Juno News - Coronavirus Panic, Big Tech Censorship and Marginalizing So-Cons (feat. Richard Décarie)

00:00:00.000 Welcome to Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show.

00:00:06.740 This is the Andrew Lawton Show, brought to you by True North.

00:00:12.980 Coming up, should we be panicking about coronavirus, big tech censorship,

00:00:17.760 and Richard Dacre rejoins to talk about his disqualification from the Conservative leadership race.

00:00:24.800 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.

00:00:30.000 Hey, welcome to another edition of Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show.

00:00:35.920 You're tuned in to the Andrew Lawton Show here on True North.

00:00:39.200 Coronavirus free so far, so thank you very much.

00:00:42.340 We'll see how it is by the end of the show, but I don't have any in-studio guests,

00:00:45.360 so I think I can probably make it.

00:00:47.460 We'll be talking about the coronavirus scare later on in the show

00:00:53.140 and why I'm kind of alienating myself from, not in quarantine,

00:00:57.820 but I mean ideologically from both sides of this,

00:01:00.900 people that think it's nothing to worry about

00:01:02.780 and people that think we all need to be stocking up and prepping for doomsday.

00:01:06.140 I'm somewhere in between those two.

00:01:08.140 So we'll be talking about that later on in the show,

00:01:10.500 as well as big tech censorship and where the answer to that,

00:01:15.200 if there even is one, lies.

00:01:17.620 That's all coming up later on.

00:01:18.900 But I want to talk first off about where the Conservative Party of Canada

00:01:23.380 has gone, in my view, horrendously wrong in disqualifying Richard Descaires.

00:01:29.680 So the Conservative Party had its leadership filing period, which has now ended.

00:01:34.700 It was on the 27th or 28th of February, last weekend.

00:01:39.200 And in order to be on the ballot as a leadership candidate,

00:01:42.100 you had to submit by that point, 1159 p.m.,

00:01:46.160 your 1,000 signatures of members that are active

00:01:48.880 in a number of provinces and ridings across Canada

00:01:52.160 and also a check for $25,000, which could have been your own money.

00:01:56.620 You could loan it to the campaign.

00:01:58.960 And the money is not as difficult as the signatures are.

00:02:03.220 It's actually hard to find 1,000 people who are paid up members.

00:02:07.120 But regardless, a number of candidates did that.

00:02:10.240 Candidates were successful.

00:02:11.340 There were, to be exact, nine of them that submitted their papers in time.

00:02:17.760 Eight of them are authorized as candidates right now,

00:02:22.760 or approved applicants, as the party calls them.

00:02:25.040 One of them, Richard Descaires, was disqualified.

00:02:28.300 Now, the party has not said why he was disqualified specifically.

00:02:33.320 A spokesperson did tell me, quote,

00:02:35.420 reasons for not allowing a candidacy are not disclosed

00:02:38.520 per our standard nomination practices,

00:02:40.680 but it's not a decision the committee ever takes lightly.

00:02:45.720 Now, the only thing we can really do is read between the lines

00:02:49.980 and look at what it is that Richard Descaires has done

00:02:52.940 that the party might not like.

00:02:54.760 And it's something that we actually talked about on the show

00:02:57.100 when it happened a few weeks ago.

00:02:59.160 He was doing an interview on CTV with Evan Solomon

00:03:02.660 in which he avowed that he views homosexuality as a choice

00:03:05.920 and said that he opposes same-sex marriage.

00:03:09.220 Now, Dick Harry is a devout Catholic.

00:03:11.800 He adheres to the traditional Catholic Church teaching

00:03:15.160 on homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

00:03:18.180 He is avowed as a social conservative,

00:03:21.260 but they didn't bar other social conservatives from running.

00:03:24.960 They didn't bar Leslyn Lewis,

00:03:26.460 who identifies as a social conservative,

00:03:28.820 or Derek Sloan.

00:03:29.860 Jim Carajalios, very devoutly pro-life.

00:03:32.660 He was approved as a candidate as well.

00:03:34.740 The only one that was denied is Descaires.

00:03:38.640 Now, in many respects,

00:03:40.500 this sounds like an example of the party feeling,

00:03:44.380 okay, we've got to make an example of this guy

00:03:47.000 to fend off the attacks we're going to get from the media

00:03:50.280 if we allow him to be a candidate.

00:03:52.260 The problem with that is that you cannot,

00:03:55.700 as a party establishment,

00:03:57.360 as a group of, for the most part,

00:03:59.080 unelected people in a conservative party boardroom

00:04:02.060 or on a conference call,

00:04:03.220 say, we are going to decide

00:04:05.080 who has the right to stand as a candidate

00:04:08.800 rather than letting the voters decide

00:04:11.180 who they think is going to be the best suited

00:04:14.600 to lead the party.

00:04:15.840 And this is where I am now,

00:04:17.500 because you may remember a few weeks ago,

00:04:19.740 I said very unequivocally on this show

00:04:21.620 that I thought Descaires' comments

00:04:23.760 were not in alignment with the party.

00:04:25.840 They were not in alignment

00:04:27.360 with where the party needs to be

00:04:29.380 as far as the messaging

00:04:30.840 and the form of communication goes.

00:04:33.200 And I say this as someone

00:04:34.400 who is more of a social conservative

00:04:36.860 that I don't think we need to be dwelling

00:04:39.480 on certain issues

00:04:41.140 that seem to be in the SOCON Rolodex sometimes.

00:04:44.360 And one of those is gay marriage. 0.80

00:04:45.980 I don't think it's an issue

00:04:46.920 that social conservatives should be campaigning on

00:04:49.800 or the Conservative Party of Canada.

00:04:52.060 But, you know, that's really beside the point,

00:04:54.400 because I think that even though Descaires' 0.70

00:04:57.020 may have said something and done something

00:04:59.460 that makes him unsuitable

00:05:01.280 to cast a ballot for in many people's eyes,

00:05:04.500 that is the responsibility

00:05:06.280 and the prerogative of the members to decide,

00:05:09.580 not the leadership committee.

00:05:12.080 And this is the issue,

00:05:13.460 is that I don't think he would have won.

00:05:15.300 He's not a well-known person.

00:05:18.220 He's not someone that was a frontrunner

00:05:21.400 in the race necessarily.

00:05:23.100 He had support.

00:05:24.180 I mean, clearly he was able to get 1,000 members

00:05:26.260 and he was able to get the money together

00:05:28.940 to file that application.

00:05:31.120 But it says a lot that the party was so scared

00:05:34.220 of having him on the ballot.

00:05:36.620 It says a lot that the party didn't want him

00:05:38.820 to even have a shot.

00:05:40.540 And that's interesting

00:05:41.580 because if you look back in 2017,

00:05:43.940 it was the social conservative vote

00:05:46.160 that gave Andrew Scheer the victory.

00:05:48.640 It was the social conservative votes

00:05:50.240 that were cast for Pierre Lemieux

00:05:52.260 and more specifically Brad Trost

00:05:54.320 that ultimately filtered into Andrew Scheer's support

00:05:57.740 because of the ranked ballot

00:05:58.940 and gave Andrew Scheer the victory.

00:06:02.120 So by taking out a social conservative

00:06:04.660 that was unlikely to win,

00:06:06.680 what the conservatives are actually doing

00:06:08.760 is taking out a support base

00:06:12.780 that would have gone to another candidate.

00:06:16.020 And the theory that's been advanced

00:06:17.700 by Richard Desqueries' campaign

00:06:19.520 is that the party establishment

00:06:21.260 is trying to help Peter McKay.

00:06:23.300 Now, Peter McKay has taken

00:06:24.640 a very anti-social conservative stance

00:06:26.860 to date in his campaign.

00:06:28.960 Aaron O'Toole,

00:06:29.840 who's the other frontrunner,

00:06:31.360 I guess you could say,

00:06:32.620 not a social conservative,

00:06:34.280 but has said unequivocally

00:06:35.700 that he supports conscience rights

00:06:37.300 and he realizes that the conservative party

00:06:39.540 has a place for social conservatives.

00:06:42.340 So it's likely that a lot

00:06:44.200 of the social conservative votes

00:06:46.100 would have eventually trickled

00:06:48.300 to Aaron O'Toole

00:06:50.440 if the party dynamics

00:06:52.160 and the leadership dynamics

00:06:53.260 stay the way they are right now.

00:06:54.980 And that's a big if.

00:06:55.800 We're still talking about months away.

00:06:58.160 So it's actually quite important

00:06:59.960 because the party has not just handicapped

00:07:02.360 Richard Desqueries.

00:07:03.960 They're handicapping anyone 1.00

00:07:05.640 who would have benefited

00:07:07.380 from votes that Desqueries brought

00:07:10.080 into the race.

00:07:11.280 And that's why there is an element

00:07:13.100 of 3D chess that's going on here

00:07:15.680 in whomever made the decision

00:07:17.280 to disqualify him

00:07:18.500 because there are other votes

00:07:20.320 that are at stake

00:07:21.020 and other candidates

00:07:21.960 that are at stake here.

00:07:23.640 I want to speak to Richard Desqueries himself

00:07:26.980 about what the party has told him

00:07:29.180 because so far the party

00:07:30.440 has not said anything

00:07:32.180 other than that statement

00:07:33.300 that I gave you basically

00:07:34.620 that well we don't make

00:07:35.920 these decisions lightly

00:07:36.880 but we aren't going to talk

00:07:37.900 about what's happening

00:07:39.100 and what went wrong

00:07:39.920 and why.

00:07:40.980 Richard Desqueries joins me

00:07:42.140 on the line now.

00:07:43.340 Richard good to talk to you.

00:07:44.340 Thanks very much

00:07:44.880 for coming on today.

00:07:46.060 Thank you for having me.

00:07:47.320 So let's get through

00:07:48.560 the nuts and bolts of this.

00:07:50.800 You submitted all of the documents

00:07:52.580 that the party required.

00:07:54.040 The form, the questionnaire,

00:07:55.820 1,000 signatures,

00:07:57.100 the $25,000.

00:07:58.520 You did all of that correct?

00:08:00.180 Yes.

00:08:00.740 Yes absolutely.

00:08:01.300 And what happened

00:08:03.240 when you did that?

00:08:04.460 Because I understand

00:08:05.120 there's supposed to be an interview.

00:08:06.680 Did the party interview you?

00:08:08.780 Yes, the interview

00:08:09.520 occurred last Thursday

00:08:11.660 and it went very well,

00:08:13.640 about 45 minutes,

00:08:14.700 asking questions

00:08:15.440 mainly about the things

00:08:16.820 that were already public

00:08:18.200 and there were no sub-questions

00:08:20.540 or other questions.

00:08:21.640 So I think it went very well.

00:08:24.120 And since it was only in English,

00:08:26.260 I think they saw

00:08:29.400 that I could

00:08:30.320 speak English very easily.

00:08:33.780 And so at the end of that,

00:08:35.840 you didn't think

00:08:36.800 that you were being disqualified.

00:08:38.380 They never told you

00:08:39.380 they had these grave concerns

00:08:41.000 about your candidacy.

00:08:42.960 No, and apparently

00:08:43.940 from an anonymous source

00:08:46.820 that said that

00:08:47.800 it wasn't based on

00:08:48.880 what I said publicly,

00:08:51.620 it's very mysterious

00:08:52.960 because they're not supposed

00:08:54.560 to comment at all.

00:08:56.020 So somebody has commented,

00:08:57.540 first of all.

00:08:58.620 And if they had had

00:08:59.540 something else

00:09:00.340 other than what I said publicly

00:09:02.760 in the past months or years,

00:09:05.180 they should have asked me

00:09:06.660 about it during the interview.

00:09:08.080 I think the interview

00:09:08.740 is based on the fact

00:09:10.940 that they must ask

00:09:11.760 that could be confidential

00:09:14.760 and nothing occurred

00:09:17.060 towards that way.

00:09:18.660 So I think,

00:09:19.720 and that's the rumor internally,

00:09:22.780 that the decision

00:09:23.740 of the committee

00:09:24.300 was positive

00:09:25.280 after the interview

00:09:27.080 and 48 hours later,

00:09:29.720 it was the opposite.

00:09:31.660 So in the absence

00:09:32.760 of any real substantive

00:09:34.720 information from the party,

00:09:36.160 I read the statement

00:09:37.140 they gave earlier

00:09:38.120 on the show

00:09:39.200 that reasons are not disclosed

00:09:41.340 and it's, quote,

00:09:42.120 not a decision

00:09:42.880 the committee ever

00:09:43.660 takes lightly, unquote.

00:09:45.240 The only assumption

00:09:46.560 that anyone's been able

00:09:47.740 to make is that

00:09:48.660 it goes back

00:09:49.300 to that interview

00:09:50.100 you did with Evan Solomon

00:09:51.360 where you talked

00:09:53.240 about your belief

00:09:53.900 that homosexuality 1.00

00:09:54.860 is a choice

00:09:55.460 and I don't want

00:09:56.100 to re-litigate that,

00:09:57.340 but you're saying

00:09:58.640 that you've heard

00:09:59.340 that wasn't the case,

00:10:00.540 that they had something

00:10:01.460 of else mysteriously

00:10:02.740 that they're using

00:10:03.660 to justify your disqualification?

00:10:05.700 Something mysteriously

00:10:07.900 according to that

00:10:08.820 anonymous source

00:10:09.920 and saying also

00:10:12.180 that it wasn't

00:10:13.580 something I said publicly,

00:10:15.080 so it disqualifies

00:10:16.120 the fact that I said

00:10:17.260 what I said

00:10:18.240 at the CTV interview.

00:10:20.020 And what I said

00:10:21.020 at the CTV interview

00:10:21.920 was based on

00:10:23.120 scientific

00:10:23.680 studies

00:10:27.120 that were

00:10:27.840 public since

00:10:29.380 2019,

00:10:30.920 August 2019,

00:10:31.880 in a magazine

00:10:32.940 Science

00:10:33.660 that revealed

00:10:35.500 that 470,000

00:10:36.740 people were polled

00:10:38.220 and more than

00:10:40.020 90% of the chances

00:10:41.940 were that

00:10:42.880 homosexuality 0.87

00:10:44.180 was a choice.

00:10:45.000 That's mainly

00:10:45.600 what I base

00:10:46.640 my mind on.

00:10:50.480 You know,

00:10:51.380 even most

00:10:52.100 social conservatives

00:10:53.180 that I know,

00:10:54.120 however,

00:10:54.640 are less interested

00:10:56.040 in gay marriage

00:10:57.300 and homosexuality 0.59

00:10:58.380 than they are

00:10:58.900 in things like abortion

00:10:59.940 or gender identity.

00:11:01.660 So I guess

00:11:02.040 the question

00:11:02.520 is legitimate.

00:11:03.380 Why did you feel

00:11:04.200 it was so important

00:11:05.000 to focus

00:11:05.660 on that issue

00:11:06.920 early on

00:11:07.520 in the campaign?

00:11:09.160 Because

00:11:09.680 one of the main

00:11:11.320 things that brought

00:11:12.080 Brad Truss

00:11:12.940 to run

00:11:15.020 at the last

00:11:15.880 leadership race

00:11:16.560 in 2017

00:11:17.380 was the fact

00:11:18.300 that the party

00:11:18.900 changed the definition

00:11:20.140 of marriage

00:11:20.820 in 2016.

00:11:24.500 Unilaterally,

00:11:25.280 it was done

00:11:26.100 against

00:11:27.380 Aldo Salkan base

00:11:28.820 who was amazed

00:11:30.000 to see that change.

00:11:31.540 Well,

00:11:32.100 in fairness,

00:11:32.740 Richard,

00:11:33.040 it wasn't unilaterally.

00:11:34.220 The members voted on it

00:11:35.400 as they vote

00:11:35.920 on other policy.

00:11:37.240 I've been in the back

00:11:38.300 office of

00:11:39.440 a party organization.

00:11:41.220 I can tell you

00:11:41.720 the way it works.

00:11:42.820 So we won't

00:11:43.300 extend on that.

00:11:44.840 I agree with you

00:11:45.780 that we need

00:11:46.500 to do the same process

00:11:47.860 and that's why

00:11:48.640 I was bringing that

00:11:50.660 into this race,

00:11:53.360 saying that we need

00:11:54.460 to reverse

00:11:55.440 the process

00:11:56.120 and we will do it

00:11:57.460 democratically.

00:11:58.420 And I think

00:11:58.980 the party

00:11:59.340 was fearing

00:12:00.380 that I could

00:12:01.040 succeed doing that.

00:12:03.440 And I was just

00:12:04.220 asking to change

00:12:05.620 the name

00:12:06.120 and destitution

00:12:06.940 of marriage

00:12:07.840 to be applied

00:12:10.560 only to a couple

00:12:11.860 that is made

00:12:12.520 out of men

00:12:13.460 and women. 0.98

00:12:14.840 And all the other

00:12:15.900 unions would be 0.63

00:12:17.160 celebrated

00:12:17.940 as civil unions

00:12:18.920 like it was

00:12:19.560 already the case.

00:12:20.540 So it wouldn't

00:12:20.900 change much,

00:12:22.060 but the impact

00:12:23.300 on a social

00:12:24.320 conservative base

00:12:25.260 was very important.

00:12:26.440 and I have been

00:12:28.860 praised by

00:12:31.160 this declaration

00:12:33.100 everywhere I went

00:12:34.820 in Ontario

00:12:35.500 and Quebec.

00:12:36.500 People were amazed

00:12:37.420 that I have

00:12:38.320 the guts to say

00:12:39.900 that on national

00:12:40.920 television.

00:12:41.400 If your disqualification

00:12:44.320 by the party

00:12:45.180 was about

00:12:46.160 your social

00:12:47.240 conservatism,

00:12:48.200 how would you

00:12:48.700 explain the fact

00:12:49.680 that other social

00:12:50.440 conservatives

00:12:51.060 were approved?

00:12:52.360 Derek Sloan,

00:12:53.320 Leslyn Lewis,

00:12:54.640 Jim Carajalios,

00:12:55.540 I know he's pro-life,

00:12:56.420 I don't know

00:12:56.760 about other issues,

00:12:57.620 but at least two

00:12:58.640 social conservatives

00:12:59.860 that were approved

00:13:01.000 when you weren't.

00:13:01.880 How do you

00:13:02.320 explain or think

00:13:03.780 about that disparity?

00:13:05.740 First of all,

00:13:06.580 none of them

00:13:07.180 are bilingual,

00:13:07.940 so I'm the only

00:13:09.200 bilingual social

00:13:10.420 conservative in

00:13:11.320 that race.

00:13:12.600 So I was

00:13:13.440 a threat

00:13:13.960 to Peter McKay

00:13:15.380 who is not

00:13:15.940 bilingual,

00:13:16.540 by the way.

00:13:17.620 So to keep

00:13:18.940 those candidates

00:13:20.700 who were less

00:13:21.660 local

00:13:24.280 than I was,

00:13:25.520 and I said

00:13:25.900 three words

00:13:26.460 during this interview,

00:13:27.420 you know,

00:13:27.860 three words

00:13:28.300 that killed

00:13:28.700 my campaign

00:13:29.300 and killed

00:13:29.840 all the

00:13:31.320 SOCON base

00:13:32.660 of this party,

00:13:33.880 it's pretty amazing.

00:13:34.680 So at the same

00:13:37.240 time,

00:13:37.580 you think

00:13:38.020 that it was

00:13:38.520 because you

00:13:39.220 had a better

00:13:39.880 shot

00:13:40.500 or were

00:13:41.520 a more

00:13:42.240 electable

00:13:43.440 candidate

00:13:44.000 in the leadership

00:13:44.780 than the other

00:13:45.420 ones that were

00:13:46.020 approved?

00:13:47.400 I think so,

00:13:48.240 because I was

00:13:48.720 bilingual,

00:13:49.380 that would help

00:13:50.220 for sure.

00:13:51.040 I have extensive

00:13:51.840 experience

00:13:52.540 in politics,

00:13:54.780 like I said,

00:13:55.420 in back office

00:13:56.220 work,

00:13:56.960 so I know

00:13:57.440 about all the

00:13:58.340 tricks,

00:13:59.140 and I was ready

00:14:00.100 to fight the

00:14:00.880 good fight,

00:14:01.460 so I think

00:14:02.160 they were scared

00:14:02.620 about that.

00:14:03.080 But at the same

00:14:04.420 time,

00:14:04.800 you've not

00:14:05.340 held elected

00:14:06.060 office,

00:14:06.600 you're not

00:14:06.920 one of the

00:14:07.260 people that

00:14:07.740 was one of

00:14:08.200 the perceived

00:14:08.800 frontrunners

00:14:09.620 of the race,

00:14:10.560 why do you

00:14:11.180 think you

00:14:11.560 would have

00:14:11.820 been seen

00:14:12.400 as a threat

00:14:13.200 in those

00:14:13.580 terms,

00:14:13.960 just because

00:14:14.420 you're

00:14:14.640 bilingual?

00:14:16.460 Not just

00:14:17.160 because I'm

00:14:17.640 bilingual.

00:14:18.500 Since I am,

00:14:19.540 and Peter McKay

00:14:20.140 is not,

00:14:20.820 and Erin O'Toole 0.89

00:14:21.800 has difficulties

00:14:22.500 to speak

00:14:22.940 French,

00:14:23.920 it would have

00:14:24.720 been a disaster

00:14:25.780 at the French

00:14:26.420 debate,

00:14:26.880 you can't

00:14:27.300 imagine that.

00:14:28.300 But also,

00:14:29.080 all the

00:14:29.760 frankness

00:14:30.820 of my

00:14:31.480 directness

00:14:38.860 of what

00:14:39.880 I was

00:14:40.120 saying,

00:14:40.840 I think

00:14:41.280 was a

00:14:42.380 threat to

00:14:43.200 the party

00:14:43.920 establishment

00:14:44.420 and to

00:14:45.240 those other

00:14:45.980 candidates.

00:14:47.000 And when you

00:14:47.380 say I'm not

00:14:47.920 in the

00:14:48.780 frontrunners,

00:14:49.840 I think

00:14:50.320 that's the

00:14:51.320 way liberals

00:14:52.360 work in

00:14:53.980 and out

00:14:54.320 of the

00:14:54.600 party,

00:14:54.940 I would

00:14:55.120 say,

00:14:55.840 by controlling

00:14:56.960 the messaging

00:14:57.860 and having

00:14:58.960 a lot of

00:14:59.420 money so

00:15:00.100 they can

00:15:00.580 spin the

00:15:01.640 news and

00:15:02.140 all that.

00:15:03.000 So I'm

00:15:03.380 used to

00:15:03.740 that and

00:15:04.260 I was

00:15:04.540 ready to

00:15:05.000 fight it

00:15:05.580 with my

00:15:06.600 very small

00:15:08.720 partition,

00:15:09.840 I would

00:15:10.040 say,

00:15:10.400 in this

00:15:10.880 race.

00:15:12.780 And I

00:15:13.040 think the

00:15:13.540 fact that

00:15:13.920 I was a

00:15:14.340 threat

00:15:14.640 shows that

00:15:15.780 the content

00:15:17.700 that I was

00:15:18.400 presenting

00:15:19.460 was stronger

00:15:20.520 than all

00:15:21.940 the marketing

00:15:24.200 that those

00:15:25.040 parties are

00:15:25.600 used to

00:15:26.140 build on.

00:15:27.320 I think

00:15:27.820 that's fair

00:15:28.400 and I

00:15:28.840 think in

00:15:29.140 my defense

00:15:29.620 I said

00:15:29.980 perceived

00:15:30.580 frontrunner

00:15:31.240 because I

00:15:31.700 was trying

00:15:32.220 to establish

00:15:33.420 that this

00:15:33.860 is the

00:15:34.220 narrative.

00:15:34.880 And I

00:15:35.180 mean,

00:15:35.340 ultimately,

00:15:35.820 until people

00:15:36.520 cast ballots,

00:15:37.360 you don't

00:15:37.760 technically know

00:15:38.600 who the

00:15:38.940 frontrunner

00:15:39.440 is.

00:15:39.840 And I've

00:15:40.680 maintained,

00:15:41.300 and I said

00:15:41.840 this to my

00:15:42.220 listeners and

00:15:42.760 I'll say it

00:15:43.140 to you as

00:15:43.520 well,

00:15:43.880 that you

00:15:44.540 have a

00:15:45.380 democratic

00:15:45.900 process or

00:15:46.580 what's

00:15:46.840 supposed to

00:15:47.440 be a

00:15:47.700 democratic

00:15:48.140 process,

00:15:49.080 which means

00:15:49.580 the voters

00:15:50.080 have the

00:15:50.480 opportunity to

00:15:51.260 say if they

00:15:51.960 don't think

00:15:52.340 you're a

00:15:52.600 suitable

00:15:52.860 candidate.

00:15:53.480 And that

00:15:53.740 should have

00:15:54.120 been where

00:15:54.600 the decision

00:15:55.440 was made,

00:15:56.120 not in a

00:15:56.520 back room.

00:15:57.400 And that's

00:15:58.880 why I was

00:15:59.240 surprised and

00:15:59.840 my team was

00:16:00.560 very surprised

00:16:01.200 that I was

00:16:01.740 disqualified

00:16:02.320 because they

00:16:03.120 should have

00:16:03.420 let me run

00:16:04.240 for the

00:16:04.680 next month

00:16:05.160 at least

00:16:05.680 to show

00:16:06.740 if we can

00:16:07.160 gather

00:16:07.520 $300,000.

00:16:08.900 It's a

00:16:09.320 bit exaggerated

00:16:11.160 because the

00:16:12.360 first rule

00:16:12.880 that they

00:16:13.280 should have

00:16:13.660 put,

00:16:14.680 their first

00:16:15.280 requirement

00:16:15.720 to be a

00:16:16.480 candidate

00:16:16.780 should have

00:16:17.440 been to

00:16:18.060 be bilingual

00:16:18.680 enough to

00:16:19.720 debate at

00:16:20.320 a French

00:16:20.900 debate.

00:16:21.860 Since

00:16:22.220 they didn't

00:16:23.360 do that,

00:16:24.440 we ended

00:16:25.780 up with

00:16:26.600 over 10

00:16:28.200 candidates

00:16:28.820 potential.

00:16:30.020 We would

00:16:30.440 have been

00:16:30.800 maximum

00:16:31.340 three people

00:16:32.080 in this

00:16:32.840 race.

00:16:33.300 So what's

00:16:34.080 the need

00:16:34.440 to have

00:16:34.740 a $300

00:16:35.200 barrier

00:16:38.060 when you

00:16:39.540 have simple

00:16:40.560 things like

00:16:41.160 bilingualism?

00:16:43.100 I guess

00:16:43.920 the question

00:16:44.540 that I

00:16:45.160 would ask

00:16:45.960 you or

00:16:46.660 any other

00:16:47.240 candidate

00:16:47.680 here is

00:16:48.460 do you

00:16:48.840 think that

00:16:49.360 the party

00:16:49.900 has an

00:16:51.140 issue with

00:16:51.640 social

00:16:52.000 conservatives

00:16:52.620 who make

00:16:53.140 up a

00:16:53.660 sizable

00:16:54.240 chunk of 0.97

00:16:54.700 the base?

00:16:55.240 I mean,

00:16:55.720 Andrew Scheer

00:16:56.320 was elected

00:16:57.500 as leader

00:16:58.200 as a

00:16:58.880 social

00:16:59.260 conservative

00:16:59.820 and I

00:17:00.200 think there

00:17:00.480 are some

00:17:00.800 disputes

00:17:01.860 about whether

00:17:02.440 he maintained

00:17:03.700 his leadership

00:17:04.320 as one,

00:17:04.920 but he was

00:17:05.460 chosen as a

00:17:06.320 leader as a

00:17:06.780 social

00:17:07.020 conservative.

00:17:07.900 A lot of

00:17:08.420 the support

00:17:08.880 that Brad

00:17:09.360 Trost had in

00:17:10.200 that leadership

00:17:10.720 race was what

00:17:11.500 pushed Andrew

00:17:12.500 Scheer over

00:17:12.940 the edge.

00:17:13.680 So do you

00:17:13.980 think that the

00:17:14.400 party is against

00:17:15.180 social conservatives

00:17:16.080 or do you

00:17:16.420 think the party

00:17:16.980 is just for

00:17:17.500 whatever reason

00:17:18.140 against you?

00:17:19.640 When we

00:17:19.960 say the party,

00:17:20.560 I think we

00:17:20.980 say the

00:17:21.260 establishment

00:17:21.740 that is

00:17:22.240 behind the

00:17:23.900 party and I

00:17:25.080 think the

00:17:25.640 establishment of

00:17:26.520 the progressive

00:17:27.060 conservative who

00:17:28.100 tried to fight

00:17:28.960 Harper's

00:17:29.840 beginning when I

00:17:33.240 helped him in

00:17:33.780 2003-04 to

00:17:35.120 get elected as

00:17:36.120 a leader.

00:17:37.280 Those people

00:17:38.460 are still

00:17:39.020 fighting and

00:17:39.800 they tried to

00:17:40.480 come in with

00:17:41.860 Peter McKay

00:17:44.920 and Aaron

00:17:45.600 O'Toole.

00:17:45.900 So I think

00:17:47.100 this is not

00:17:48.060 a surprise

00:17:48.700 that those

00:17:49.480 people and

00:17:50.040 Peter McKay

00:17:50.700 was very

00:17:51.280 clear about

00:17:52.460 that with

00:17:53.980 his stinking

00:17:54.800 albatross

00:17:55.420 image about

00:17:58.000 the fact that

00:17:58.720 social

00:17:59.220 conservatism

00:17:59.900 for them

00:18:00.460 is from

00:18:02.560 the past

00:18:03.060 and we

00:18:03.960 should get

00:18:04.400 rid of

00:18:04.720 those people.

00:18:05.680 So that's

00:18:06.020 what brought

00:18:06.520 Brad Trost

00:18:07.620 into the

00:18:08.300 race.

00:18:09.580 Unfortunately,

00:18:10.740 Mr. Scheer,

00:18:12.100 who is a

00:18:12.460 social conservative

00:18:13.160 personally,

00:18:14.420 couldn't defend

00:18:15.780 his own

00:18:16.180 position,

00:18:16.780 his own

00:18:17.060 values at

00:18:18.360 the last

00:18:18.740 election campaign

00:18:19.460 and that's

00:18:19.920 why he lost.

00:18:20.840 I agree with

00:18:21.400 Peter McKay

00:18:22.140 and all those

00:18:22.860 people about

00:18:23.580 that.

00:18:24.540 But the

00:18:25.000 fact that

00:18:25.640 social

00:18:26.180 conservatism

00:18:27.080 is,

00:18:28.780 we have to

00:18:29.720 get rid of

00:18:30.220 that segment

00:18:31.940 of conservatism,

00:18:33.340 I think it's

00:18:34.140 the opposite.

00:18:35.460 This is the

00:18:36.020 foundation of

00:18:36.680 this party

00:18:37.180 and if

00:18:38.440 Andrew Scheer

00:18:40.540 had defended

00:18:41.140 those values

00:18:42.160 at the

00:18:42.900 last election

00:18:43.740 campaign,

00:18:44.320 I think he

00:18:44.840 was winning

00:18:46.480 in the first

00:18:47.100 week of the

00:18:47.700 campaign and

00:18:48.300 the last

00:18:49.100 two weeks

00:18:49.560 when he

00:18:49.900 stopped

00:18:50.220 defending

00:18:50.660 those values,

00:18:51.520 that's where

00:18:52.000 he lost.

00:18:52.740 So I think

00:18:53.260 and that's

00:18:54.340 the reason

00:18:54.700 I came

00:18:55.160 into this

00:18:55.700 race is

00:18:56.340 to ensure

00:18:57.580 that we

00:18:58.640 would bring

00:18:59.140 those values

00:18:59.860 upward and

00:19:01.320 ensure that

00:19:01.840 the party

00:19:02.340 changes few

00:19:04.040 things in

00:19:04.540 its policies

00:19:05.120 and like

00:19:09.060 you said,

00:19:09.480 the members

00:19:10.080 should have

00:19:10.700 been decided.

00:19:11.780 They should

00:19:12.040 have let me

00:19:12.620 run and

00:19:13.960 see if I

00:19:14.900 had the

00:19:15.220 support base

00:19:16.700 and I think

00:19:17.200 they were

00:19:17.460 afraid that

00:19:17.940 I had it

00:19:18.500 and that's

00:19:19.060 why they

00:19:19.680 just did

00:19:20.480 what they

00:19:20.780 did.

00:19:21.860 Would you

00:19:22.240 support,

00:19:22.980 Richard,

00:19:23.480 the party

00:19:23.980 making

00:19:24.480 public

00:19:25.200 its decision

00:19:26.440 to disqualify

00:19:27.300 you?

00:19:28.580 I don't

00:19:28.880 think they

00:19:29.200 will because

00:19:29.920 we have

00:19:31.120 an agreement

00:19:31.940 signed that

00:19:33.660 nothing has

00:19:34.820 commented

00:19:37.080 or said

00:19:37.700 and like

00:19:38.320 I said

00:19:38.640 I didn't

00:19:39.120 say anything

00:19:40.060 about the

00:19:41.420 interviews

00:19:41.940 or all the

00:19:42.980 answers I

00:19:43.520 gave and

00:19:43.900 everything

00:19:44.220 so I

00:19:44.980 think it's

00:19:45.860 going to

00:19:46.080 stay

00:19:46.280 confidential

00:19:46.820 and that's

00:19:47.480 okay

00:19:47.760 but the

00:19:48.800 proof is

00:19:49.200 in the

00:19:49.420 pudding

00:19:49.640 in the

00:19:49.940 sense

00:19:50.160 that

00:19:50.440 if the

00:19:51.540 anonymous

00:19:51.960 source

00:19:52.580 is

00:19:53.300 true

00:19:54.060 is

00:19:55.420 right

00:19:57.220 about the

00:19:57.740 fact that

00:19:58.240 it wasn't

00:19:58.840 based on

00:19:59.500 what I

00:19:59.840 said

00:20:00.060 publicly

00:20:00.560 so if

00:20:01.980 it's

00:20:02.200 something

00:20:02.560 else

00:20:03.160 that is

00:20:03.660 not

00:20:03.860 public

00:20:04.320 we will

00:20:05.100 never

00:20:05.320 know

00:20:05.600 and then

00:20:06.240 I think

00:20:07.660 I'm not

00:20:09.720 the type

00:20:10.140 to go

00:20:11.140 fight for

00:20:12.400 the recognition

00:20:13.280 and all

00:20:13.740 that

00:20:14.080 you know

00:20:14.400 to go

00:20:14.760 a lot

00:20:15.280 of people

00:20:15.600 are asking

00:20:16.080 me if

00:20:16.620 I want

00:20:16.940 to fight

00:20:17.400 in the

00:20:17.780 this one

00:20:19.240 through the

00:20:19.960 tribunals

00:20:20.520 and all

00:20:20.780 that

00:20:20.960 it's not

00:20:21.700 my type

00:20:22.120 I think

00:20:22.460 it's a

00:20:22.760 political

00:20:23.120 party

00:20:23.600 we need

00:20:24.440 to fight

00:20:24.820 it

00:20:24.980 politically

00:20:25.440 and that's

00:20:26.560 why I

00:20:26.820 will continue

00:20:27.340 with

00:20:27.860 richarddecarry.ca

00:20:29.460 my website

00:20:31.240 and we

00:20:31.880 will gather

00:20:33.120 all the

00:20:33.740 social

00:20:34.000 conservative

00:20:34.520 and others

00:20:35.140 real

00:20:35.500 conservatives

00:20:36.160 from the

00:20:37.520 CPC

00:20:38.080 from the

00:20:38.720 PPC

00:20:39.160 because a

00:20:39.800 lot of

00:20:40.080 those

00:20:40.580 members

00:20:41.240 were

00:20:42.360 following

00:20:42.760 me

00:20:43.040 or

00:20:43.240 supporting

00:20:43.960 me

00:20:44.220 in my

00:20:44.480 campaign

00:20:44.920 and also

00:20:45.780 those who

00:20:46.200 are not

00:20:46.480 affiliated

00:20:46.860 to any

00:20:47.400 parties

00:20:47.800 I

00:20:48.340 welcome

00:20:49.040 them

00:20:49.360 to

00:20:49.740 my

00:20:50.480 new

00:20:50.820 movement

00:20:51.380 I would

00:20:51.980 say

00:20:52.220 and we

00:20:53.080 will

00:20:53.260 get

00:20:53.660 organized

00:20:54.120 in the

00:20:54.380 next

00:20:54.560 weeks

00:20:54.880 and we'll

00:20:55.460 follow

00:20:55.880 this

00:20:56.200 leadership

00:20:56.560 campaign

00:20:57.040 closely

00:20:57.460 and I

00:20:58.620 even

00:20:58.840 told

00:20:59.180 journalists

00:21:00.320 that I

00:21:00.720 will be

00:21:01.180 very

00:21:01.900 available

00:21:02.420 to

00:21:02.880 comment

00:21:03.620 whatever

00:21:04.280 will

00:21:04.620 happen

00:21:04.960 and we'll

00:21:05.800 ensure

00:21:06.120 that the

00:21:06.540 social

00:21:06.780 conservative

00:21:07.260 members

00:21:07.940 who are

00:21:08.280 still in

00:21:08.720 the

00:21:08.960 CPC

00:21:09.520 party

00:21:09.940 will have

00:21:10.940 a voice

00:21:11.400 I'm

00:21:11.820 the voice

00:21:12.200 of those

00:21:12.600 who don't

00:21:12.920 have a

00:21:13.280 voice

00:21:13.520 unfortunately

00:21:14.040 so we'll

00:21:15.380 be there

00:21:15.840 until the

00:21:16.340 next

00:21:16.600 general

00:21:17.340 election

00:21:17.820 and I

00:21:19.180 am

00:21:19.580 pretty sure

00:21:20.560 that if

00:21:21.000 it's

00:21:21.200 Mr.

00:21:21.540 McKay

00:21:21.820 that is

00:21:22.180 leading

00:21:22.440 this

00:21:22.680 party

00:21:22.980 we'll

00:21:23.680 have

00:21:23.900 a big

00:21:24.240 problem

00:21:24.960 big trouble

00:21:26.120 to be

00:21:26.680 elected

00:21:27.040 at

00:21:27.460 the next

00:21:27.780 general

00:21:28.040 election

00:21:28.460 so on

00:21:29.400 that note

00:21:29.900 are you

00:21:30.360 going to

00:21:30.860 support

00:21:31.280 the other

00:21:31.720 social

00:21:32.100 conservatives

00:21:32.560 in the

00:21:32.980 race

00:21:33.240 or have

00:21:33.500 you kind

00:21:33.820 of washed

00:21:34.220 your hands

00:21:34.820 of the

00:21:35.480 conservative

00:21:35.860 party at

00:21:36.460 this point

00:21:36.980 I already

00:21:37.720 told Derek

00:21:39.940 Sloan who's a 0.98

00:21:40.660 very nice man

00:21:41.380 an MP from

00:21:42.040 Ontario

00:21:42.500 we were very

00:21:43.340 close to his

00:21:44.260 positions

00:21:44.760 socially

00:21:45.540 unfortunately

00:21:46.580 Derek doesn't

00:21:47.420 speak French

00:21:47.980 so I told

00:21:48.480 him that I

00:21:49.140 would support

00:21:49.820 him

00:21:50.100 because he

00:21:52.280 will be

00:21:52.700 Peter McKay

00:21:54.500 who doesn't

00:21:54.900 speak French

00:21:55.520 anyway

00:21:55.840 so it's

00:21:56.580 not a

00:21:56.860 big

00:21:57.040 problem

00:21:57.500 that will

00:21:59.340 probably bring

00:22:00.960 us a leader

00:22:01.920 that doesn't

00:22:02.380 speak French

00:22:03.040 enough to

00:22:03.760 be fighting

00:22:04.340 as a

00:22:05.300 prime minister

00:22:05.800 so we

00:22:07.140 will be

00:22:07.420 supporting

00:22:07.840 Derek

00:22:08.160 Sloan

00:22:09.040 well I

00:22:09.940 appreciate you

00:22:10.620 letting me

00:22:11.100 know that

00:22:11.480 and also

00:22:11.860 taking the

00:22:12.420 time to

00:22:12.800 chat

00:22:13.040 and interestingly

00:22:13.780 only a couple

00:22:15.120 of candidates

00:22:15.860 have really

00:22:16.540 defended you

00:22:17.620 against the

00:22:18.320 process

00:22:18.780 and Derek

00:22:19.500 Sloan was

00:22:19.960 one of them

00:22:20.460 Jim Carajalios

00:22:21.780 was one of

00:22:22.300 them

00:22:22.460 but I think

00:22:23.420 that's a

00:22:23.920 very interesting

00:22:24.740 dynamic as

00:22:25.740 well that

00:22:26.320 there's a lot

00:22:27.280 of silence

00:22:27.840 from some

00:22:28.280 of the

00:22:28.480 others

00:22:28.820 yeah I

00:22:30.180 think the

00:22:30.520 silence

00:22:30.860 is talking

00:22:31.940 by itself

00:22:32.540 Richard

00:22:33.740 Descarry

00:22:34.140 thank you

00:22:34.520 very much

00:22:34.860 for your

00:22:35.080 time sir

00:22:35.480 thank you

00:22:36.520 have a good

00:22:36.800 day

00:22:37.260 you know this

00:22:37.820 sort of thing

00:22:38.320 I find

00:22:39.080 just so

00:22:40.620 very frustrating

00:22:41.900 because this

00:22:43.060 is what happens

00:22:44.200 that gets

00:22:44.920 parties really

00:22:46.360 in a lack

00:22:47.820 of alignment

00:22:48.440 with their

00:22:49.060 members and

00:22:49.720 with their

00:22:50.280 base and

00:22:50.800 and look I

00:22:51.460 say this I

00:22:52.000 want to make

00:22:52.460 perfectly clear

00:22:53.800 that I am

00:22:54.580 totally pro

00:22:55.820 social conservative

00:22:56.960 and I'm pro

00:22:58.100 having social

00:22:58.820 conservatives in

00:22:59.500 the party

00:22:59.980 I'm pro

00:23:00.520 life and I

00:23:01.460 take a

00:23:01.920 libertarian

00:23:02.720 stance as far

00:23:03.580 as the role

00:23:04.140 of government

00:23:04.680 on issues

00:23:05.260 like gay 1.00

00:23:05.780 marriage etc

00:23:06.520 but again I

00:23:07.700 am not

00:23:08.220 someone who

00:23:09.120 is resistant

00:23:10.060 to having

00:23:10.700 social

00:23:11.100 conservatives

00:23:11.600 in the

00:23:12.060 party

00:23:12.380 I do

00:23:13.200 realize that

00:23:14.020 there are

00:23:14.360 messaging

00:23:14.800 challenges

00:23:15.420 I think

00:23:15.900 that you

00:23:16.220 need to

00:23:16.500 be able

00:23:16.760 to sell

00:23:17.340 your

00:23:17.620 policies

00:23:18.180 and sell

00:23:19.080 your ideas

00:23:19.640 well and

00:23:20.180 I say this

00:23:20.980 again as

00:23:21.500 someone who

00:23:22.460 writes for

00:23:23.200 the interim

00:23:23.820 a social

00:23:24.300 conservative

00:23:24.720 magazine

00:23:25.240 one of the

00:23:25.840 columns I

00:23:26.380 wrote recently

00:23:27.020 was talking

00:23:27.640 about how

00:23:28.660 social

00:23:29.380 conservatives

00:23:29.940 need to

00:23:30.620 better package

00:23:32.000 their message

00:23:32.860 and not all

00:23:33.980 of them

00:23:34.440 I'm saying

00:23:34.900 in some

00:23:35.400 particular

00:23:35.800 cases

00:23:36.280 so when

00:23:37.320 that initial

00:23:38.500 CTV interview

00:23:39.520 came up

00:23:40.020 this was an

00:23:40.520 example where

00:23:41.160 I'm like you

00:23:41.540 know what I

00:23:41.920 think this is

00:23:42.300 probably not the

00:23:42.880 best way to

00:23:43.860 put this forward

00:23:44.640 now Richard

00:23:45.320 Descartes and

00:23:46.020 his defense he's

00:23:46.960 saying yeah this

00:23:47.600 is what I think

00:23:48.120 this is what I

00:23:48.700 feel this is the

00:23:49.420 basis for it and

00:23:50.800 I'm going to be

00:23:51.260 honest and

00:23:51.880 transparent about

00:23:52.640 where I stand

00:23:53.320 and I have a lot

00:23:54.420 of respect for

00:23:55.140 politicians that

00:23:56.100 are not leaving

00:23:56.900 you wondering

00:23:57.700 what it is that

00:23:58.600 they believe

00:23:59.260 and this was the

00:24:00.520 frustration that a

00:24:01.620 lot of social

00:24:02.280 conservatives had

00:24:03.240 with Andrew Scheer

00:24:04.440 is that they knew

00:24:05.080 he was one of

00:24:05.860 them but he

00:24:06.280 wasn't speaking

00:24:07.100 like that during

00:24:08.540 the general

00:24:09.560 election campaign

00:24:10.420 and he was still

00:24:11.500 getting criticized

00:24:12.240 just as much

00:24:13.240 for being a

00:24:14.520 social conservative

00:24:15.320 so it's not even

00:24:16.080 like it really

00:24:16.680 won him all

00:24:18.040 that much in

00:24:18.840 the way of

00:24:19.340 support from

00:24:20.060 these people

00:24:20.620 but to go

00:24:22.480 back to the

00:24:23.040 disqualification

00:24:24.000 the party cannot

00:24:25.400 disqualify people

00:24:26.700 because it does

00:24:27.600 not want them

00:24:29.060 to have an

00:24:29.680 opportunity to

00:24:30.440 put their message

00:24:31.160 to the voters

00:24:31.900 unless they

00:24:33.220 have some

00:24:33.920 major disqualifying

00:24:35.720 reason as this

00:24:36.480 anonymous source

00:24:37.280 supposedly said

00:24:38.280 that is against

00:24:39.520 the rules or

00:24:40.500 eligibility

00:24:41.120 in which case

00:24:42.480 disclose it at

00:24:43.520 the very least

00:24:44.260 to the candidate

00:24:45.000 you don't need to

00:24:45.540 make it publicly

00:24:46.160 but disclose it

00:24:47.080 to the candidate

00:24:48.260 which it sounds

00:24:48.980 like did not

00:24:49.580 happen here

00:24:50.180 so I'm

00:24:51.240 wanting to see

00:24:52.660 a lot more

00:24:53.460 transparency from

00:24:54.460 the party

00:24:54.900 because again

00:24:55.500 the conservative

00:24:56.460 party of Canada

00:24:57.540 did not do

00:24:58.880 itself any

00:24:59.740 favors by

00:25:01.780 really muddling

00:25:03.520 this process

00:25:04.880 at first they

00:25:05.620 weren't saying

00:25:06.160 anything

00:25:06.680 they were just

00:25:07.640 saying nope

00:25:08.120 we have eight

00:25:08.780 approved candidates

00:25:09.700 and everyone's

00:25:10.640 like well hang

00:25:11.300 on there was

00:25:11.800 this other guy

00:25:12.400 that applied

00:25:12.920 we have eight

00:25:13.540 approved candidates

00:25:14.440 and then they

00:25:15.340 started to say

00:25:16.040 we don't discuss

00:25:17.300 and we don't

00:25:18.360 take these

00:25:18.760 decisions likely

00:25:19.640 they're not even

00:25:20.360 mentioning his

00:25:21.060 name

00:25:21.500 they're not even

00:25:22.720 saying the guy's

00:25:23.740 name

00:25:24.020 so by doing

00:25:25.280 this they let

00:25:26.040 people fill in

00:25:26.840 the blanks

00:25:27.380 themselves

00:25:27.780 they force

00:25:28.420 people to fill

00:25:29.100 in the blanks

00:25:29.700 themselves

00:25:30.120 and everyone

00:25:31.000 assumes the

00:25:31.640 worst that this

00:25:32.320 is an assault

00:25:33.000 on the social

00:25:33.900 conservative wing

00:25:34.860 of the party

00:25:35.440 by the party

00:25:36.700 establishment

00:25:37.320 that's the way

00:25:38.040 this is perceived

00:25:38.860 and yes you

00:25:40.120 have social

00:25:40.720 conservatives

00:25:41.220 that were

00:25:41.780 approved

00:25:42.420 like Leslyn

00:25:43.420 Lewis and

00:25:44.620 Derek Sloan

00:25:46.000 and I think

00:25:46.980 that there is

00:25:48.420 some disparity

00:25:51.020 there of okay

00:25:51.660 well if they're

00:25:52.080 against social

00:25:52.740 conservatives how

00:25:53.480 come these ones

00:25:54.160 were allowed in

00:25:54.840 and a lot of

00:25:55.800 people are trying

00:25:56.660 to say right now

00:25:57.500 that oh well

00:25:57.880 there's a right

00:25:58.360 way and a wrong

00:25:59.040 way to be a

00:25:59.580 SOCON and

00:26:00.160 they're doing it

00:26:00.780 the right way

00:26:01.380 and Richard was

00:26:02.540 doing it the

00:26:03.060 wrong way

00:26:03.580 and again

00:26:04.120 whatever you

00:26:05.200 think it is

00:26:05.920 the responsibility

00:26:06.940 of the voting

00:26:08.140 members of the

00:26:09.820 voting members

00:26:10.700 to make that

00:26:11.520 determination

00:26:12.080 not the party

00:26:14.300 elites which is

00:26:15.500 by definition

00:26:16.340 what the

00:26:16.760 leadership committee

00:26:17.440 and I have

00:26:17.900 friends on that

00:26:18.600 committee I

00:26:19.460 none of them

00:26:19.840 have given me

00:26:20.300 any inside

00:26:20.900 scoops I

00:26:21.440 assure you and

00:26:22.440 I don't know

00:26:22.860 if it was a

00:26:23.360 split decision

00:26:24.000 I want to

00:26:24.460 believe and I

00:26:25.120 certainly hope

00:26:25.760 there was some

00:26:26.300 pushback on

00:26:27.480 that committee

00:26:28.120 to say this

00:26:29.700 is not what

00:26:30.200 we should be

00:26:30.640 doing when we

00:26:31.720 come back more

00:26:32.380 of the Andrew

00:26:32.960 Lawton show

00:26:33.460 stay with me

00:26:34.360 you're tuned in

00:26:36.240 to the Andrew

00:26:37.020 Lawton show

00:26:37.840 welcome back to

00:26:41.360 the show still

00:26:42.180 no coronavirus

00:26:42.980 still none I

00:26:44.160 mean I did

00:26:44.540 cough a couple

00:26:45.200 of minutes before

00:26:45.900 I started this

00:26:46.940 segment but no

00:26:47.740 coronavirus just

00:26:48.660 yet so we're

00:26:49.180 still managing to

00:26:50.200 sit pretty as we

00:26:51.620 coast through this

00:26:52.240 I don't want to

00:26:52.800 make light of

00:26:53.380 something well I

00:26:54.160 do actually because

00:26:54.880 I try to make

00:26:55.600 light of things

00:26:56.160 it's the only way

00:26:56.660 to survive the

00:26:57.280 world sometimes

00:26:57.980 but we have the

00:26:59.300 number of

00:26:59.680 coronavirus cases

00:27:00.880 worldwide passing

00:27:02.140 90,000 and I'm

00:27:04.600 following this very

00:27:05.740 closely because I'm

00:27:06.640 supposed to be going

00:27:07.260 to Taiwan in less

00:27:08.920 than two months so

00:27:10.040 obviously if there's

00:27:11.180 a massive pandemic

00:27:12.740 outbreak in Taiwan I

00:27:14.780 might have to

00:27:15.280 reevaluate this but

00:27:16.340 I'm planning on going

00:27:17.480 at this point I

00:27:18.220 received a very kind

00:27:19.400 invitation to a media

00:27:21.380 opportunity there but

00:27:23.400 I do think that

00:27:24.540 where we are at

00:27:26.280 now and I said

00:27:27.300 this at the top of

00:27:27.980 the show is that

00:27:28.680 you've got people

00:27:29.360 that are on full

00:27:30.080 blown panic clearing

00:27:31.640 grocery store shelves

00:27:32.940 of hand sanitizer

00:27:34.100 disinfectant wipes

00:27:35.320 canned foods all of

00:27:36.320 that and then you've

00:27:37.320 got people that are

00:27:38.200 just completely

00:27:38.820 uninterested that

00:27:39.740 think that it's

00:27:41.020 basically just a

00:27:42.140 bunch of hooey and 0.99

00:27:43.020 not really a thing at

00:27:44.000 all that it's no

00:27:44.840 different than the

00:27:45.460 flu and even better

00:27:46.440 than the flu and

00:27:48.100 I'm actually somewhat

00:27:49.640 in between these two

00:27:50.960 camps because I think

00:27:51.800 it has the potential to

00:27:52.820 be something very

00:27:53.620 serious it is very

00:27:55.100 serious in several

00:27:56.200 parts of the world

00:27:56.960 and for several

00:27:57.560 people Iran most 0.78

00:27:59.520 notably where it

00:28:00.460 seems I think it was

00:28:01.140 like eight percent of

00:28:02.320 eight percent of

00:28:03.820 lawmakers had

00:28:04.640 coronavirus I saw

00:28:05.760 something I haven't

00:28:06.340 looked into the report

00:28:07.160 but that was what I

00:28:08.040 read and then you've

00:28:09.700 got of course China

00:28:11.060 and the big variable

00:28:12.780 here is whether China

00:28:14.240 has been deliberately

00:28:15.360 downplaying the impact

00:28:17.900 of this and I think

00:28:18.900 that's where the real

00:28:20.900 issue is going to be

00:28:22.060 because when everyone

00:28:22.880 talks about the

00:28:23.820 mortality rate and

00:28:25.500 says that oh it's

00:28:26.200 actually lower than the

00:28:27.180 common flu they're

00:28:28.580 missing that China may

00:28:29.940 be grossly deflating

00:28:31.800 its deaths from this

00:28:34.340 and I think that is

00:28:35.500 where we are looking

00:28:37.320 at this now there's

00:28:38.260 been a number of

00:28:39.200 reports that have been

00:28:39.980 talking about mass

00:28:41.520 cremations in China

00:28:43.780 mass cremations in

00:28:45.520 China and when you

00:28:46.980 look at some of these

00:28:48.040 and this is not just

00:28:49.180 some conspiracy BBC

00:28:50.480 was writing about

00:28:52.660 this and there was

00:28:54.440 basically a swift

00:28:56.540 cremation that was

00:28:58.000 taking place an order

00:28:59.240 by China's top health

00:29:00.360 authority to not even

00:29:01.620 do funerals to just do

00:29:03.160 direct cremation you

00:29:04.740 had crematoriums that

00:29:06.000 were working around

00:29:07.340 the clock and in one

00:29:09.500 particular case that I

00:29:10.860 read you had Wuhan

00:29:12.920 crematoriums burning

00:29:14.080 bodies 24-7 to cope

00:29:16.800 with extra workload

00:29:17.760 during coronavirus and

00:29:19.160 that doesn't align with

00:29:20.820 what China says its

00:29:22.420 death toll has been

00:29:23.460 officially and this is

00:29:25.320 getting a lot of people

00:29:26.260 to wonder okay have

00:29:27.440 there been a lot more

00:29:28.340 fatalities that China 1.00

00:29:29.480 was not talking about

00:29:31.000 and let's face it it was

00:29:31.980 China it was China you 0.99

00:29:33.480 can't believe what they

00:29:35.620 say when they have so

00:29:36.900 much invested in their

00:29:38.280 image around the world

00:29:39.460 so the Epoch Times had

00:29:41.320 an interview with a

00:29:42.520 crematorium worker who

00:29:43.560 said 90% of their

00:29:45.160 employees working 25%

00:29:46.800 24-7 since January

00:29:49.040 28th and if you do

00:29:51.600 the math that is a

00:29:53.560 lot more than the

00:29:55.600 490 I think it was

00:29:58.520 that China officially

00:29:59.700 said Wednesday was its

00:30:00.960 death toll around the

00:30:02.380 clock for a month and a

00:30:04.500 week around the clock

00:30:05.360 for six seven weeks

00:30:06.420 basically so a lot of

00:30:08.040 question marks there so

00:30:08.940 this is why I realize

00:30:10.140 there is probably a

00:30:11.360 legitimate reason to be

00:30:13.120 concerned and I think

00:30:14.640 general precautions like

00:30:16.040 washing your hand and

00:30:17.180 not just doing open

00:30:18.180 mouth kissing with

00:30:18.960 strangers which I mean

00:30:20.140 we do all the rest of

00:30:21.400 the year I guess not

00:30:22.580 doing that I think is

00:30:23.440 probably pretty reasonable

00:30:24.660 I did find it

00:30:25.920 interesting I was I'm a

00:30:27.580 former Anglican I'm now

00:30:28.720 I go to a Pentecostal

00:30:30.040 church so we don't do 1.00

00:30:31.820 the communion wine thing

00:30:32.900 but I do realize that

00:30:35.080 the communion tradition is

00:30:36.460 very important around

00:30:37.460 this time of year because

00:30:38.500 of coronavirus and in

00:30:40.460 the Anglican church I

00:30:41.440 don't know if they still

00:30:42.140 do it in most Catholic

00:30:43.080 churches but in the

00:30:44.260 Anglican church a lot of

00:30:45.340 the time you will all

00:30:46.300 sip from the common

00:30:47.640 communion chalices and

00:30:50.000 the bishop of the

00:30:51.320 diocese of Toronto for

00:30:52.680 the Anglican Church of

00:30:53.680 Canada has suspended

00:30:55.460 communion wine so no

00:30:57.140 communion wine in

00:30:58.500 Toronto Anglican

00:30:59.460 churches for the next

00:31:00.280 little while amid the

00:31:01.860 coronavirus scare we the

00:31:04.140 statement that was

00:31:05.040 released says presiding

00:31:06.380 celebrants are to

00:31:07.220 consecrate both the bread

00:31:08.460 and the wine and to

00:31:09.740 consume in both kinds but

00:31:11.340 to administer only the

00:31:12.960 bread to the rest of the

00:31:14.340 congregation and they

00:31:15.880 say that the church's

00:31:16.740 ancient teaching is that

00:31:18.140 the whole Christ is

00:31:19.140 received whether one

00:31:20.440 receives only consecrated

00:31:22.540 bread or both bread and

00:31:23.660 wine the protocol is

00:31:25.120 effective today and to be

00:31:27.140 continued until further

00:31:28.440 notice so we've gone from

00:31:30.340 this is my body this is my

00:31:31.860 blood to this is my body

00:31:34.160 and we'll save the blood

00:31:35.460 for once the flu season

00:31:36.880 and the coronavirus season

00:31:38.160 ends that's where things

00:31:39.440 are now and I like this

00:31:41.300 part better we are

00:31:42.640 advising people to share

00:31:43.760 words and smiles only not

00:31:45.980 handshakes or hugs you

00:31:47.340 know there are a lot of

00:31:48.480 people that would love to

00:31:49.420 have the no handshake no

00:31:51.240 hugs no greeting your

00:31:52.340 stranger rule at church

00:31:53.360 year-round so this may

00:31:54.940 actually be like boosting

00:31:56.480 church attendance because

00:31:57.560 people that don't like

00:31:58.500 for social interaction are

00:32:00.200 like all right I guess I

00:32:01.160 can go to church now

00:32:01.960 without being put on the

00:32:03.280 spot to do the exchange of

00:32:05.000 peace so I am curious do

00:32:07.440 send me an email let me

00:32:08.340 know what you think

00:32:08.900 andrew at andrew lawton

00:32:10.480 dot ca are you panicking

00:32:12.820 are you worried I do a

00:32:15.080 lot of travel for some of

00:32:16.880 the work things that I do

00:32:17.860 not just covering various

00:32:19.360 things but I also do media

00:32:20.700 and PR consulting and I

00:32:22.300 have clients that I travel

00:32:23.420 for and I've done a fair

00:32:25.540 bit of air travel in the

00:32:26.560 last couple of weeks

00:32:27.580 relative to the general

00:32:29.040 population and haven't felt

00:32:30.780 concerned really I do think

00:32:33.440 that in the next few weeks

00:32:34.640 things are ratcheting up a

00:32:36.360 little bit I don't have

00:32:37.540 anywhere that I'm going

00:32:39.280 for at least I think three

00:32:41.720 weeks or two weeks or

00:32:43.020 whatever two and a half

00:32:44.200 weeks so again I'm cautious

00:32:46.940 but I I'm not panicked

00:32:48.740 about it and I may entirely

00:32:50.120 be the one in the wrong

00:32:51.220 here but I also think that

00:32:53.180 we can't downplay the

00:32:55.260 possibility that China has

00:32:56.780 been at the at the anchor

00:32:58.680 the epicenter of something

00:33:00.300 that is much bigger than

00:33:02.200 China has acknowledged and I

00:33:03.540 think that's the big

00:33:04.360 variable here and it's not

00:33:05.440 racial or racist to say

00:33:07.600 that it's about

00:33:08.240 understanding that China as

00:33:09.640 a country does not have

00:33:11.320 the best track record when

00:33:12.480 it comes to honesty we'll

00:33:14.280 be talking about big tech

00:33:15.340 censorship when we come

00:33:16.380 back here on the Andrew

00:33:17.600 Lawton show you're tuned in

00:33:21.060 to the Andrew Lawton show

00:33:22.680 I gotta mention this story

00:33:26.920 very briefly here this comes

00:33:28.320 from CTV news an eight-year-old

00:33:31.060 won $200 worth of cannabis

00:33:33.740 products at a youth hockey

00:33:35.800 tournament in BC now a I bet

00:33:38.560 the prizes have increased in

00:33:40.140 value and an interest since

00:33:41.460 you were a kid right a BC

00:33:42.960 grandfather is angry after a

00:33:45.460 novice hockey playing grandson

00:33:47.720 of his was the winner of this

00:33:50.340 $200 stash which you look at it

00:33:52.460 it just looks like cannabis there

00:33:54.520 is a lighter USB which I didn't

00:33:57.780 know you could have a USB lighter

00:34:00.360 but you've got all of these

00:34:02.400 cannabis products you've got

00:34:03.720 edibles you've got this box of

00:34:06.740 this container of pills it looks

00:34:08.080 like you've got a camo pipe for

00:34:10.620 smoking the pot that you get like

00:34:12.080 you have all that you need to

00:34:14.140 embrace the cannabis life which is

00:34:16.220 in British Columbia as

00:34:17.420 quintessential as drinking water

00:34:19.520 anywhere else in Canada and this

00:34:22.860 this prize was it was a raffle

00:34:25.800 prize each team apparently at this

00:34:28.460 tournament was responsible for

00:34:29.700 putting a gift basket together with

00:34:31.800 a minimum value of $5 and they

00:34:34.680 have the paper bags you've been to

00:34:36.020 these raffles the paper bag in front

00:34:37.560 of each one you buy your tickets and

00:34:38.980 you go and you stick them in the bag

00:34:40.340 of whatever prize you want to be in

00:34:42.240 the draw for and this eight-year-old

00:34:44.500 spent $10 on raffle tickets and ended

00:34:47.800 up winning this he says he thought he

00:34:49.960 was getting chocolate because when he

00:34:52.140 was looking at the list the basket

00:34:53.800 wasn't actually on display but when

00:34:56.600 he was looking at the list of items

00:34:58.020 he was seeing vanilla chai chocolate

00:35:01.380 edibles and other things and the

00:35:03.260 words just jumped out to his eight

00:35:05.040 year-old sensibility he didn't realize

00:35:06.760 that they were all laced with THC and

00:35:09.020 stuff like that so the I when I read

00:35:11.980 into this I was actually on the hockey

00:35:13.920 association side because the Dawson

00:35:16.500 Creek Minor Hockey Association said

00:35:18.480 look listen we clearly marked this for

00:35:20.160 adults it was a fun prize it was a

00:35:22.120 it was never out in the open and we

00:35:23.800 didn't give it to the kid it was

00:35:25.480 collected by his father or grandfather

00:35:28.000 one of the two who proved they were

00:35:30.100 overage so that the kid was not

00:35:32.620 actually given this which I think is a

00:35:35.260 very important distinction on this

00:35:37.360 although I still think it's hilarious

00:35:38.440 that like I would never supply because

00:35:40.420 this is a minor league hockey

00:35:43.000 thing I would never bring in like the

00:35:45.580 $200 bag or basket of weed for a kid's

00:35:49.180 school fundraiser or like PTA fundraiser or

00:35:52.420 something so maybe hockey parents are a

00:35:54.220 little bit different maybe they're a

00:35:55.260 lot more freewheeling or maybe it's just

00:35:57.160 the British Columbia thing but there's a

00:35:59.180 boldness in bringing this to a family

00:36:01.600 event one way or another but this is

00:36:03.860 Trudeau's Canada eight-year-olds winning

00:36:05.500 $200 cannabis baskets that a lot of

00:36:08.060 people are probably very jealous of so in

00:36:11.060 any case I wanted to talk about this

00:36:13.480 story out of the US a bit because it

00:36:15.920 impacts all of us if you're watching

00:36:18.000 this on YouTube listening to it on Apple

00:36:19.880 podcast and if you aren't subscribed to

00:36:22.060 the podcast do subscribe please go to

00:36:24.780 andrewlottonshow.com and whatever

00:36:26.480 podcast platform you like we have all the

00:36:28.740 subscription links there but anyone that

00:36:31.100 is partaking in digital media is going to

00:36:34.260 be at some point faced with the world of

00:36:37.300 shadow banning of censorship of big tech

00:36:40.080 clamping down on your right to free

00:36:42.240 speech and the challenge here is that big

00:36:46.080 tech evil as they are in many cases are

00:36:49.100 examples of private companies despite

00:36:51.360 their ubiquity they are private companies

00:36:53.980 with their own rules and their own

00:36:55.400 policies and PragerU which is Dennis

00:36:58.740 Prager's fantastic platform has been

00:37:02.580 shadow banned by YouTube they've been

00:37:04.440 unable to get the views that they used to

00:37:07.140 get because YouTube is not pushing them

00:37:09.260 into people's feeds and related videos and

00:37:12.020 stuff because YouTube does not like

00:37:13.780 conservatives we know this

00:37:15.260 PragerU sued YouTube or Alphabet which is

00:37:19.500 the parent company of Google which owns

00:37:21.680 YouTube saying that Google is infringing

00:37:25.660 upon their First Amendment rights and

00:37:29.180 they say that Google's censorship quote

00:37:32.360 unlawfully censored PragerU's educational

00:37:35.700 videos and discriminated against its right

00:37:37.900 to free speech PragerU said that YouTube

00:37:41.360 was using arbitrary and capricious use of

00:37:45.020 restricted mode and demonetization viewer

00:37:47.700 restriction filters targeting them because

00:37:50.600 of their political identity and they said

00:37:53.400 that this is a First Amendment issue because it is a

00:37:59.080 state actor essentially that a regulation of

00:38:03.820 speech by a private party in a designated public

00:38:06.780 forum is quintessentially sufficient to make that

00:38:11.040 private party a state actor and this there is case

00:38:14.800 law for this it's not as absurd a premise as it

00:38:17.140 sounds however I do not view any of these platforms as

00:38:21.760 public spaces even if the companies choose to allow the

00:38:26.620 public generally to use them that's the issue so suppose

00:38:30.340 that I own a private park in the middle of the city and

00:38:34.300 I let everyone use that park and then one day I decide

00:38:37.220 to say you know what I don't think this park is public

00:38:40.060 anymore I'm gonna shut it down and say I'm only the people

00:38:42.620 that I like can come in I don't think that I am owing to

00:38:46.580 anyone just because of how that park has been traditionally

00:38:50.780 used and the thing here is that you do not have to use

00:38:55.660 YouTube you can upload a video to Vimeo you can upload it

00:38:59.080 on your own server you can upload it to Facebook until

00:39:02.200 Facebook goes after you you do not need to use YouTube if

00:39:06.160 you choose to you have to therefore be at the mercy of

00:39:10.960 YouTube's algorithm you have to be at the mercy of what it

00:39:14.760 is that YouTube says its rules are and how YouTube chooses to

00:39:20.380 enforce those rules and this is a point that a lot of

00:39:24.340 conservatives seem to have a very difficult time understanding

00:39:27.760 they talk about wanting to treat these things as publishers

00:39:31.720 rather than platforms because they're imposing an editorial

00:39:35.200 bias and I agree I mean Facebook does have an editorial

00:39:38.260 bias if it's shifting views away from certain pages and to

00:39:42.880 others YouTube has an editorial bias if they're clamping down on

00:39:47.140 conservatives and not on people that are doing the same things on

00:39:50.800 the left but I don't think them having a bias changes that they do

00:39:55.300 not owe anyone the right to use their platform and this is what the judges ruled

00:40:00.460 against PragerU's lawsuit despite YouTube's ubiquity and its role as a public

00:40:07.840 facing platform it remains a private forum not a public forum subject to

00:40:14.080 judicial scrutiny under the first amendment they further said that YouTube's

00:40:20.740 censorship faces a formidable threshold hurdle YouTube is a private entity the

00:40:26.700 free speech clause of the first amendment prohibits the government not a private

00:40:31.120 party from abridging speech and this is so key because you have the right to

00:40:35.260 freely associate with people and views as you so desire if I own a stage I have the

00:40:42.520 right to decide who's allowed to perform on that stage and I cannot demand that

00:40:48.040 some theater let the Mirvish theater in Toronto if we're talking about this in a

00:40:52.200 Canadian context entertains me as a performer and I don't think that

00:40:58.960 conservatives are embracing an intellectually consistent position on this

00:41:03.540 because the same conservatives that I see in my life are saying you know the gay

00:41:08.140 baker or the Christian baker doesn't have to bake a cake for the gay wedding are the 0.84

00:41:14.040 same people saying YouTube censorship is illegal we need to break up these

00:41:18.500 YouTubes we need to regulate them we need to really start trust busting and look you

00:41:24.200 can dislike all of these platforms and I use them because they they make the most

00:41:29.520 sense for what I'm doing but I'm very aware that one day YouTube could say no and I'm

00:41:34.720 very aware that Twitter could one day say yeah you know I don't think you you you

00:41:37.660 want to use this their obligation is to their terms of service which is the

00:41:42.040 contract that they have with the people using them and I'm sorry but if you're

00:41:46.300 not paying for a platform and you choose to make it the center point of your

00:41:53.220 business model then you are unfortunately at the mercy of these things now I

00:41:58.040 think their decisions can and should be criticized when Twitter and Facebook get

00:42:03.160 together and they start suspending accounts and they do this whether it's

00:42:07.100 info wars or someone else whether you like them or not I think these should be

00:42:12.340 criticized I think they should do this with good faith I think they should do

00:42:15.940 this with fairness I think they should have appeal mechanisms but they don't owe

00:42:19.960 anyone the right to use their platform for free it's that simple and

00:42:24.640 conservatives should be very wary of what happens when these outlets start

00:42:29.920 being subjected to state oversight because then you get into what's

00:42:33.680 happening in Canada right now where Justin Trudeau's liberals actually want to

00:42:38.500 regulate social media companies to curb what they call hate speech and they

00:42:43.840 don't define what hate speech is they're gonna let for a social media

00:42:47.020 companies remove it within 24 hours or be punished by the government and the idea

00:42:52.940 of letting these companies do what they want is a heck of a lot better than

00:42:58.040 making them actual state actors and making government oversight government

00:43:03.160 regulation and government control the cornerstone of determining what content

00:43:08.240 is allowed and what what content isn't because if you do that then what's

00:43:13.760 happened is these companies have become essentially deputies of the state

00:43:18.420 deputies of the government and that is going to be a lot worse for everyone

00:43:22.940 involved in these platforms than letting them run wild in the more libertarian idea

00:43:28.160 which is what the judges against the PragerU case basically upheld which is

00:43:32.600 look they're private companies they can do what they want they do not owe you the

00:43:36.240 right to First Amendment protections because constitutional freedom is not meant

00:43:41.560 to protect people as much as it's meant to limit government that's what that

00:43:46.920 constitutional right to free speech is in Canada and in the US by the way it's

00:43:51.320 about limiting government it's not about protecting you from other private actors

00:43:56.700 now the one thing that I think is interesting in this case and that the

00:44:01.360 area that I thought was a more compelling argument is false advertising if a

00:44:06.540 company is pretending or presenting itself as being a bastion of free speech

00:44:10.640 and an open platform as YouTube is do they owe you procedural fairness and in that

00:44:15.800 case I'd say yes and I don't know enough about what YouTube is promising in the

00:44:20.080 terms of service but in that particular case I'd say there's a lot more of a

00:44:25.620 substantive argument you could make about where things are going in any case I am a

00:44:30.960 firm believer in the fact that big tech needs to be understood for what it is that

00:44:35.240 these oligopolies need to be reined in and they need to be criticized and they

00:44:40.360 need to be held to account but this needs to happen by their consumer base not by the

00:44:45.700 government forcing them to allow other people on because that means you're

00:44:50.320 surrendering your rights down the road when the government says oh well you

00:44:54.280 forced YouTube to have your show so now I'm gonna force you to have someone on

00:44:59.540 your show I mean it's absurd but not really if we get into that area of

00:45:04.660 government being able to regulate content on two platforms my thanks to

00:45:10.460 Richard day career and all those who tuned into today's show we'll be back in a

00:45:14.020 couple of days with more of the Andrew Lawton show here on true north thanks for

00:45:18.000 listening to the Andrew Lawton show support the program by donating to true

00:45:21.520 north at www.tnc.news

Juno News - March 03, 2020

Coronavirus Panic, Big Tech Censorship and Marginalizing So-Cons (feat. Richard Décarie)

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