there's a place for someone that's going to be that real sort of policy-want conservative.

03:55:46.700 And I don't know if he's a white middle-aged guy from Ontario.

03:55:50.880 So he's not like the diverse face you necessarily put forward.

03:55:53.880 But I do hope that Pierre has a spot for him on his team.

03:55:56.540 Do you think that will happen?

03:55:58.000 I think it has to happen because I think one sign of a true leader is to bring this tent together.

03:56:07.440 I mean, Lesley Lewis is another one.

03:56:10.060 and um i don't know what's going to happen to sheree but roman babber as well i think um i mean

03:56:17.400 rovin is sitting in the uh ontario you know he's ontario focused but um i think pauliev has to

03:56:26.480 bring these people together um because that's how you unite a party yeah and i mean i go back to

03:56:35.460 2017. And in that case, you actually had, I think, like 375,000 conservative leadership

03:56:41.180 candidates. It was like, because you'd had, you would just come off of conservatives being in

03:56:44.980 government. So like anyone who had ever, you know, been within arm's reach of the cabinet room was

03:56:48.920 running. And you had people like, again, there were former cabinet ministers that in this race

03:56:52.460 would have been heavyweights. But at the time, you're like, who the heck is that? Oh, yeah,

03:56:55.420 I think I remember. But the one thing that was interesting is of the, you know, it's like 13

03:56:58.900 people, all of them were given shadow cabinet roles after the race by Andrew Scheer, all of

03:57:04.460 the ones that had, I actually, I think Maxine Bernier was given like a very small one, which I

03:57:09.380 know miffed some people, but everyone who had a seat with the exception of Deepak O'Brien, who

03:57:13.900 turned it down, they were all given a role. So there was a signal that, you know what, we believe

03:57:18.500 you all have a place here. Fast forward to 2020, Leslie Lewis was a leadership candidate. She did

03:57:25.060 very well. And she was the reason O'Toole won. She then gets elected as a member of parliament

03:57:30.500 And it's just shoved to like the back of the back of the back bench by Aaron O'Toole, which did not sit well with a lot of people.

03:57:37.640 Leslie Lewis has a very bright future in the conservative movement and in Canadian politics.

03:57:42.840 I believe that.

03:57:44.140 And I think a strong leader, a strong conservative government would recognize that Leslie Lewis plays a very important role.

03:57:51.120 She not only is the only social conservative in the race with the courage to say what she says,

03:57:55.480 But she's also, as you mentioned, Andrew, someone who gives the image to people who may not be considered conservatives to say, yes, there is a conservative that looks like me.

03:58:10.400 That's an important thing.

03:58:11.380 And you don't want to go too deep down that.

03:58:13.260 You definitely don't want to go into the identity politics place.

03:58:15.940 but to have someone with the education uh of leslie lewis and the background and the ability

03:58:22.720 and the courage which i think is the most important in like leslie lewis that that is

03:58:26.960 very valuable and i think she has a role i would not be surprised to set at the top to see roman

03:58:30.900 babber uh be an mp and be a successful mp at that in ontario he certainly carved out a space for in

03:58:37.180 the movement for himself and you know i talked we talked about ajison in i think the the last

03:58:41.340 debate we had, the last debate live show

03:58:43.360 we did, where I thought, you know,

03:58:45.220 Aitchison would be quite a good party president

03:58:47.420 actually, just someone who is all about

03:58:49.400 unity, someone who's all about showing respect.

03:58:51.580 So you're like kicking him out of caucus right now

03:58:53.300 and like making him be the next Rob Bathurst.

03:58:54.880 He would be great

03:58:56.880 in either role, but I do think that

03:58:58.540 what we saw actually was a

03:59:00.800 conservative party, the establishment,

03:59:03.220 the people that lead the party behind the scenes,

03:59:05.080 the non-political people, they are

03:59:06.920 out of touch with, I think, the base. And it would be good

03:59:08.920 to see someone like Scott

03:59:10.740 Aitchison in a role like that not to say he isn't a good parliamentarian or wouldn't be good in

03:59:14.160 cabinet but I think really we haven't talked a lot about Lesley Lewis tonight I think a lot of

03:59:18.840 people watching this would like us to talk about Lesley Lewis she in my opinion deserves a lot of

03:59:24.300 respect and it's it astonishes me how much courage she has compared to everyone else so she can say

03:59:30.120 what she really believes and I think a lot of people pull back they don't want to embrace the

03:59:33.680 social conservative issues their ideas they may hold but at Lesley Lewis she embraces it and she

03:59:38.580 has the courage to say, and I think that deserves a lot of respect.

03:59:41.040 One thing I'll say, Leslie Lewis

03:59:42.620 has also added her congratulations

03:59:44.540 to Pierre Paulyev's

03:59:46.500 win. She says, congratulations, Pierre, and congrats

03:59:48.740 to all my fellow candidates. Let's

03:59:50.600 work together to make Canada

03:59:52.480 a free, hopeful, and prosperous

03:59:54.520 nation once again. I want to get your thoughts

03:59:56.560 on this, Sue Ann, but I want to say about

03:59:58.640 Leslie Lewis

04:00:00.460 first. I was at one of her events

04:00:02.300 covering it, and it was in Kitchener, Ontario,

04:00:04.600 and I had a guy come up, and he said,

04:00:06.600 you know, it really seems like True North is

04:00:08.100 you know, promoting Pierre Polyev. He said, there's a lot more content about Pierre.

04:00:11.860 And I had said, you know, one of the big things that I would remind people is that Pierre Polyev's

04:00:15.980 campaign was sending us stuff pretty much every day when he was announcing policy. He was sending

04:00:21.880 stuff nonstop. He had a lot of policy, a lot of announcements. And we had said early on as a team

04:00:26.440 that we were going to cover all of this. And I'm glad that we did. And I think there was a

04:00:30.760 significant reason to do that. So a lot of the campaigns I really wish had done a lot more

04:00:35.080 because Lesley Lewis, she knew she wasn't going to win.

04:00:37.240 But at the same time, she could have, I think, done a lot better a job

04:00:40.700 at being out there front and center.

04:00:42.920 And, you know, I'll certainly shoulder responsibility.

04:00:45.520 Per Pollyev was a front runner, and I think we gave him

04:00:47.680 probably more attention in the grand scheme of things.

04:00:50.040 But we also had Sheree on all the time as often as he would come on.

04:00:54.080 Lesley Lewis we had on.

04:00:55.140 We had all the candidates on.

04:00:56.840 So we are going to do our best with that.

04:01:00.540 Sue Ann, you were going to say something, though.

04:01:01.900 Oh, I'm just going to say that I'm very impressed with her.

04:01:03.840 and uh i think she's one tough cookie and as you said harrison not afraid to say how she thinks

04:01:11.720 and i mean she she beats the stereotype i mean you know liberals like to think like to call

04:01:20.060 conservatives all kinds of names the progressives think we're this that and the other thing

04:01:24.940 and i mean for example i'm a gay conservative married openly gay married to a woman that's 0.86

04:01:33.080 not supposed to happen. So, I mean, I think all of these people need to be embraced. Lesley needs

04:01:38.840 to be embraced. And I hope that she gets a prominent position in Pierre Polyev caucus.

04:01:46.700 All right. We have a couple of guests that we want to get to in our post-show commentary here. I want

04:01:51.320 to just say, first off, this is only something that we're able to do with the support of True

04:01:55.540 North Nation. So if you are a supporter of this, you're watching this, you enjoy what we're doing

04:02:00.040 here, please head over to donate.tnc.news, donate.tnc.news. If you hear the sirens outside,

04:02:06.900 they are not coming for us. I believe they've just completely driven by as well. We are going

04:02:12.060 to talk to Conservative MP Corey Tokar in just a couple of moments, who is dialing in on the phone.

04:02:18.060 Do we have Corey on the line? I don't know. We're just checking here. We're doing things live and

04:02:25.180 And we're trying to get to as many people as we can here.

04:02:28.180 Now, Corey Tokar, I will say, is an MP who was supporting Pierre Polyev.

04:02:34.000 So he was one of the several members of the Conservative Caucus who donated or supported and endorsed Polyev.

04:02:39.380 He is from Saskatoon University.

04:02:41.700 And we have Corey on the line now.

04:02:44.320 Corey, good to talk to you.

04:02:45.140 Thanks for calling in.

04:02:47.660 Thanks for having me on the show.

04:02:49.100 If you're in the conventional, I'm just walking over to your booth, I believe.

04:02:52.100 Well, we're in the studio.

04:02:53.420 So you will find our colleagues there, but let me just ask you, Corey, as you're talking to our audience now from Ottawa,

04:02:59.740 no surprises about the results, I don't think, but was the margin what you had expected, this 68% victory on the first ballot?

04:03:08.700 No, I don't think anyone is expecting that high, but, you know, it's a symptom of all the excitement that we've seen there from coast to coast

04:03:16.060 and the people that came out to the rallies and bought memberships.

04:03:18.700 It shouldn't shock us, but it shocked me.

04:03:21.460 You're obviously the Member of Parliament for Saskatoon University,

04:03:24.820 so I think it's safe to say that you are in one of the safer of the safer seats in Canada,

04:03:29.740 being from Saskatchewan.

04:03:31.140 We saw in the last election a leader that said he was going to deliver in Ontario

04:03:35.480 and deliver in Quebec, and that didn't materialize.

04:03:38.380 So what is it that you think Pierre Polyev is able to do

04:03:41.200 to actually reclaim that victory that the Conservatives haven't seen since 2011 with Stephen Harper?

04:03:46.800 I think the number one thing that Pierre brings to the table is the ability to explain complex solutions, conservative solutions to complex problems that everyday Canadians face.

04:03:59.420 So if you think of, go to your Tim Hortons, you sit down and you talk about the average problems of an average Canadian, Pierre's listening to those people.

04:04:09.020 Pierre is acting on policy and is acting on what he's hearing from everyday Canadians,

04:04:15.960 and that's a little bit different than our past offerings to Canadians.

04:04:19.520 I think Pierre bridges some gaps that we've never been successful in,

04:04:24.940 and I'm very excited to see what he's going to do in a general election.

04:04:28.580 I'm very, very hopeful for the future.

04:04:30.880 One of the themes in Pierre's acceptance speech tonight was this idea of really reaching out,

04:04:35.300 expanding the base and doing it in a way that doesn't compromise on the values he's been

04:04:39.740 campaigning on. If this happens, that we have an election, as some of the rumors were suggesting

04:04:44.700 in the fall, perhaps, do you think that's enough time to really mount a majority win,

04:04:49.380 to introduce Pierre Paulyev to Canadian voters and get the victory?

04:04:54.980 Time will tell. I don't trust these Liberals. I think they're going to pull a fast one on us.

04:04:59.700 will be ready if it isn't in the fall here, but I believe the messaging and the person,

04:05:06.840 more importantly, the person of Pierre Polyev on what he represents, resonates in this leadership

04:05:12.140 race. He'll resonate in the general. We're going to take back Canada. We're going to save Canada,

04:05:17.000 I believe, with Pierre Polyev. And just one last question for you, Corey. I know you want to get

04:05:21.000 to the celebrations there. At times, this race was a little bit tense. We had some candidates

04:05:25.940 that were being supported by different MPs.

04:05:28.380 There were some harsh words at times.

04:05:30.440 Are you confident that you and your caucus colleagues

04:05:33.020 can meet the unity challenge ahead of you?

04:05:36.300 Absolutely.

04:05:37.020 If it's a little bit of an indication,

04:05:38.220 it's only been, what, 20 minutes, if that,

04:05:40.320 since Gary got off the stage,

04:05:43.180 and I've talked to some of the other candidates

04:05:45.080 and some of the other MPs,

04:05:46.920 and we're one team as much as we're a family that,

04:05:49.540 you know what, elbows up,

04:05:51.040 and we'll have those good debates

04:05:52.440 and those good fights around the kitchen table,

04:05:55.180 But at the end of the day, we leave the House together.

04:05:58.180 And I don't think we're going to have any of the unity issues that might have played past leaders

04:06:03.280 because of the decisive victory that Pierre has been able to pull off.

04:06:08.440 All right. Saskatoon University Member of Parliament, Corey Tokar.

04:06:11.900 Corey, thank you so much for coming. Good to talk to you.

04:06:14.980 You're welcome, and thank you for the good work that you do.

04:06:17.100 Take care, everybody.

04:06:17.680 Very kind of you, sir. Thank you.

04:06:18.780 That was Corey Tokar calling in from the convention floor at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa.

04:06:25.180 Very briefly, before we get to our next guest, I want to ask you, Harrison, about the PPC here.

04:06:30.640 So Maxime Bernier has actually congratulated Pierre Paulyev.

04:06:33.940 But there's a bigger question, I think, afoot that we need to ask now about that party.

04:06:37.840 Well, the PPC do have a challenge on their hands now, Andrew, to find a way to...

04:06:42.040 I mean, it was easy for Max Bernier to say, look, I am totally different than Aaron O'Toole.

04:06:46.360 And, of course, with Andrew Scheer and the creation of that party, it was quite easy for him to make that case that he is the conservative alternative.

04:06:55.880 He is the alternative to the conservative party.

04:06:58.560 I think it would be a very good strategy on Pierre Polyev's side to really just, if you're trying to get rid of the PPC, wedge them out by embracing conservative principles.

04:07:09.820 Just don't give in on those conservative principles.

04:07:12.060 It'll be very, very difficult for the PPC to maintain that alternative look about themselves.

04:07:17.800 And I do think there is going to be a lot of work on the PPC side.

04:07:21.540 But I don't believe that this is going to end them by any means.

04:07:25.340 I think there is still quite a large appetite in this country for alternatives.

04:07:29.460 And a lot of people see these parties, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party, as these big sort of monolithic type institutions that can't be moved, that can't really be swayed and can't be different.

04:07:40.560 So there's going to be an appetite, but it'll definitely be tougher for the PPC.

04:07:44.600 One thing I want to get to here is, you know, some of the policy aspects of this.

04:07:49.200 And I believe we have Franco Terrazzano on the line, who is the federal director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

04:07:55.600 Franco, I know, generally speaking, all of the campaigns, all of the candidates were talking about issues that were of, I think, general support to fiscal conservatives.

04:08:04.000 I think oftentimes where the divisions in the Conservative Party comes are from things other than fiscal issues.

04:08:09.060 But what would your message be to Pierre Polyev from the taxpayer perspective?

04:08:17.960 Oh, I don't know if we have Franco Terrizano.

04:08:21.260 Hey, sorry.

04:08:22.300 There we go.

04:08:23.780 I think we had the audio a little bit messed up, so I couldn't hear you at first.

04:08:26.560 So I'm not sure exactly what you asked.

04:08:27.920 So what would your advice be to Pierre Polyev on how to chart a path forward from certainly

04:08:33.400 from the taxpayer perspective, which I know you've always done a good job of representing?

04:08:37.440 Well, thanks.

04:08:38.040 Yeah, I mean, so far, it's just keep, actually follow through with what you're promising.

04:08:43.200 I mean, that was one of the big issues that we had with the last leader of the Conservative Party.

04:08:47.160 I mean, Mr. O'Toole, Andrew, you know this as well as anyone, was all the flip-flops, right?

04:08:51.880 He promised to scrap the carbon tax.

04:08:53.580 He flip-flopped on that.

04:08:55.040 He promised to go after the gun ban and buy back.

04:08:57.520 He flip-flopped on that during the middle of the election campaign.

04:09:00.860 And also, there was flip-flops on CBC.

04:09:02.740 So, look, Mr. Polyev's speech tonight really hit a lot of the good policies, right?

04:09:08.220 He talked about the dangers of government debt, the rising costs of government, ballooning the rising costs of inflation.

04:09:14.600 He talked about the inflationary tax hikes. He talked about cutting wasteful spending.

04:09:18.580 So that's all really good talk. Now it's just time for him to actually live up to the promises that he's making.

04:09:23.980 We heard and we were talking about this earlier in the studio, Harrison Faulkner, Sue Ann Levy and I,

04:09:28.800 Earlier on in the campaign, when Pierre Polyev talked about defunding the CBC, he was getting huge applause.

04:09:34.840 People were chanting.

04:09:36.020 I ran into him in the hallway once after one of his events, and he sort of jokingly said,

04:09:40.120 sometimes he thinks that should just be his entire campaign, is defunding the CBC.

04:09:43.300 So it's a red meat issue that matters to conservatives.

04:09:46.620 In 2020, as you just indicated, Aaron O'Toole said very clearly, we want to defund CBC.

04:09:51.440 And then in the platform and the general election as well, you know, we'd like to think about maybe, you know,

04:09:56.700 redoing the business model and somehow looking for like so are you going to be pushing for him

04:10:02.080 to keep that exactly as promised in the leadership in the general oh absolutely i mean it's one of

04:10:07.540 the big issues that we're pushing for i mean you know that we have a petition calling on the federal

04:10:11.600 government to defund the cbc but also end that 600 million dollar media bailout i mean this is a huge

04:10:18.060 cost for taxpayers the cbc uh itself is more than a billion dollars every single year taken from the

04:10:24.280 taxpayer. I just mentioned the $600 million media bailout. We had him on our podcast. We asked him

04:10:29.940 that exact same question. He said he was going to defund the CBC. So this is something we're going

04:10:34.220 to hold them to. But Andrew, one more thing. We also asked him about the bonuses for crown

04:10:40.300 corporations like the CBC. I mean, during the pandemic, during the lockdown, the CBC handed

04:10:45.420 out $51 million in bonuses and pay raises. Well, Andrew, I think if they have those millions and

04:10:52.900 millions and millions of dollars lying around to be handing out bonuses, then they certainly don't

04:10:57.060 need a billion dollars every single year from taxpayers. All right. Well, Franco Terrizano

04:11:01.580 will certainly have more of your analysis as we go forward in the wonderful world of Canadian

04:11:06.600 politics. Thanks very much for coming on tonight. We appreciate it. Hey, take care. All right. Now,

04:11:11.760 normally I do longer form interviews, but we're kind of rapid firing through them here just because

04:11:15.380 all these people that weren't available early on are coming through. But I think it's important

04:11:19.380 analysis here to get to so we'll have some chat with our panel in the studio here in just a moment

04:11:24.080 but first and foremost I want to bring on Hamish Marshall who is a strategist he was the former

04:11:29.560 campaign manager for Andrew Scheer in the 2019 election and has also been very dutifully plugging

04:11:35.780 away successfully to get Pierre Polyev elected as conservative leader now. Hamish are you with us

04:11:42.600 can you hear me? I can hear you Andrew. Wonderful well first off congratulations sir I mean obviously

04:11:48.420 that 68.15% number is a very successful one. I know you were the number cruncher.

04:11:54.580 When you were looking at your figures, did you expect it to land there?

04:12:00.160 Well, I have to admit, we got it wrong. I thought we were, I thought we'd only get about 66.9%.

04:12:04.900 So we were off by 1.2 points.

04:12:07.560 Oh, that's it. We got to fire you for the next time. That's unacceptable, Hamish.

04:12:13.020 Yeah, we're very happy, very happy with the result and happy to be over 70% of the popular vote as

04:12:17.220 well. Let me talk about Pierre Polyev heading into a general election now compared to, you know,

04:12:22.780 a campaign you knew well, the 2019 campaign. What is it that you can do to take a guy who has a

04:12:28.660 mandate from members and start appealing to those people that aren't members and some of those

04:12:33.580 people that might actually be hearing the attacks we know are going to be coming from the mainstream

04:12:38.160 media in the coming months? Well, I think one of the most important things is the strength of this

04:12:43.180 of getting support from right across the country

04:12:46.220 and winning everywhere means that the party is

04:12:49.220 united from day one.

04:12:51.220 One of the things when we were getting Andrew

04:12:54.200 ready for the election was we won that leadership

04:12:57.200 by a very small amount and we had to spend time

04:13:00.200 pulling the party together, reaching out,

04:13:03.200 working with, it was an effort to put that

04:13:06.200 together and our focus wasn't entirely on winning

04:13:08.200 the election from day one because we had to pull

04:13:11.180 party together. Pierre can start right now focused on winning the election, focused on taking

04:13:16.160 down Trudeau and exposing the Canadians how Trudeau is failing them. So that's a big, big advantage

04:13:22.600 in terms of time, effort, and focus, which no leaders had since Stephen Harper. And I think

04:13:29.320 that's going to make a big, big difference. And I also think that the things he spoke about in

04:13:33.400 the campaign, in the leadership campaign, are things that really appeal to Canadians. I mean,

04:13:37.940 He's talking an awful lot about inflation.

04:13:39.500 He's been the person sounding the bell on inflation before it was cool.

04:13:43.940 And we all know that the cost of living is the defining issue of our times.

04:13:48.140 Let me just ask you a question here that involves a bit of a crystal ball.

04:13:51.560 And I think that, you know, obviously you've known Pierre Polyev for quite some time.

04:13:54.880 So maybe it's just a character assessment on your part that you can give.

04:13:58.440 But what's to stop Pierre Polyev from doing exactly what Aaron O'Toole did, 1.00

04:14:02.520 which is talking about all these red meat issues in a leadership race, 0.95

04:14:05.600 And then in the general election, really just reversing many of those and putting forward a general platform that is in many ways unrecognizable compared to the leadership platform.

04:14:15.880 Oh, look, Pierre's been an elected politician now for 18 years.

04:14:19.700 I knew him as a young conservative activist before that, and he's been rock solid all the way through.

04:14:25.580 In fact, his slogan when he ran for his very first nomination back in 2004 was rock solid conservative.

04:14:31.720 Pierre is a consistent movement conservative and has always been that way.

04:14:35.600 And, you know, the things he talked about in this campaign are the things he's going to be talking about on the stump through the next election.

04:14:42.180 And most importantly, the values that he brought to this campaign, fighting for the people who the gatekeepers keep down, is going to be at the core of everything he does going forward.

04:14:52.380 I don't know how much of an opportunity you've had to scroll through the raw vote totals.

04:14:56.580 I know they were just obviously released in the last hour.

04:14:59.080 We've done a little bit of a look here.

04:15:01.140 And the one thing that I find the most striking is that there really is a lot of support from Conservative members, even in parts of the country where the Conservatives are not really strong.

04:15:10.340 I mean, obviously, Jean Charest did well in some Quebec ridings, but Pierre Paulyev did remarkably well in some very non-Conservative Quebec ridings.

04:15:17.620 Is there, I mean, a formula or a strategy on how to convert that support to broader support?

04:15:24.540 Yeah, I think, look, Pierre, we did extremely well across the country, 62% of the points, 62.2% of the points in Quebec.

04:15:31.140 only won 330 of the 338 ridings, a very, very broad base of support.

04:15:38.260 But it's really interesting to look at areas where Pierre had huge turnout at his rallies early in the campaign,

04:15:43.160 places like northern Ontario, places like Windsor, large, large membership sales in places like Niagara Centre,

04:15:50.980 blue-collar areas, often with a bit of an NDP tinge, areas that Conservatives have not done well in.

04:15:56.720 And I think the message he's been delivering has reached out to people who are not traditional

04:16:01.660 Conservative voters.

04:16:02.480 We saw it through the entire leadership campaign where people who had never been involved

04:16:05.840 in politics and never been to a political event before.

04:16:08.420 Some of them voted Conservative in the past.

04:16:09.960 Some of them hadn't.

04:16:10.920 But they were attracted to a message of somebody who got it.

04:16:13.020 Somebody who understood the struggles they were facing and was speaking to them in plain

04:16:17.300 language and presenting common sense solutions.

04:16:20.180 And I think that formula puts Pierre in extremely good stead into the next election

04:16:25.480 in places like Northern Ontario, places like Vancouver Island,

04:16:29.160 places like Windsor, where Conservatives have not been strong in the past,

04:16:32.700 and it gives us the opportunity to in many ways redraw the electoral map.

04:16:36.140 Well, I'm sure you have some celebrating to get to.

04:16:38.900 Hamish Marshall from the Pierre-Paulie F. Campaign.

04:16:41.480 Congratulations again, and thanks for your time tonight.

04:16:44.280 My pleasure, Andrew.

04:16:45.360 All right, that was Hamish Marshall.

04:16:46.940 Now, it's unfortunate because he's actually very good at crunching numbers,

04:16:50.200 and we haven't been able to get him on the show in the leadership race

04:16:52.840 to crunch the numbers because he'd been doing it for one particular campaign. So we don't get that

04:16:56.760 like dispassionate stat man analysis. But, you know, it sounds like the one thing he did say

04:17:01.920 there that I feel was quite interesting is that they were expecting 66.9%. So obviously we can't

04:17:07.820 verify that, but we do know that it was pretty close to what they actually got. So they knew

04:17:13.340 this was coming. And I find it interesting that they still didn't really let up. They were still

04:17:17.940 in the Poly F campaign running a very, I don't mean aggressive in a bad way, but a very

04:17:22.660 eventful and busy campaign traveling the country really right up until the ballot cut off on I

04:17:28.500 think it was Friday or Tuesday or Monday or whatever it was. Paulie have never really shifted

04:17:33.480 his focus away from the Prime Minister's seat away from Justin Trudeau. Of course he at the

04:17:38.480 beginning of that race he kind of went at John Charae a little bit and just sort of made his

04:17:42.560 made his mark and position known on the trail but he has been consistent for months now going after

04:17:48.360 the Prime Minister going after Justin Trudeau and going after this government and really opposing

04:17:52.340 the government when when candace bergen was leader what during his leadership election he has been

04:17:56.580 that that voice i think that probably andrew speaks to maybe an expectation that there will

04:18:01.700 be a quick one poll on the conservative maybe an election is coming soon um and maybe this is going

04:18:07.860 to just ride all the way through into a federal election if that's the case this is the right

04:18:11.540 strategy to really just hammer at the prime minister and at the government and never really

04:18:16.020 lose focus of who the real target is yeah he's looking prime ministerial he looked prime ministerial

04:18:22.180 during the campaign i think and i think that uh that focus will only ramp up um and uh you know

04:18:32.420 his he's like we we all said he speaks three languages his wife speaks three languages

04:18:38.500 they're a power couple i have to say yeah and the one interesting thing is that we've talked a lot

04:18:45.460 about the tone and the message and i think it'll be very clear early on how he wants to approach

04:18:51.380 this and how he wants to go after new votes. I think that the one thing that's important is that

04:18:55.320 when you look at Pierre Polyev's rally attendance, I mean, I live in London, Ontario, which is a

04:18:58.860 city that went conservative in 2011 when Harper got a majority, but has really drifted left ever

04:19:04.600 since then. And he got more people out at his rally in London than Stephen Harper got when he

04:19:09.560 was Prime Minister with that majority, which I think is very telling. But Pierre Polyev,

04:19:14.020 when he launched his campaign, he was the first one out, very deliberately said,

04:19:18.020 Pierre Polyev for prime minister, and he was trying to position himself as the front runner,

04:19:22.780 as the clear choice. It became something that his critics really mocked him for.

04:19:27.020 But he did have a very prime ministerial tone at the beginning. And certainly, I'd say tonight,

04:19:32.160 it seemed like a prime ministerial tone. Now, when he was scrapping and buying shawarma with

04:19:35.900 Bitcoin, I don't know if that's prime ministerial or not. I mean, Justin Trudeau, I think, has

04:19:39.420 changed the meaning of prime ministerial and not in a good direction. But I think the question will

04:19:43.960 be, can Canadians see in him something that they want and something that they need when they are

04:19:49.460 up against a very unpopular Prime Minister in Trudeau? Well, you know, it's interesting what

04:19:54.140 Hamish was talking about, and we were talking about defunding the CBC and defunding the $600

04:20:00.600 million. That's the big issue. Yeah, there's $2 billion right there. Yeah, the legacy media. But

04:20:07.040 think about the long-term impact of that. They're going to fight tooth and nail throughout the

04:20:11.820 campaign but we're going to know that that is all you know uh an opportunistic fight because they

04:20:19.640 stand to lose people will see through that and i think that's a big big important important policy

04:20:27.640 platform to to remove that you know to promise to remove that money because you've seen the way

04:20:34.460 we've all seen the way the media has shifted how they're really just justin trudeau stenographers

04:20:40.020 it actually makes me sick to watch the coverage in this country right now.

04:20:46.140 We have a tweet. Sorry to jump in on you there.

04:20:48.380 I just want to respond to Roman Babber's tweet here.

04:20:52.440 He says, I congratulate Pierre Paulyer for a great race

04:20:54.560 and becoming leader of the Conservative Party.

04:20:57.080 I'm so grateful to my team, supporters, donors, and volunteers.

04:21:00.200 We helped shape this race, our party, and our country.

04:21:03.480 Let's go on to make Canada the freest country in the world.

04:21:07.120 Now, interestingly enough, I want to point out the fact that he, Roman Babber, would not say when I did a sit down with him a couple of months ago, whether he was going to seek a seat.

04:21:18.240 And he was being very coy. He said he hasn't, you know, hasn't decided yet.

04:21:21.480 I think he will. He's certainly not, as you said, Sue Ann, going back to Ontario politics.

04:21:27.020 But I do think it's going to be interesting.

04:21:29.040 And if you look at his riding, he did very well in his riding with members.

04:21:32.400 So he's clearly got a base of support there.

04:21:34.360 I want to throw to an interview my colleague Lee did in Ottawa with Andrew Scheer, the former Conservative leader who's been supporting Pierre Polyev this time around.

04:21:43.600 Let's throw to that in Ottawa.

04:21:46.340 All right, well, I'm here with the former leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Andrew Scheer.

04:21:51.640 Andrew Scheer, your endorsed candidate, Pierre Polyev, won with an overwhelming majority on a first ballot, something we did not see in 2017 or 2020.

04:22:00.320 How are you feeling right now?

04:22:01.500 Just incredibly happy.

04:22:04.360 Pierre ran a great campaign.

04:22:06.320 He had a positive message unifying conservatives around a principle of more freedom

04:22:12.480 and less government interference in our lives.

04:22:15.300 And he was speaking to Canadians after a very difficult time,

04:22:17.980 after all the division that Justin Trudeau sowed between Canadians,

04:22:21.380 pitting one region against another,

04:22:23.800 sky-high inflation that's really hurting families from coast to coast.

04:22:28.040 And I saw how hard Pierre worked.

04:22:29.860 I saw how hard his team worked.

04:22:31.280 So to come out with a result like that, first ballot, decisive victory, it's just incredible.

04:22:37.160 So you previously were the leader.

04:22:39.520 So unity, some people say this was a divisive leadership race.

04:22:43.020 There was definitely rhetoric going around, people calling each other names and people saying,

04:22:46.840 oh, I'm not going to endorse him if he wins.

04:22:49.080 You had to unite a caucus after winning the election.

04:22:52.680 How did you do that?

04:22:53.940 And what advice do you have for Mr. Poliev to successfully bring everybody behind him in time for the next election?

04:23:00.140 Well, first of all, any time you have a competition, you're going to have some disagreements.

04:23:04.520 Other candidates had their vision and their policies that they were pushing or promoting, and Pierre had his.

04:23:10.360 So you're obviously going to have some disagreements.

04:23:12.760 With a result like this, it's a clear indication that our members overwhelmingly endorsed Pierre's vision for the party and the country.

04:23:22.400 So the result is going to be the first step to help establish that unity.

04:23:28.060 The second thing is, Pierre's all about individual freedom and choice,

04:23:32.040 and that has a unifying aspect over it.

04:23:35.260 If you like red ties and I like blue ties,

04:23:38.180 if the government decides what tie you have to wear,

04:23:40.820 well, one of us is going to be happy and one of us is going to be upset.

04:23:43.460 If the government says you can wear whatever colour tie you want,

04:23:46.340 well, then you get to wear the colour you want, I get to wear the colour I want.

04:23:49.400 And that type of thinking does have a unifying aspect

04:23:53.100 because people within our caucus, people within our movement,

04:23:55.780 And Canadians will, I believe, will really support that type of government policy,

04:24:03.140 letting people make their own choices.

04:24:04.460 So his vision of more freedom has a unifying aspect to it,

04:24:08.520 and the clear results, I mean, he won every province,

04:24:12.140 and we're just getting the details now,

04:24:13.620 but, you know, we're winning all but six ridings in Quebec.

04:24:15.980 That's a fantastic show, a fantastic showing.

04:24:19.980 Winning the Maritimes, winning the Prairies, winning in Ontario.

04:24:22.500 So every region of the country coming together to support Pierre, that too will have a unifying aspect of it.

04:24:29.000 So I'm very optimistic to walk into caucus this week.

04:24:32.080 I do have to ask though, so you were unsuccessful at unseating Justin Trudeau.

04:24:36.480 What advice would you have or would you give to Pierre's campaign or what mistakes should they not repeat?

04:24:41.860 Well, you know, every election campaign is different and the scenario has changed in Canada.

04:24:46.220 We're coming out of two years of lockdowns and we're experiencing sky-high inflation because of the Trudeau deficits causing the Bank of Canada to print money and create money out of thin air to cover those deficits.

04:24:58.140 So there's much more of a realization, I believe, in Canada right now about the dangers of government overreach.

04:25:06.120 So I believe the recipe for success for Pierre in the general election is to just keep doing what he's doing.

04:25:12.920 It's been working. It's been drawing new people into our party.

04:25:17.060 He signed up over 300,000 members, many of whom have never joined a political party in their life.

04:25:23.460 So he's already taken an incredibly important first step of bringing new people into our movement.

04:25:28.780 We'll have to do more of that.

04:25:30.940 Well, Andrew Scheer, thank you so much for stopping by.

04:25:33.700 That was Andrew Scheer, the former Conservative leader, now supporting Pierre Palliev, the current Conservative leader.

04:25:40.420 and an interview by my colleague

04:25:42.080 Ellie Kenton-Nantel in Ottawa.

04:25:44.140 And we thank the Ottawa crew very much

04:25:46.360 for all their work, Jasmine Moulton and Ellie.

04:25:48.740 And we'll have more of their interviews

04:25:50.400 that they've been doing with people in Ottawa

04:25:52.300 at True North in the coming days.

04:25:54.080 And I have to put in another plug

04:25:55.660 for True North's base of support here.

04:25:58.420 A lot of you watching this are regular subscribers

04:26:01.140 and viewers of True North,

04:26:02.200 and we thank you very much.

04:26:03.460 If you are just joining us,

04:26:04.560 this is really an alternative to the mainstream media

04:26:06.940 that we know is very much in decline

04:26:09.240 in terms of its appeal to Canadians.

04:26:11.680 And we cannot do what we do without your support, simply put.

04:26:15.780 So if you want to contribute to this,

04:26:17.220 please head on over to donate.tnc.news.

04:26:20.180 And if you want to cancel your subscription to a newspaper

04:26:22.920 and then devote that money to us, you can.

04:26:25.240 Or you can just subscribe to more.

04:26:26.540 Get the more views, the merrier.

04:26:27.980 That's what we always say.

04:26:29.180 I've actually never said that before now, so disregard that.

04:26:31.720 But I want to just go back to the studio here.

04:26:34.000 Harrison Faulkner and Sue Ann Levy.

04:26:36.320 Just in our closing moments here,

04:26:38.060 I think there are a lot of things that we've talked about that are very important.

04:26:41.540 The future of the PPC is going to be one to watch.

04:26:43.780 The future of the other candidates.

04:26:45.680 I've shared the thoughts of Scott Aitchison and Roman Baber and Jean Charest and Leslie Lewis.

04:26:50.400 No congratulations from disqualified candidate Patrick Brown yet.

04:26:53.920 So I'm not exactly surprised by that.

04:26:56.260 But what do you want to see in Pierre Polyev?

04:26:59.340 I mean, in American governments, when the new one's elected, they always say the first 100 days is critical.

04:27:03.200 The first 100 days is president.

04:27:04.760 So what do you want to see in the first 100 days of Pierre Polyev?

Juno News - September 11, 2022

Conservatives choose a NEW leader

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