Juno News - January 30, 2020


Corporate Welfare, Internet Speech Crackdown, Forced Bilingualism


Episode Stats

Length

52 minutes

Words per Minute

167.23396

Word Count

8,860

Sentence Count

320

Misogynist Sentences

2

Hate Speech Sentences

12


Summary

Coming up, why corporate welfare needs to end, a dangerous proposal to regulate internet news, and why the litmus test on bilingual politicians needs to go away. The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now, and it never ends.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Welcome to Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show.
00:00:06.660 This is the Andrew Lawton Show, brought to you by True North.
00:00:12.580 Coming up, why corporate welfare needs to end,
00:00:16.000 a dangerous proposal to regulate internet news,
00:00:19.180 and why the litmus test on bilingual politicians needs to go away.
00:00:25.200 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.
00:00:30.000 Yes, indeed. Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends,
00:00:36.120 as that old Emerson, Lake, and Palmer song goes.
00:00:38.460 Good to have you aboard on Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show here on True North.
00:00:43.160 Thanks very much for tuning in.
00:00:45.260 The interesting thing about Canadian politics is that it tends to go sometimes glacially slow,
00:00:53.300 and other times at such pace as you can't keep up with it.
00:00:56.840 It's like feast or famine.
00:00:57.800 And we've actually been very fortunate, given that we're in an election year last year,
00:01:02.740 and that seems to have carried into 2020 so far,
00:01:06.340 that there's a lot going on and a lot to chew on.
00:01:09.200 Not that political news is necessarily good for the country, but it's good for talk radio.
00:01:13.740 So when the country's doing well, I'm happy as a Canadian.
00:01:17.480 When the country's in rough shape, I'm happy as a broadcaster.
00:01:20.460 So it's like that old saying that I've kind of coined,
00:01:23.240 which is there are no bad experiences.
00:01:24.860 There's good experience and there's material.
00:01:27.700 So we're in the material column right now in some respects.
00:01:31.840 We're going to talk later on in the show about this bilingualism litmus test
00:01:36.300 that the media seems to be injecting into Canadian politics,
00:01:39.480 and even into the Canadian Conservative Party's leadership race,
00:01:44.360 which normally has been relatively insulated from this whole Franco-supremacy thing that we see going on.
00:01:52.120 So we'll talk about that later on in the program.
00:01:54.500 I also want to give a little bit of a toast to Nigel Farage and the Brexiteers,
00:02:00.480 who are going to be successful.
00:02:02.440 Britain is leaving the European Union at long last,
00:02:06.780 and this will be the last episode of the show that is recorded while the UK is in the EU.
00:02:13.140 So we have to talk about that and acknowledge a great farewell speech that was done
00:02:17.860 and some other things that are going on in the show today that we'll get to as well.
00:02:21.940 I try not to, at the beginning of the show, tell you too much about what's happening
00:02:25.880 because sometimes I change my mind mid-middle of the show,
00:02:29.240 or I mean, sometimes I change my mind mid-sentence with where we're going.
00:02:32.560 So those little previews about what's coming up, little known fact,
00:02:36.140 I record those at the end once I know what I've talked about.
00:02:38.900 I shouldn't have told you that.
00:02:40.000 No, you never want to know how the sausage is made, so disregard that.
00:02:44.220 It's like a jury.
00:02:44.960 You have to just pretend you never heard that and move on with your life.
00:02:48.140 I do want to start off, though, if you are a credit card user,
00:02:51.760 you are not getting any benefit,
00:02:54.080 even though the company that you may well use for your credit card
00:02:57.020 got a huge $49 million check from the government.
00:03:01.100 This is absolutely insane.
00:03:04.140 MasterCard, one of the two biggest credit card companies in the world,
00:03:07.700 gets $49 million from Justin Trudeau's government to form this intelligence and cyber center,
00:03:16.540 which is going to be $510 million that it costs,
00:03:20.620 and of that, almost 10% coming from the federal government.
00:03:24.400 The center's goal, according to an article in the Vancouver Sun,
00:03:28.720 or a Canadian press article, actually,
00:03:30.220 to ensure that any internet-enabled device ranging from phones and tablets to computers and vehicles
00:03:38.200 can be used without fear that personal or financial information could be stolen.
00:03:44.060 The center will support about 380 jobs and 100 co-op positions.
00:03:49.640 Now, I don't know if they mean like high school co-op students or paid co-op students,
00:03:52.760 but 380 jobs, which works out to be, I think it's like $140,000 or $150,000 per job,
00:03:59.160 if you take the total sum of money that the government is putting into this.
00:04:03.140 But the thing that I find baffling is that on one hand,
00:04:05.880 we're saying this is for cybersecurity.
00:04:09.460 And on the other hand, when Justin Trudeau was asked about this by Andrew Scheer,
00:04:14.340 and also by Jagmeet Singh a lot in the House of Commons,
00:04:18.240 his answer was non-existent.
00:04:21.420 I mean, there was nothing that he said to indicate what actually was going on
00:04:27.540 and what this money was actually for.
00:04:29.560 And I want you to hear this clip
00:04:31.940 and let me know if you have any more of an idea than I do
00:04:35.920 about what it is that Trudeau was actually doing here.
00:04:39.940 MasterCard is a credit card company that makes money off of people
00:04:42.800 who can't afford to pay their full balances.
00:04:45.760 Why did the Prime Minister think that they needed a handout?
00:04:49.620 The Right Honourable Prime Minister.
00:04:53.380 Mr. Speaker, we continue to invest in things
00:04:56.460 that are going to create jobs for Canadians
00:04:58.400 and support hard-working families right across the country.
00:05:01.840 We recognize that investing in different sectors of the economy
00:05:06.300 allows us to move forward in a positive way for Canadians.
00:05:09.940 Everything this government does is focused on growing the middle class
00:05:14.400 and helping people, working hard to join it,
00:05:16.740 like the tax cut we're moving forward with
00:05:19.140 that is putting more money in the pockets of 20 million Canadians
00:05:22.680 and lifting close to a million people off of the federal tax rule.
00:05:26.860 These are the kinds of things that make a difference in people's lives.
00:05:29.560 To give this profitable company $50 million of public money
00:05:36.000 while they drag their feet to deliver the health care that Canadians need
00:05:41.400 so that they can afford the medication,
00:05:43.960 why does the Liberal government keep giving money to profitable companies
00:05:47.160 instead of investing in our health care?
00:05:48.920 The Right Honourable Prime Minister.
00:05:50.940 Mr. Speaker, once again, the NDP is choosing to share this erroneous perception
00:05:57.880 that we have not taken real action on moving forward
00:06:02.900 on reducing the cost of prescription drugs for Canadians.
00:06:06.400 We've moved forward in significant ways
00:06:08.760 that have lowered the costs for prescription drugs for Canadians.
00:06:13.120 We've continued to move forward on creating a national drug agency,
00:06:16.760 on moving forward on a strategy for high-cost, rare disease medications.
00:06:22.360 We know there is much more to do.
00:06:23.860 We will continue to work with them and everyone in this house
00:06:26.980 to deliver on affordable health care for all Canadians.
00:06:30.200 What?
00:06:31.360 I...
00:06:31.800 What?
00:06:33.620 So, somehow it ends up becoming about health care and pharma care,
00:06:39.620 and I realize part of that is how NDP leader Jagmeet Singh asked the question.
00:06:43.540 But the original question that Andrew Scheer put forward,
00:06:46.440 a very valuable one.
00:06:47.500 We're talking about a company that posted,
00:06:49.340 I think it was 60 billion or $16 billion in profits.
00:06:54.120 I want to verify that because I had it up on my screen here a moment ago.
00:06:57.680 I think it was $16 billion in revenue last year, not profits, revenue.
00:07:03.140 And we're still talking about a multi-billion dollar company
00:07:06.060 and a profitable company,
00:07:07.680 and one that in many cases is recession-proof in some respects.
00:07:12.220 Now, in other areas, you look at consumer behavior.
00:07:15.120 If you don't have much money, you don't have much cash flow,
00:07:18.020 you're more reliant on credit card.
00:07:20.000 So Visa and MasterCard have solid business models.
00:07:22.600 They tend to do very well over time,
00:07:24.380 and they're getting a bailout, essentially, of $49 million
00:07:28.660 to do something that it sounds like would be a selling point for their business.
00:07:34.620 If MasterCard's saying, hey, we've got this state-of-the-art center
00:07:38.080 that is going to protect your information,
00:07:40.680 protect you, protect all that you're doing,
00:07:42.760 that seems like a really good feature that is going to pay off over time.
00:07:48.120 If it is just about protecting consumer interests
00:07:51.980 and protecting consumer data,
00:07:53.860 then all companies would have these things.
00:07:56.140 The government would be giving money to Visa to do it,
00:07:58.580 to Amex, to all of the banks.
00:08:00.420 No, it's to MasterCard only.
00:08:03.160 And when asked about it, Trudeau doesn't mention cybersecurity.
00:08:06.420 Trudeau doesn't mention all about the Internet of Things
00:08:09.200 and the immersive economy and data and all this stuff.
00:08:11.740 He says, oh, well, we're always going to invest in things
00:08:14.260 that are going to create jobs.
00:08:16.700 I mean, the problem with corporate welfare
00:08:18.900 is that it never actually creates jobs.
00:08:22.640 It's like that age-old expression.
00:08:24.280 If you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime.
00:08:27.380 If you give him a fish, he just eats for that one day.
00:08:30.140 And I know I reversed it there, but the sentiment is still true.
00:08:33.240 If you give a bailout or a check
00:08:36.140 or a corporate welfare payment of some kind for jobs,
00:08:41.140 those jobs are only going to exist
00:08:43.260 as long as that government check is there
00:08:45.920 because it is not a sustainable job
00:08:48.240 unless the business model of the company says it's sustainable.
00:08:52.440 And you look at Bombardier as a fantastic example of this,
00:08:55.900 a company that can't stand on its own two feet
00:08:59.080 unless someone is holding it up from behind,
00:09:01.440 pulling it from above, and holding it at the sides
00:09:03.880 just to make sure.
00:09:04.840 This is a company that only exists
00:09:07.140 to be a receptacle of corporate welfare.
00:09:10.440 And the problem with this is that when you're in a recession,
00:09:13.260 government says, well, the economy is bad.
00:09:15.660 We've got to protect and promote and preserve.
00:09:18.340 So we've got to put all of this money towards companies.
00:09:20.900 And when we're in a relatively good economy,
00:09:23.680 and a lot of that is because of the United States,
00:09:26.220 but we're in a relatively good economy,
00:09:28.480 then the government says, well, things are going well.
00:09:30.440 We can afford it.
00:09:31.380 We can afford to invest.
00:09:33.280 So I'm sitting here as a taxpayer going,
00:09:35.780 wait, well, if the time to invest is when things are bad
00:09:39.900 and the time to invest is when things are good
00:09:42.520 and when things are in between you invest
00:09:44.640 because you don't want them to get bad,
00:09:45.780 when is the time to not spend money on this?
00:09:48.280 When is the point that, okay,
00:09:49.500 well, I guess we don't need corporate welfare anymore.
00:09:52.760 And it's not just MasterCard.
00:09:54.340 It's not just Bombardier.
00:09:56.020 Loblaw, a great example,
00:09:57.340 which just a few weeks ago announced job losses
00:09:59.780 despite getting millions from the federal government,
00:10:02.900 I think last year.
00:10:04.100 It might've been two years ago,
00:10:05.280 but I'm pretty sure it was last year.
00:10:08.660 I mean, so when Maxime Bernier comes out
00:10:10.600 and says we're going to end corporate welfare,
00:10:12.400 everyone said, oh, well, that's terrible.
00:10:13.540 That's, you can't do that.
00:10:14.680 Why?
00:10:15.500 What on earth does Canada get out of corporate welfare?
00:10:18.660 Corporate welfare is what leads to companies
00:10:21.820 like S&C Lavalin staying on board and online
00:10:25.880 and getting government contracts.
00:10:27.480 Corporate welfare is the mentality
00:10:28.920 that keeps Bombardier on life support.
00:10:31.340 And corporate welfare is even rewarding profitable,
00:10:34.680 I'd say successful companies for what purpose?
00:10:39.120 For what purpose?
00:10:40.140 How are Canadians benefiting
00:10:42.460 from this money going to MasterCard?
00:10:45.160 And interestingly enough,
00:10:46.380 I was reading in one article a comment that said,
00:10:49.640 this is actually going to be about cybersecurity
00:10:51.620 for the entire world.
00:10:54.140 So this little center in Vancouver
00:10:55.900 is going to be part of MasterCard's global operation.
00:10:59.120 And I know Canada is going to get the employment out of it,
00:11:01.800 but then I'm like, well, wait,
00:11:02.820 why is customer satisfaction
00:11:05.880 for MasterCard customers in Britain or India
00:11:09.940 or Japan or the United States?
00:11:12.600 Why is that now the responsibility of Canada?
00:11:16.580 And this whole thing is absolutely senseless,
00:11:20.340 but this is where we're going.
00:11:22.000 And now Justin Trudeau's got a friend for life
00:11:24.020 from MasterCard.
00:11:25.480 He's got a friend for life
00:11:26.500 from the people that are going to be working
00:11:28.300 at this center in Vancouver.
00:11:29.800 And the whole point is,
00:11:31.320 if the economy is doing well,
00:11:33.080 these companies clearly can afford
00:11:35.180 to staff their own centers
00:11:37.380 and they can afford to do their own projects
00:11:40.180 because the other side of corporate welfare
00:11:43.680 is that government is picking and choosing winners.
00:11:46.820 Why not Visa?
00:11:47.800 Why not Amex?
00:11:48.680 Why not TD?
00:11:49.520 Why not Scotia?
00:11:50.280 And the reason is once you start doing that,
00:11:53.040 you can't afford it.
00:11:53.860 You can't afford to pay everyone off.
00:11:55.820 So you just pick and choose which ones do.
00:11:58.480 And then these companies have a competitive advantage
00:12:01.400 over all of the other ones.
00:12:03.440 You let the market work this stuff out.
00:12:05.640 And that's why I absolutely love Rick Peterson's idea,
00:12:10.540 which is the conservative leadership candidate
00:12:12.900 who is rehashing the tax plan that he had in 2017
00:12:17.100 in the leadership race,
00:12:18.340 which is to say a 15% personal flat tax
00:12:21.640 for personal income tax and an abolition,
00:12:24.640 a complete abolishment of the corporate income tax rate.
00:12:29.140 And doing this is going to let individuals
00:12:32.380 better manage their finances
00:12:33.780 and also take a lot of the burdens off of companies,
00:12:37.080 particularly small and medium-sized companies,
00:12:39.740 so that they can better be equipped
00:12:42.420 to deal with the market
00:12:43.740 and deal with the market realities.
00:12:46.180 And the way you support companies,
00:12:48.540 real corporate welfare,
00:12:50.380 is by allowing a climate that can let them invest.
00:12:55.560 Because the problem is that there is inevitably
00:12:58.640 going to be a race to the bottom.
00:13:00.840 You see this with production, with film productions.
00:13:04.000 There are more and more,
00:13:04.760 if you watch the credits of movies,
00:13:06.280 which I do because I have no life,
00:13:08.160 the more and more films you see at the end
00:13:12.080 are produced in partnership with the state of Georgia,
00:13:16.240 produced in partnership with the state of Oklahoma,
00:13:19.020 even produced in partnership with these.
00:13:20.860 And ones that are filmed in Canada,
00:13:22.500 the list goes on of, oh, the Telefilm Grant
00:13:24.680 and ACTRA and the, you know, Quebec Film Board
00:13:28.660 and the Canadian Film Board and the National,
00:13:30.400 like, you see this and the list goes on and on
00:13:33.300 of all of these organizations
00:13:34.620 that contributed in some way
00:13:36.040 to buying that production going there.
00:13:38.940 And remember, when Amazon was looking around
00:13:41.860 for its HQ2 that everyone was asking about,
00:13:46.060 this was like pathetic,
00:13:48.220 the way that cities, provinces
00:13:49.900 were bending over backwards to say,
00:13:52.160 how much can we give Amazon?
00:13:53.820 We're just going to make it rain
00:13:54.800 to buy them to come here.
00:13:56.860 And I don't fault the companies for this
00:13:58.840 because the companies are doing what any company is.
00:14:01.840 If someone were to come to me and said,
00:14:03.820 Andrew, I'm going to give you this,
00:14:06.580 for this thing you're already going to do anyway,
00:14:08.240 I'm going to pay for 20% of it.
00:14:09.780 I'd be, all right, just sign me up,
00:14:12.160 hand over the check.
00:14:12.880 Where is it?
00:14:13.860 The responsibility is for government to say no
00:14:17.540 and to say, listen, I mean,
00:14:19.020 we can promise you we'll stay out of your way.
00:14:20.860 We won't regulate you out of existence.
00:14:22.780 We won't tax you out of existence,
00:14:24.360 but we're not going to get into this race
00:14:27.220 to the bottom of buying you to come here
00:14:30.040 because that's what these companies are doing now.
00:14:32.580 They're leveraging their own existence
00:14:34.580 and it's forcing corporate welfare to be ramped up,
00:14:39.260 which is why you have to stop it all.
00:14:40.820 You can't just pick and choose.
00:14:42.100 You have to say, no,
00:14:43.240 this is not something that we are going to rely on
00:14:46.940 as being a tool to somehow grow the economy
00:14:50.260 because it just isn't going to work that way.
00:14:53.820 And that, by the way,
00:14:54.700 when Trudeau says in that little response there,
00:14:57.680 what was supposedly to pass for a response
00:15:00.000 about the importance of, you know,
00:15:02.060 growing the middle class and those seeking to join it,
00:15:04.940 we still don't have a definition for it.
00:15:07.860 So this minister for middle-class prosperity,
00:15:11.620 Mona Fortier, has been on the job now for how long?
00:15:15.080 Three months, pushing three months,
00:15:16.920 and still cannot identify it.
00:15:20.000 And this was, I think, absolutely laughable
00:15:23.360 because the middle class is this malleable term,
00:15:28.540 but Trudeau speaks of it like it's gospel.
00:15:30.920 He says, oh, you know,
00:15:31.500 the middle class and those seeking to join it.
00:15:33.360 Okay, seeking to join it.
00:15:35.260 What's that target?
00:15:36.340 What's that benchmark?
00:15:37.740 How do I know when I've made it there?
00:15:39.420 How do I know when I've joined the middle class?
00:15:41.260 And the answer to that, according to Trudeau
00:15:44.520 and according to Minister Fortier,
00:15:48.020 quote,
00:15:48.780 The income required to attain a middle-class lifestyle
00:15:51.940 can vary greatly based on Canadians' specific situation.
00:15:56.340 Canada has no statistical measure,
00:15:59.420 no official statistical measure,
00:16:01.160 of what constitutes the middle class.
00:16:04.060 The trick in this is that everyone thinks they're middle class
00:16:07.380 because no one views themselves as being particularly wealthy.
00:16:12.400 I mean, you've got the super rich, obviously,
00:16:13.900 but most people, even those who are very affluent,
00:16:17.880 are going to say, yeah, you know, I'm middle class.
00:16:19.600 And we subcategorize under there,
00:16:21.680 upper middle class, middle middle class,
00:16:23.940 lower middle class.
00:16:25.100 But the government is basically mandating this group
00:16:29.360 that it has no interest in defining,
00:16:31.960 which is great because this is what they do
00:16:33.500 with assault weapons and all of these other things.
00:16:35.400 They just pick a word and expect that everyone knows
00:16:38.900 what it means when it's actually nothing to do
00:16:42.340 with what the government is saying it's to do with.
00:16:46.840 But it's laughable to me that so many people
00:16:49.640 are prepared to go along with this.
00:16:51.960 You as might as well have the Ministry of Feel Goods,
00:16:54.680 the Ministry of Platitudes,
00:16:56.000 the Ministry of whatever.
00:16:57.500 Silly Walks was the old Monty Python one
00:16:59.860 because this is what we're dealing with here.
00:17:02.000 It's a ministry that is completely non-existent
00:17:04.560 for a portion of the population that is not defined.
00:17:08.160 Imagine, for example, there was a Minister of Poverty
00:17:10.740 and they were asked, okay, well, what's poverty?
00:17:13.560 What's poverty?
00:17:14.240 And they said, well, you know,
00:17:15.220 you've got to be open to different things.
00:17:19.540 And, you know, poverty looks different in Toronto
00:17:22.060 than it does in Hamilton,
00:17:23.920 than it does in Owens Sound,
00:17:25.140 than it does in Burnaby.
00:17:26.380 And, you know, poverty, you know,
00:17:28.140 you know if you're impoverished.
00:17:29.480 She's like, well, okay, maybe you do,
00:17:32.060 but if you're talking about a national strategy
00:17:34.200 to address it,
00:17:35.900 you'd think or hope that maybe there is a number in mind
00:17:39.580 or a metric in mind.
00:17:41.540 And it's not just that they haven't figured it out yet.
00:17:44.380 It's that this minister doesn't seem
00:17:46.500 to think it's relevant to even have one.
00:17:49.200 Because she's now had several months,
00:17:51.040 but MP Pat Kelly asks her in the House of Commons,
00:17:53.820 okay, what is it?
00:17:54.480 And she's like, yeah, there's no measure.
00:17:55.780 Then what's the point?
00:17:58.360 How do we know if we've succeeded
00:18:00.600 in achieving that Trudopian dream
00:18:02.360 of joining the middle class
00:18:03.680 if we don't have a measure to know we've got there?
00:18:07.840 More of The Andrew Lawton Show in just a moment.
00:18:10.080 Stay tuned.
00:18:14.260 Hey, welcome back.
00:18:17.860 So I don't really trust government to do all that much.
00:18:22.060 And I don't think I'm alone in this.
00:18:24.420 So color me a little bit skeptical
00:18:27.520 of these proposals that appear in a report
00:18:30.180 that was just tabled before government the other day.
00:18:32.940 In fact, a report chaired by Janet Yale,
00:18:36.080 who was the head of the Broadcasting
00:18:37.660 and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel.
00:18:41.520 She pushed her report to government.
00:18:44.340 And this report deals with a number of issues
00:18:48.000 from whether to tax Netflix
00:18:50.200 to how to make streaming services
00:18:52.300 provide Canadian content,
00:18:53.840 whether CBC is permitted
00:18:56.020 or should be permitted to have advertising
00:18:57.920 or should be entirely reliant on subsidies.
00:19:01.780 And the final report called
00:19:03.380 Canada's Communications Future, Time to Act
00:19:06.420 lists a number of recommendations
00:19:08.860 that among other things
00:19:12.300 would just completely disrupt
00:19:14.740 the way telecommunications
00:19:16.100 and traditional media operate now in some ways.
00:19:20.520 And in other ways, I think,
00:19:21.700 are just absolute tax grabs.
00:19:23.780 But there are a couple of very concerning ones in here.
00:19:26.600 As I look through the list,
00:19:28.320 and I mean, how many recommendations are there?
00:19:29.860 I think there are 97.
00:19:32.740 97 recommendations.
00:19:34.240 But I want to read two in particular
00:19:36.400 that have stood out.
00:19:37.280 And I might do more in the future
00:19:39.260 as I work my way through this.
00:19:41.260 But the two in particular,
00:19:43.160 number 73 and 74,
00:19:45.520 we recommend that to promote
00:19:47.180 the discoverability of Canadian news content,
00:19:50.380 the CRTC impose the following requirements
00:19:53.160 as appropriate on media aggregation
00:19:55.800 and media sharing undertakings.
00:19:57.860 Links to the websites of Canadian sources
00:20:00.580 of accurate, trusted, and reliable sources of news
00:20:04.460 with a view to ensuring a diversity of voices
00:20:07.320 and prominence rules to ensure visibility
00:20:11.240 and access to such sources of news.
00:20:14.340 And number 74,
00:20:15.440 we recommend that the Broadcasting Act
00:20:17.560 be amended to ensure that the CRTC can,
00:20:20.560 by regulation, condition of license,
00:20:22.920 or condition of registration,
00:20:24.920 impose codes of conduct,
00:20:27.020 including provisions with respect
00:20:28.640 to resolution mechanisms,
00:20:30.720 transparency, privacy, and accessibility
00:20:33.060 regarding all media content undertakings.
00:20:37.320 Now, the reason this is so important
00:20:39.660 is because we're talking about
00:20:41.700 the imposition of codes of conduct
00:20:43.420 and also a government definition
00:20:45.660 of what a reliable and fair news organization is.
00:20:49.140 And the only way it can do this
00:20:51.120 is by a centralized registry of online media.
00:20:55.600 And this is something I've been sounding the alarm
00:20:57.840 about for quite some time
00:20:59.500 because it was only a matter of time
00:21:01.720 before it got to this point.
00:21:03.540 As the government takes its crusade
00:21:05.140 against fake news
00:21:06.140 and all of these other things
00:21:07.680 they use as terms of convenience.
00:21:10.680 And Blacklock's reporter,
00:21:11.940 which has just been doing
00:21:12.800 some phenomenal work as of late,
00:21:14.760 had picked up on this as well.
00:21:16.480 And they noted that the report calls
00:21:19.220 for internet news media
00:21:20.440 to register with the government
00:21:22.440 and ultimately do this
00:21:25.440 so that they would be subject
00:21:26.900 to federal codes of conduct.
00:21:28.880 Now, the chair of the panel says,
00:21:31.220 we are not proposing to regulate the internet
00:21:33.860 and we are not proposing
00:21:35.140 to regulate news online.
00:21:37.640 Nevertheless, the panel's report
00:21:39.840 calls what we have right now in Canada
00:21:42.020 a crisis in news.
00:21:44.000 They say it's about helping production of content
00:21:46.680 and all of these other things.
00:21:49.040 Here's the problem.
00:21:50.980 The CRTC does not have jurisdiction
00:21:54.200 over the content of online news.
00:21:57.180 The CRTC has content restrictions
00:21:59.760 on what goes on conventional broadcast.
00:22:02.880 The CBSA has some other controls
00:22:05.740 and I know that's technically industry-led
00:22:08.080 but still it has essentially
00:22:10.380 the force of law behind it.
00:22:12.180 So when you start broadening
00:22:14.300 who's included in this to online media,
00:22:17.440 how can there not be an issue
00:22:20.760 of what we're seeing now,
00:22:22.440 which is the liberals wanting to pick
00:22:24.180 and choose who can access their events,
00:22:25.960 who can cover things,
00:22:27.280 extending to government.
00:22:28.720 And this is so dangerous for Canada,
00:22:32.520 so dangerous that we even have
00:22:34.220 the inch of support
00:22:37.020 or ounce of support, I guess is more accurate,
00:22:40.100 for a registry of government-approved news.
00:22:44.240 Because this is what was happening
00:22:45.620 when the bailout list was put together.
00:22:48.040 All of a sudden, there's a right answer
00:22:50.140 and a wrong answer to
00:22:51.480 what are you doing as an organization.
00:22:54.180 And the government has used this now
00:22:56.400 as the basis to say,
00:22:57.740 all right, well, you're government-approved media.
00:22:59.780 And you may remember back in the federal election,
00:23:02.300 I was jumping around trying to cover the campaign
00:23:04.640 and the liberals were saying,
00:23:05.980 oh, you're not accredited media.
00:23:07.780 You don't have accreditation.
00:23:09.780 And as you've heard me say in the past,
00:23:11.820 there is no centralized accreditation database in Canada,
00:23:15.560 nor should there be.
00:23:17.100 Countries like the UK have press cards,
00:23:19.300 other countries have press licenses,
00:23:21.180 but in Canada, that does not exist.
00:23:23.340 And it shouldn't exist
00:23:24.420 because in a freedom-loving country,
00:23:26.420 a country with free press,
00:23:27.740 there's no gatekeeper to who can be a journalist.
00:23:31.260 You are a journalist or you're not.
00:23:32.760 It's a craft.
00:23:33.820 It's not a licensed profession.
00:23:36.180 And when you start talking about state registries
00:23:39.500 and the idea that there has to be a list
00:23:42.500 of government-approved media,
00:23:44.580 it's impossible to not have that go down the road
00:23:47.560 of government picking and choosing
00:23:48.920 who's legitimate based on subjective measures.
00:23:53.040 And they will be subjective.
00:23:54.880 There's no way they won't be
00:23:55.920 because in a lot of cases,
00:23:57.800 this idea of fake news is in this column
00:24:00.840 of I know it when I see it.
00:24:03.080 And what the government likes to call fake news
00:24:05.400 is opinion it disagrees with.
00:24:08.400 And if you say, all right,
00:24:09.340 well, there's the line right there.
00:24:10.560 No opinion is allowed.
00:24:12.140 Well, CBC has opinion.
00:24:13.560 Toronto Star has opinion.
00:24:14.680 National Post has opinion.
00:24:16.440 Legitimate media incorporates opinion.
00:24:19.700 So all of these platforms,
00:24:21.760 of which True North is one, by the way,
00:24:24.400 risk the government saying,
00:24:26.120 no, no, no, you're not officially.
00:24:28.300 You're not officially media on the list.
00:24:30.900 And once you're off that list,
00:24:33.300 it's not just about whether you get the tax credit
00:24:35.620 or the bailout money,
00:24:36.580 which True North doesn't get and isn't interested in,
00:24:39.660 but it goes beyond that.
00:24:41.160 You lose access
00:24:42.160 because now the government has a tool
00:24:44.620 to deny you access to government events.
00:24:48.160 They say, oh, well, the CRTC has reviewed
00:24:50.640 and you don't fall into this list.
00:24:53.440 So it basically is trying to silence new media
00:24:56.800 and protect the stronghold
00:24:59.460 that traditional media used to have,
00:25:01.240 and I think in some ways thinks they have,
00:25:04.040 on the media sector and on the media industry.
00:25:07.860 So Ms. Yale can say, all right,
00:25:09.840 well, we're not trying to regulate online news.
00:25:11.560 Well, what is this code of conduct?
00:25:13.280 What is the code of conduct?
00:25:15.340 What is the code of conduct going to be
00:25:17.860 that by this report's own definition
00:25:20.140 will be imposed on those who register
00:25:23.940 with the CRTC on these online content providers
00:25:27.680 that are going to be trying to play ball with this
00:25:30.820 because they feel they have to,
00:25:32.240 because that's the only way
00:25:33.280 they'll be able to survive as organizations.
00:25:35.920 And when you read the report,
00:25:38.580 it doesn't actually give you all that much clarity
00:25:41.780 as far as what that means
00:25:44.140 and what that would look like.
00:25:45.760 Now, the good news is this isn't a law.
00:25:47.700 This isn't a bill.
00:25:48.460 The government has to pick this up
00:25:49.960 and decide if it's worth legislating
00:25:52.300 anything further on it.
00:25:54.020 I'm going through some of the other recommendations right now.
00:25:57.620 And like I said at the beginning of this,
00:25:59.000 there is going to be a fair bit of material there
00:26:01.500 that I can work through at other points
00:26:03.860 in the show in the future.
00:26:05.720 And certainly I'll take a look
00:26:07.360 and see if things are being addressed or ignored.
00:26:10.560 And if I have something to add, I will.
00:26:13.380 But I do want to read one additional paragraph here
00:26:17.060 that I think is important.
00:26:18.500 If I can pull it up here,
00:26:19.800 it's that to further promote regulatory efficiency
00:26:23.640 and flexibility,
00:26:25.860 the CRTC should have the power
00:26:27.420 to provide partial or additional relief
00:26:29.860 to issue conditional and interim decisions
00:26:32.260 and to issue ex parte decisions
00:26:34.500 where it considers that the circumstances
00:26:36.220 of the case justifies it.
00:26:38.600 Now, the problem with this
00:26:40.360 is that you're dealing with a regulatory framework
00:26:43.920 that would allow CRTC to start clapping
00:26:46.380 or clamping down on these new media operations
00:26:50.520 that are supposed to be included
00:26:52.520 in the now broadened list of content providers.
00:26:59.380 So these codes of conduct,
00:27:01.600 I mean, some of them that they talk about
00:27:03.180 are how advertising to children works.
00:27:05.820 But others are, and I want to read this section,
00:27:10.880 could apply to different undertakings
00:27:13.140 depending on the level of editorial control they exercise.
00:27:17.520 So codes of conduct could extend
00:27:21.240 to editorial content on new media.
00:27:25.720 And that is absolutely the death knell
00:27:29.600 for free speech in Canada
00:27:32.020 if the government is now regulating the internet speech,
00:27:35.340 not just by saying who's official and who's not,
00:27:37.860 but even by having the mandatory capability
00:27:40.840 of enforcing adherence to an editorial code of conduct.
00:27:45.140 And I'm sorry, but there is no way in hell
00:27:50.120 I would ever agree to play by their rules.
00:27:54.420 There isn't.
00:27:55.840 This is not an organization that has jurisdiction.
00:27:59.700 And if government gives it jurisdiction,
00:28:01.820 everyone better stand up and say no.
00:28:05.420 And this is, by the way,
00:28:06.660 just to segue into a clip I wanted to play for you,
00:28:09.720 what the UK has done with Brexit.
00:28:12.220 I said at the top of the show,
00:28:13.140 the last day, the last show that is recorded
00:28:16.740 while the UK is in the EU.
00:28:18.760 And because of this,
00:28:19.620 I have to share a little bit of this speech
00:28:21.640 that Nigel Farage gave in the European Parliament,
00:28:24.700 signaling his own exit,
00:28:25.940 the last speech he'll give in the European Parliament.
00:28:28.720 And it ended in such a glorious way
00:28:31.800 as the chair of the parliament
00:28:34.120 basically proved the point
00:28:36.320 of what the UK is leaving for.
00:28:39.720 Take a watch.
00:28:40.380 I want Brexit to start a debate
00:28:42.480 across the rest of Europe.
00:28:43.820 What do we want from Europe?
00:28:45.600 If we want trade, friendship,
00:28:47.840 cooperation, reciprocity,
00:28:49.800 we don't need a European Commission.
00:28:52.600 We don't need a European Court.
00:28:54.940 We don't need these institutions
00:28:56.780 and all of this power.
00:28:58.360 And I can promise you,
00:29:00.420 both in UKIP and indeed in the Brexit Party,
00:29:03.460 we love Europe.
00:29:05.760 We just hate the European Union.
00:29:08.320 It's as simple as that.
00:29:10.480 So I'm hoping this begins the end of this project.
00:29:15.540 It's a bad project.
00:29:16.560 It isn't just undemocratic.
00:29:19.240 It's anti-democratic.
00:29:20.880 And it puts in that front row.
00:29:22.800 It gives people power without accountability.
00:29:26.880 People who cannot be held to account by the electorate.
00:29:30.660 And that is an unacceptable structure.
00:29:33.340 Indeed, there's an historic battle going on now
00:29:36.140 across the West,
00:29:37.300 in Europe,
00:29:38.200 America,
00:29:38.780 and elsewhere.
00:29:40.080 It is globalism against populism.
00:29:44.260 And you may loathe populism,
00:29:46.520 but I tell you a funny thing,
00:29:48.000 it's becoming very popular.
00:29:51.280 And it has great benefits.
00:29:53.860 No more financial contributions.
00:29:56.080 No more European Court of Justice.
00:29:58.480 No more common fisheries policy.
00:30:01.000 No more being talked down to.
00:30:02.920 No more being bullied.
00:30:05.080 No more Guy Verhofstadt.
00:30:07.140 I mean,
00:30:07.720 what's not to like?
00:30:10.760 I know you're going to miss us.
00:30:12.680 I know you want to ban our national flags.
00:30:15.360 But we're going to wave you goodbye.
00:30:17.700 And we'll look forward in the future
00:30:19.920 to working with you as sovereign.
00:30:24.900 If you disobey the rules,
00:30:26.940 you get cut off.
00:30:28.440 Could we please remove the flags?
00:30:33.620 Mr Farage.
00:30:34.860 Could we remove the flags, please?
00:30:38.780 That's it.
00:30:39.320 It's all over.
00:30:40.280 Finished.
00:30:42.500 We've gone.
00:30:44.180 Could I please ask for quiet?
00:30:45.900 Thank you.
00:30:46.520 Thank you.
00:30:47.740 Thank you.
00:30:48.700 Thank you.
00:30:48.820 Thank you.
00:30:48.900 Thank you.
00:30:48.920 Thank you.
00:30:49.000 Thank you.
00:30:49.080 Thank you.
00:30:49.420 Thank you.
00:30:50.920 Thank you.
00:30:51.000 Thank you.
00:30:51.500 Thank you.
00:30:51.920 Thank you.
00:30:52.420 Thank you.
00:30:55.320 I'm really...
00:30:56.320 Please sit down.
00:30:57.460 Resume your seats.
00:30:58.520 Put your flags away.
00:30:59.620 You're leaving.
00:31:00.280 And take them with you.
00:31:01.540 If you are leaving now.
00:31:02.940 Goodbye.
00:31:08.640 Isn't that just great?
00:31:09.440 Leave and take your flags with you.
00:31:11.640 I mean, the EU's entire existence
00:31:13.740 is trying to deny countries
00:31:15.240 their individuality.
00:31:16.520 So it's unsurprising
00:31:17.940 that they have a ban
00:31:18.900 on national flags
00:31:20.520 by the same stretch.
00:31:21.660 But Nigel Farage
00:31:22.540 and his caucus
00:31:23.560 happily obliged.
00:31:24.680 They left
00:31:25.040 and they took their flags with them
00:31:26.500 and they won't be coming back.
00:31:28.560 So good for the UK
00:31:29.320 for finally getting it.
00:31:30.380 I know there are still some issues
00:31:31.880 to be worked out.
00:31:32.820 But again,
00:31:33.520 this idea of
00:31:34.780 figure it out later
00:31:35.800 actually makes more sense
00:31:37.100 than delay indefinitely
00:31:38.660 while you try to come up
00:31:39.560 with a deal
00:31:40.040 when that lets the EU
00:31:41.700 drag its heels.
00:31:42.700 So thanks very much
00:31:43.660 for indulging
00:31:44.280 as I play that clip.
00:31:45.180 I'm a big Nigel Farage fan.
00:31:46.760 Back in a moment
00:31:47.480 with the perils
00:31:48.480 of official bilingualism
00:31:49.920 here on
00:31:50.500 The Andrew Lawton Show.
00:31:51.540 You're tuned in
00:31:54.060 to The Andrew Lawton Show.
00:32:00.280 Welcome back.
00:32:01.440 Bienvenue tout le monde.
00:32:02.860 The bilingualism litmus test
00:32:05.320 is something that we have
00:32:06.380 to talk about here
00:32:07.220 because it's not
00:32:08.160 a requirement
00:32:09.360 to be the Conservative leader.
00:32:10.780 It's not a requirement
00:32:11.580 to be the Prime Minister
00:32:12.520 of Canada.
00:32:13.460 But the media thinks
00:32:14.400 it's not only necessary
00:32:15.740 but also is the most
00:32:17.560 important trait required
00:32:19.400 if you want to lead
00:32:20.320 the country
00:32:21.140 or lead a party.
00:32:22.540 And I'm here to say
00:32:23.380 I don't think
00:32:24.000 that's the case.
00:32:24.920 Now there are a couple
00:32:26.220 of things at stake here.
00:32:27.480 Peter McKay
00:32:28.120 when he announced
00:32:28.800 his campaign
00:32:29.520 made a little bit
00:32:30.580 of a flub
00:32:31.440 in the words
00:32:32.380 that he chose to use
00:32:34.020 when he was announcing.
00:32:35.700 Now admittedly
00:32:36.360 it's kind of a boneheaded move
00:32:38.100 to when you're announcing
00:32:39.200 and presumably
00:32:39.780 you're reading from a script
00:32:40.880 not using
00:32:42.380 the proper French terms.
00:32:44.420 I think he used
00:32:45.480 a three word line
00:32:46.720 and of the three words
00:32:47.900 he got exactly
00:32:48.700 three words wrong
00:32:49.820 which again
00:32:51.440 doesn't bode well
00:32:52.420 but it makes you mocked
00:32:53.920 but it doesn't take away
00:32:55.800 from the point here.
00:32:56.640 And the words
00:32:57.880 that he used
00:32:59.060 je serai candidat
00:33:01.540 instead of
00:33:02.360 je serai candidat.
00:33:04.180 And well
00:33:04.820 that may sound similar
00:33:05.920 if you don't speak French
00:33:06.900 it's
00:33:07.320 if you were to say it
00:33:08.280 in English
00:33:08.580 it would be like
00:33:09.260 imbcandidate
00:33:10.700 or imbcandida
00:33:12.280 or something
00:33:12.800 was what Stephen Marr
00:33:13.820 of Maclean's
00:33:14.520 tried to compare it to.
00:33:16.340 And it's not as amusing
00:33:17.460 as JFK's
00:33:19.280 infamous
00:33:19.980 ode to the jelly donut
00:33:21.280 the Ich bin ein
00:33:22.260 Berliner
00:33:22.840 error in German
00:33:24.400 but it is certainly
00:33:26.160 something that got
00:33:27.140 McKay mocked.
00:33:28.100 He was on the front page
00:33:29.060 of Le Journal de Québec
00:33:30.280 Le Journal de Montréal
00:33:31.400 and they were
00:33:32.520 saying in English
00:33:33.720 on Le Journal de Québec
00:33:35.500 good luck mister
00:33:36.820 as if to say
00:33:37.640 he has no hope
00:33:38.620 in heck of winning
00:33:39.300 because he didn't speak
00:33:40.600 those three words
00:33:41.600 of French properly.
00:33:42.460 And I do think
00:33:44.500 it's interesting
00:33:45.140 why Peter McKay
00:33:46.420 doesn't speak French
00:33:48.220 better.
00:33:48.660 I mean he's had
00:33:49.420 prime ministerial ambitions
00:33:50.880 for quite some time
00:33:52.020 he's obviously
00:33:53.440 been in politics
00:33:55.100 he as a cabinet minister
00:33:56.320 had access to
00:33:57.280 private French lessons
00:33:58.780 since then
00:33:59.640 he could have learned
00:34:00.360 so if he hasn't
00:34:01.780 I wonder why
00:34:03.480 but at the same time
00:34:04.480 I also think
00:34:05.300 that
00:34:05.960 we put way too much
00:34:07.820 stock in this
00:34:08.600 and
00:34:08.760 I don't even want to say
00:34:10.260 we
00:34:10.560 because I don't think
00:34:11.340 Canadians do
00:34:12.240 the media puts way
00:34:13.800 too much stock in this
00:34:14.960 and
00:34:16.080 Aaron O'Toole even
00:34:18.060 the conservative
00:34:18.760 leadership candidate
00:34:19.680 decided to spike
00:34:20.740 the football
00:34:21.280 on McKay
00:34:22.820 and Aaron O'Toole
00:34:23.700 had tweeted out
00:34:24.560 a link to this
00:34:25.280 McLean's article
00:34:26.140 called
00:34:26.840 Why Doesn't Peter McKay
00:34:27.860 Speak French
00:34:28.440 and he had said
00:34:29.720 in it
00:34:31.060 where was the
00:34:31.920 exact thing
00:34:32.780 how can you represent
00:34:33.780 Quebecers
00:34:34.400 when you can't speak
00:34:35.400 their language
00:34:36.180 and this was like
00:34:37.580 the first attack
00:34:38.640 of the conservative
00:34:39.480 leadership race
00:34:40.320 I think
00:34:40.740 and I've thought
00:34:42.280 about this a lot
00:34:43.040 and I think
00:34:43.440 there is a benefit
00:34:44.440 to speaking French
00:34:45.420 I think if you're
00:34:46.160 running a national campaign
00:34:47.600 and you know
00:34:48.160 that you're going
00:34:48.600 to be approached
00:34:49.160 by French language media
00:34:50.640 and you're going
00:34:51.180 to want to talk
00:34:51.880 to French voters
00:34:52.640 and be in a French debate
00:34:53.860 there is an advantage
00:34:55.520 to speaking French
00:34:56.980 but I don't think
00:34:58.420 it's a requirement
00:34:59.260 and I don't think
00:35:00.320 it's a given
00:35:01.000 and by the way
00:35:02.860 this litmus test
00:35:03.720 is not
00:35:04.340 a long-standing one
00:35:06.100 it's relatively new
00:35:07.160 in 1993
00:35:08.480 Preston Manning
00:35:09.620 did the French
00:35:10.200 language debate
00:35:11.040 and he got up
00:35:12.380 on stage
00:35:12.820 read a prepared
00:35:13.620 statement
00:35:14.080 I believe in English
00:35:15.280 I can't remember
00:35:16.520 I think it was
00:35:17.080 in English
00:35:17.440 that he read it
00:35:17.960 but it was
00:35:18.200 a prepared statement
00:35:19.040 didn't participate
00:35:20.280 in the debating
00:35:21.000 part of the French
00:35:21.860 debate
00:35:22.120 because he couldn't
00:35:22.780 understand what
00:35:23.340 was being said
00:35:24.000 and couldn't respond
00:35:25.040 and then he read
00:35:25.640 a prepared
00:35:26.180 closing statement
00:35:27.200 and that was that
00:35:28.440 and yeah people
00:35:29.320 in Quebec were upset
00:35:30.320 and then people said
00:35:31.060 oh well can he
00:35:31.640 can he actually
00:35:32.300 participate
00:35:32.860 but who cares
00:35:35.080 he's a party leader
00:35:36.220 he doesn't speak French
00:35:37.220 don't force it
00:35:38.000 there are other things
00:35:39.280 you can bring
00:35:39.900 to the table
00:35:40.540 and that's what
00:35:42.140 I think is missing
00:35:42.960 when everyone says
00:35:44.160 that speaking French
00:35:45.160 is the be-all
00:35:46.000 and end-all
00:35:46.560 if you're from
00:35:47.960 rural Alberta
00:35:49.060 or BC
00:35:49.980 or Saskatchewan
00:35:51.400 or most of Manitoba
00:35:52.660 and most of Ontario
00:35:53.600 and most of Atlantic Canada
00:35:55.340 the only reason
00:35:57.200 you have as a politician
00:35:58.540 to speak French
00:35:59.720 is to run for leader
00:36:02.480 of your party
00:36:03.200 basically
00:36:03.700 I mean there's a reason
00:36:04.500 that in Ottawa
00:36:05.400 hey so-and-so's
00:36:07.180 learning French
00:36:07.860 is kind of code
00:36:08.940 for hey I think
00:36:09.700 so-and-so is running
00:36:10.920 for leader of their party
00:36:11.920 because why else
00:36:13.780 would you need
00:36:14.400 that skill
00:36:15.180 if you are representing
00:36:16.860 a part of a country
00:36:17.680 that doesn't have
00:36:18.520 a French population
00:36:19.500 which is most
00:36:20.700 of the country
00:36:21.580 outside of Quebec
00:36:23.080 and outside of New Brunswick
00:36:24.560 the only two provinces
00:36:25.640 that have officially
00:36:27.040 enshrined French
00:36:28.080 the French population
00:36:29.360 is minuscule
00:36:30.440 and even Ontario
00:36:31.840 which has a Franco-Ontarian
00:36:33.560 population
00:36:34.300 and Manitoba
00:36:35.160 the tiny tiny percentages
00:36:37.700 of the overall population
00:36:40.160 of these provinces
00:36:41.000 we are a country
00:36:42.240 that has French
00:36:43.160 we are not a French country
00:36:44.760 and I think a lot of this
00:36:46.800 comes back
00:36:47.360 to official bilingualism
00:36:49.160 and I want to talk about that
00:36:50.040 in a moment
00:36:50.480 with a representative
00:36:51.640 of Canadians
00:36:52.520 for Language Fairness
00:36:53.720 Gordon Miller
00:36:54.360 but I also think
00:36:55.740 it's important
00:36:56.300 that we understand
00:36:57.140 that this is very much
00:36:59.320 a media driven
00:37:00.580 narrative
00:37:02.000 and not one
00:37:03.380 that the Conservative Party
00:37:04.360 of Canada
00:37:04.840 needs to take
00:37:05.680 too seriously
00:37:06.520 but there are people
00:37:07.840 in the CPC
00:37:08.440 that do take it seriously
00:37:09.740 I think a lot of that
00:37:11.420 is because they just
00:37:12.440 are backing a candidate
00:37:13.620 who speaks French
00:37:14.480 so if they can say
00:37:15.340 oh no they gotta speak French
00:37:16.740 you can't have someone
00:37:17.440 who doesn't speak French
00:37:18.260 it's just because
00:37:19.400 they're trying to
00:37:20.360 draw people to
00:37:21.620 whoever their candidate is
00:37:23.360 kind of like
00:37:24.000 Aaron O'Toole
00:37:24.640 was doing in that tweet
00:37:25.700 but I also think
00:37:27.800 you need to look
00:37:28.280 at the numbers
00:37:28.740 when Stephen Harper
00:37:29.840 won a majority government
00:37:31.160 in 2011
00:37:31.820 he had only five seats
00:37:33.540 in Quebec
00:37:34.000 so a Conservative majority
00:37:36.560 even does not rely
00:37:38.200 on Quebec votes
00:37:40.080 and Francophones
00:37:41.280 outside of Quebec
00:37:42.120 I don't think
00:37:42.800 are as obsessed
00:37:43.540 with this need
00:37:44.960 to speak French
00:37:45.720 like Quebecers are
00:37:47.140 and obviously
00:37:47.900 it's their language
00:37:48.680 I get it
00:37:49.380 but I wonder why
00:37:50.820 we can't just have
00:37:51.840 politicians
00:37:52.440 that appoint
00:37:53.280 lieutenants
00:37:54.120 lieutenants rather
00:37:55.140 to deal with
00:37:56.800 French issues
00:37:57.440 why can you not
00:37:58.100 just have a
00:37:58.740 Francophone lieutenant
00:37:59.960 in the same way
00:38:01.020 that politicians
00:38:01.840 will appoint someone
00:38:02.780 to deal with the West
00:38:04.240 someone to deal
00:38:04.980 with Quebec politics
00:38:06.100 someone to deal
00:38:06.880 with any of these areas
00:38:08.520 that require
00:38:09.260 special attention
00:38:10.380 you know the Prime Minister
00:38:12.520 represents all Canadians
00:38:14.320 yes
00:38:14.840 but they don't have
00:38:16.360 to be themselves
00:38:17.380 the embodiment
00:38:18.380 of all Canadians
00:38:19.420 you know a Prime Minister
00:38:20.980 has to represent
00:38:21.840 Liberals
00:38:22.320 Conservatives
00:38:23.000 Andy Pears
00:38:23.540 that doesn't mean
00:38:24.300 they need to be
00:38:24.920 all of those things
00:38:25.700 they can't be
00:38:26.420 you can represent
00:38:27.980 Francophones
00:38:28.780 without yourself
00:38:29.720 speaking French
00:38:31.260 just by surrounding
00:38:32.660 yourself with a team
00:38:33.620 of people that's going
00:38:34.420 to help you do it
00:38:35.220 the same way you would
00:38:36.500 to represent all of
00:38:37.420 these other Canadians
00:38:38.300 like those from the
00:38:39.560 North
00:38:39.820 like those who are
00:38:40.640 Indigenous
00:38:41.000 you don't have to be
00:38:42.280 those things
00:38:43.260 to represent those
00:38:44.380 things
00:38:44.800 and yes
00:38:46.280 is it an asset
00:38:47.200 to speak French
00:38:48.000 for sure
00:38:48.660 but if the time
00:38:50.000 that someone could
00:38:50.640 have put into
00:38:51.100 speaking French
00:38:51.800 they put into
00:38:52.520 volunteering
00:38:53.580 or learning
00:38:55.260 about history
00:38:56.060 or bettering
00:38:57.180 themselves
00:38:57.580 in some other way
00:38:58.340 why is that
00:38:59.400 less virtuous
00:39:00.280 than learning French
00:39:01.960 that's the question
00:39:02.700 that no one's been
00:39:03.380 prepared to answer
00:39:04.640 want to talk to
00:39:06.260 now from
00:39:07.000 the Board of Directors
00:39:08.000 of Canadians
00:39:08.560 for Language
00:39:09.100 Fairness
00:39:09.540 a group that
00:39:10.080 fights against
00:39:11.200 official bilingualism
00:39:12.680 Gordon Miller
00:39:13.300 who joins me
00:39:14.360 on the line now
00:39:15.180 Gordon thanks very much
00:39:16.080 for coming on sir
00:39:16.840 it's good to talk
00:39:17.440 to you
00:39:17.920 thank you
00:39:19.100 very good to talk
00:39:19.900 to you Andrew
00:39:20.420 so let's start
00:39:22.040 with the first
00:39:22.640 question here
00:39:23.520 of whether you
00:39:25.020 think
00:39:25.580 and your organization
00:39:26.420 thinks that someone
00:39:27.520 needs to speak
00:39:28.420 English and French
00:39:29.300 to represent
00:39:30.120 all Canadians
00:39:31.240 well
00:39:33.280 I guess really
00:39:35.500 our position
00:39:36.220 isn't whether
00:39:36.920 they need to
00:39:37.800 it's that
00:39:39.080 our concern
00:39:40.940 is that language
00:39:42.220 always seems
00:39:43.000 to trump
00:39:43.480 merit
00:39:44.020 and merit
00:39:45.400 is the principle
00:39:46.980 consideration
00:39:48.820 for any
00:39:50.040 major position
00:39:51.580 in Canada
00:39:52.260 and
00:39:53.220 as far as
00:39:54.900 I'm concerned
00:39:55.420 I don't care
00:39:56.100 whether the
00:39:56.580 Prime Minister
00:39:57.180 is unilingual
00:39:57.860 English
00:39:58.280 or unilingual
00:39:59.020 French
00:39:59.520 as long as
00:40:00.220 that person
00:40:00.780 stands for
00:40:01.500 principles
00:40:02.040 and
00:40:03.440 if we're
00:40:04.700 talking about
00:40:05.400 the current
00:40:05.900 Conservative Party
00:40:07.000 and their
00:40:07.800 consideration
00:40:08.320 that the
00:40:09.080 leader has
00:40:09.640 to be
00:40:09.980 bilingual
00:40:10.520 we just
00:40:12.380 don't agree
00:40:12.900 with that
00:40:13.480 well you
00:40:14.820 raise an
00:40:15.280 important
00:40:15.500 it's
00:40:16.500 desirable
00:40:16.960 sure
00:40:17.640 all other
00:40:20.160 things equal
00:40:20.880 bilingualism
00:40:21.820 is an
00:40:22.060 asset
00:40:22.380 well but
00:40:24.160 that's the
00:40:24.640 point there
00:40:25.220 is that
00:40:25.580 it is
00:40:26.180 something
00:40:26.460 that you
00:40:26.860 can look
00:40:27.320 at I
00:40:27.720 think
00:40:27.960 or should
00:40:28.320 be able
00:40:28.720 to look
00:40:29.120 at as
00:40:29.620 one of
00:40:30.520 many
00:40:30.920 qualities
00:40:31.540 that someone
00:40:32.140 could have
00:40:32.860 and it's
00:40:33.440 like you're
00:40:33.820 hiring for
00:40:34.360 a job
00:40:34.740 you say
00:40:35.060 alright
00:40:35.300 well you
00:40:35.760 know
00:40:35.840 they have
00:40:36.120 a master's
00:40:36.700 degree
00:40:36.940 but they
00:40:37.240 don't
00:40:37.400 speak
00:40:37.640 French
00:40:38.020 but they
00:40:38.300 have
00:40:38.520 10 years
00:40:39.220 of experience
00:40:39.760 and you
00:40:40.160 decide
00:40:40.560 at the
00:40:40.880 end
00:40:41.080 of it
00:40:41.340 on
00:40:41.640 balance
00:40:42.220 which
00:40:42.900 assets
00:40:43.580 matter
00:40:44.380 the most
00:40:44.940 and which
00:40:45.620 bundle of
00:40:46.720 assets and
00:40:47.540 traits you
00:40:48.200 might think
00:40:48.660 is better
00:40:49.020 than someone
00:40:49.520 else's
00:40:49.980 the idea
00:40:50.880 that we
00:40:51.600 see the
00:40:52.080 media putting
00:40:52.660 forward now
00:40:53.360 seems to be
00:40:53.940 as though
00:40:54.300 it's a deal
00:40:55.060 breaker
00:40:55.420 and that
00:40:56.180 idea of
00:40:56.820 making it
00:40:57.380 non-negotiable
00:40:58.460 I think
00:40:58.880 opens us up
00:40:59.720 to and I'm
00:41:00.440 glad you brought
00:41:00.880 up merit
00:41:01.380 a lot more
00:41:02.220 issues down
00:41:02.800 the line
00:41:03.260 if you're
00:41:03.940 prepared to
00:41:04.700 ignore all
00:41:05.760 of those
00:41:06.100 other traits
00:41:06.900 as long as
00:41:07.780 this one
00:41:08.240 is met
00:41:08.720 right on
00:41:10.720 Andrew
00:41:11.100 in fact
00:41:12.340 if this
00:41:13.780 country
00:41:14.100 operated in
00:41:15.020 the way
00:41:15.360 that you
00:41:15.680 just described
00:41:16.540 it would
00:41:17.320 be a
00:41:17.620 different
00:41:17.860 country
00:41:18.360 and a
00:41:18.860 vastly
00:41:19.340 more
00:41:20.280 I would
00:41:22.360 say
00:41:22.760 prosperous
00:41:23.580 and
00:41:24.580 harmonious
00:41:25.560 country
00:41:26.080 I know
00:41:27.820 you're up
00:41:28.480 there in
00:41:28.960 Ottawa
00:41:29.280 and I
00:41:29.640 used to
00:41:29.940 live in
00:41:30.180 Ottawa
00:41:30.400 years ago
00:41:31.100 and I
00:41:31.620 was working
00:41:32.140 for government
00:41:32.700 so I
00:41:33.060 didn't really
00:41:33.400 leave the
00:41:33.880 downtown
00:41:34.260 that much
00:41:35.020 and I
00:41:35.640 had this
00:41:36.120 vision
00:41:36.600 from just
00:41:37.300 walking
00:41:37.720 around
00:41:38.200 those
00:41:38.660 couple
00:41:39.020 of square
00:41:39.460 kilometers
00:41:40.020 that it
00:41:40.900 was a
00:41:41.440 I mean
00:41:41.980 at least
00:41:42.480 half English
00:41:43.380 half French
00:41:43.960 city
00:41:44.240 but certainly
00:41:45.180 one that
00:41:46.320 felt as
00:41:46.960 though the
00:41:47.300 French
00:41:47.640 population
00:41:48.540 was a lot
00:41:49.060 larger than
00:41:49.680 it actually
00:41:50.160 is if you
00:41:50.860 look at
00:41:51.160 the broader
00:41:52.000 city
00:41:52.380 and I do
00:41:53.000 think that
00:41:53.460 it's important
00:41:54.020 to note
00:41:54.480 here that
00:41:54.980 official
00:41:55.760 bilingualism
00:41:56.760 has it
00:41:57.760 sounds like
00:41:58.580 created this
00:41:59.740 idea and
00:42:01.320 this perception
00:42:02.120 that there
00:42:03.140 is a lot
00:42:03.760 more of a
00:42:05.220 presence of
00:42:06.120 Franco
00:42:06.960 Canadians
00:42:07.880 than there
00:42:08.400 actually is
00:42:09.080 outside of
00:42:09.600 Quebec
00:42:09.800 anyway
00:42:10.340 well you
00:42:12.220 get that
00:42:12.640 impression
00:42:13.140 and that
00:42:14.560 that's
00:42:14.920 actually a
00:42:15.340 legitimate
00:42:15.640 impression
00:42:16.220 because
00:42:16.860 Ottawa I
00:42:18.720 think it's
00:42:19.380 somewhere around
00:42:19.900 13 or 14
00:42:21.000 percent we
00:42:21.960 have
00:42:22.140 francophones
00:42:22.940 but you do
00:42:24.360 get the
00:42:24.680 impression that
00:42:25.360 it's much
00:42:25.780 more when
00:42:26.380 you're downtown
00:42:27.060 but a lot
00:42:27.880 of that's
00:42:28.340 because the
00:42:29.040 federal government
00:42:29.860 is in Ottawa
00:42:31.900 is about 70
00:42:32.780 percent francophones
00:42:33.980 it used to
00:42:34.920 be 30
00:42:35.680 and now
00:42:37.200 it's 70
00:42:37.960 how things
00:42:38.980 have turned
00:42:39.420 around but
00:42:40.180 you know all
00:42:40.680 of those
00:42:41.000 francophones
00:42:41.660 are from
00:42:42.040 Quebec and
00:42:42.620 they're downtown
00:42:43.240 in Ottawa
00:42:43.760 so you get
00:42:44.740 the impression
00:42:45.300 that the
00:42:45.920 city is much
00:42:46.780 more French
00:42:47.320 than it
00:42:47.640 really is
00:42:48.380 now is this
00:42:50.380 something that
00:42:51.140 we can link
00:42:51.960 back to a
00:42:53.000 real market
00:42:54.740 pivot point or
00:42:55.840 has this been a
00:42:56.700 gradual rise
00:42:57.860 because I think
00:42:58.540 that the issues
00:42:59.140 that we were
00:42:59.760 talking about at
00:43:00.600 the beginning
00:43:00.980 with the
00:43:01.560 conservative
00:43:02.020 leadership
00:43:02.600 litmus test
00:43:03.480 that we see
00:43:04.160 presented and
00:43:05.360 that stat you
00:43:06.300 just mentioned
00:43:06.960 about francophones
00:43:07.980 in the public
00:43:08.440 service I think
00:43:09.300 those two have
00:43:09.880 to be related
00:43:10.560 well actually
00:43:14.880 I'm kind of
00:43:15.660 missing your
00:43:16.060 point a wee bit
00:43:16.740 but it's all
00:43:19.780 very related
00:43:20.520 it all goes
00:43:21.100 back to the
00:43:21.580 official languages
00:43:22.360 act and the
00:43:23.720 growth of the
00:43:24.880 francophones in
00:43:25.880 the public
00:43:26.320 service is
00:43:27.340 strictly based on
00:43:28.280 French and it's
00:43:28.920 gotten to the
00:43:29.400 point now
00:43:30.060 unilingual
00:43:32.780 or sort of
00:43:33.940 marginally
00:43:34.580 bilingual
00:43:35.240 anglophones
00:43:36.680 in the
00:43:37.480 federal government
00:43:38.420 they're all
00:43:38.800 they're afraid
00:43:39.380 to even speak
00:43:40.100 about it
00:43:40.560 but there's
00:43:42.100 a definite
00:43:42.520 discrimination
00:43:43.320 going on
00:43:44.040 there
00:43:44.280 it can't
00:43:46.020 be denied
00:43:46.600 and that's
00:43:48.900 that's
00:43:49.720 Ottawa
00:43:50.020 yeah but I
00:43:52.060 guess the
00:43:52.380 question that I
00:43:53.020 was putting
00:43:53.460 there is has
00:43:54.200 this been
00:43:54.680 more gradual
00:43:55.480 or was it
00:43:56.220 just when
00:43:57.180 that official
00:43:57.680 languages act
00:43:58.500 was put into
00:43:59.080 effect it was
00:43:59.760 as though a
00:44:00.380 switch was
00:44:01.240 flipped and
00:44:01.640 we've never
00:44:01.980 gone back
00:44:02.700 well yes a
00:44:05.420 flip
00:44:05.680 switch was
00:44:09.040 flipped
00:44:09.480 but yes I
00:44:12.040 mean it
00:44:12.900 wasn't instantly
00:44:13.740 going from
00:44:14.440 30% francophones
00:44:16.420 to 70%
00:44:17.400 francophones and
00:44:18.440 quite honestly I
00:44:19.460 can't tell you
00:44:20.380 what exactly the
00:44:22.740 gradient was over
00:44:23.720 the years but
00:44:24.780 here's where we
00:44:26.420 are today and
00:44:27.680 the federal
00:44:28.840 public service
00:44:29.720 is a francophone
00:44:30.940 organization now
00:44:32.200 and you know
00:44:33.820 when you get
00:44:34.460 right down to
00:44:35.260 it the whole
00:44:37.740 concept of
00:44:38.520 bilingualism is
00:44:39.600 fine and
00:44:40.240 official bilingualism
00:44:41.740 well actually we
00:44:42.920 really don't agree
00:44:43.700 that there should
00:44:44.200 be language laws
00:44:45.180 but we certainly
00:44:46.000 do agree that
00:44:47.680 the federal
00:44:48.220 government where
00:44:49.160 it meets the
00:44:50.160 public should
00:44:51.780 definitely be able
00:44:52.860 to address the
00:44:54.140 public in both
00:44:55.240 languages and I
00:44:56.340 think you know if
00:44:56.800 you look at the
00:44:57.340 city of Ottawa
00:44:57.960 they do an
00:44:58.580 excellent job in
00:44:59.560 that regard in
00:45:00.600 terms of being
00:45:01.900 able to address
00:45:02.640 both languages in
00:45:03.520 fact I think we
00:45:04.640 actually think that
00:45:05.660 they go way over
00:45:06.440 the top but fine
00:45:08.020 at the public
00:45:10.500 interface that's
00:45:12.140 where bilingualism
00:45:13.180 should be and in
00:45:14.580 this country when
00:45:16.140 I really when you
00:45:16.940 think about it you
00:45:18.180 know anglophones
00:45:18.840 who grow up in
00:45:19.500 Quebec have an
00:45:20.260 opportunity to be
00:45:21.220 bilingual francophones
00:45:22.560 who grow up in the
00:45:23.260 rest of Canada have
00:45:24.320 an opportunity to
00:45:25.780 be bilingual there's
00:45:26.560 amazing opportunities
00:45:28.000 for bilingual people
00:45:29.880 where we need to
00:45:31.000 have bilingualism but
00:45:32.140 the problem with
00:45:32.860 official bilingualism
00:45:33.960 it's just over the
00:45:35.380 top and it really
00:45:37.240 what it amounts to
00:45:38.460 now is that you
00:45:39.480 really have to be
00:45:40.380 competent you know
00:45:41.920 highly competent in
00:45:43.040 French 85% of the
00:45:44.400 Canadian population
00:45:45.360 can't qualify for any
00:45:48.140 type of a supervisory or
00:45:49.620 management job in
00:45:50.620 government because
00:45:51.300 they're just not
00:45:51.980 sufficiently bilingual not
00:45:54.000 only that if you go
00:45:55.560 all the way back to
00:45:56.420 the official languages
00:45:57.320 act and look at the
00:45:59.760 percentage of the
00:46:00.560 Canadian population
00:46:01.660 it was somewhere
00:46:02.240 around 13 14% or so
00:46:04.360 was capable of being
00:46:08.560 bilingual today I
00:46:10.900 think it's 16 or 17%
00:46:12.620 it's hardly changed and
00:46:13.820 that's with all of this
00:46:14.760 money that's been
00:46:15.480 thrown into all of
00:46:16.440 these you know French
00:46:18.600 immersion schools across
00:46:20.600 Canada it's just over
00:46:23.920 the top and you know
00:46:25.540 when we start talking
00:46:26.360 about expense I mean we
00:46:27.860 don't even know how
00:46:28.860 much it's cost for all
00:46:30.820 of the training for
00:46:31.740 bilingualism in the
00:46:32.900 federal government and
00:46:35.640 what's more is that
00:46:37.240 training doesn't work an
00:46:39.060 awful lot of the time
00:46:40.240 because they go on
00:46:41.300 French training but
00:46:42.100 then they're still not
00:46:43.160 sufficiently qualified to
00:46:46.060 take those senior
00:46:46.960 positions because you
00:46:49.420 just can't learn a
00:46:50.740 language because you
00:46:52.500 go and take courses and
00:46:53.700 that sort of thing you
00:46:54.920 need to be immersed in
00:46:55.860 you have to live in it
00:46:57.020 and that's never going
00:46:58.520 to happen in across
00:47:00.060 this country well and
00:47:02.540 that right there is one
00:47:03.660 of the big problems we
00:47:04.800 see with conservative
00:47:06.300 leadership candidates in
00:47:07.840 the current context but
00:47:08.880 politicians more broadly
00:47:10.500 is that they're
00:47:11.100 criticized for not
00:47:11.980 speaking French and
00:47:13.200 even the ones that do
00:47:14.120 go through the process
00:47:15.000 of learning enough to
00:47:16.420 get by are then
00:47:17.840 criticized for not
00:47:19.100 being good enough at
00:47:20.200 French and at a
00:47:20.940 certain point it
00:47:22.060 seems like all they
00:47:23.180 want is for them to be
00:47:24.340 born as francophones
00:47:25.660 it seems like they
00:47:29.340 just are never going to
00:47:30.260 be happy unless it's a
00:47:31.320 francophone that's in
00:47:32.260 that position a native
00:47:33.460 born francophone and
00:47:34.720 that isn't realistic it's
00:47:36.000 not practical and it's
00:47:36.980 not where the country is
00:47:38.680 if you want to limit the
00:47:39.740 pool of talent to a group
00:47:42.080 that is still a minority
00:47:43.140 in Canada well not only
00:47:46.420 limit the pool to a
00:47:48.240 minority it happens to be
00:47:50.280 a minority that comes out
00:47:51.500 of Quebec and if you
00:47:52.420 look at what's happening
00:47:53.260 in Ontario they were
00:47:54.520 trying to put through
00:47:55.500 new a couple of new
00:47:57.480 acts that would make
00:47:58.480 Ontario essentially
00:48:00.260 officially bilingualism
00:48:01.700 across the province and
00:48:03.240 how do you fill all of
00:48:05.520 the necessary jobs when
00:48:07.080 everything has to be
00:48:08.020 bilingual well they're
00:48:09.100 going to have to come to
00:48:10.020 from Quebec so I mean it's
00:48:11.760 almost like they're asking
00:48:12.860 for an invasion yeah it
00:48:16.140 really it's funny though
00:48:17.740 because I was in Montreal
00:48:19.680 for a project I was working
00:48:21.880 on for one of the other
00:48:23.520 hats that I wear and I had
00:48:25.540 to navigate the bureaucracy
00:48:26.720 and I have a passable
00:48:27.880 knowledge of French I don't
00:48:29.260 consider myself fluent or
00:48:30.460 bilingual and I was dealing
00:48:32.540 with the city of Montreal and
00:48:33.900 at one point could not find
00:48:35.700 someone who spoke English now
00:48:37.900 I don't have an expectation
00:48:39.100 of that I'm in Quebec it's a
00:48:41.240 French province I get that
00:48:42.720 but it is interesting how
00:48:44.680 there is a double standard
00:48:46.200 there that what Quebec is
00:48:48.060 able to do as far as not
00:48:49.760 having anglophones in
00:48:51.660 positions of service would
00:48:53.840 never be able to fly on the
00:48:55.340 reverse in the federal
00:48:56.400 government anyway well
00:48:58.220 absolutely actually in
00:49:02.220 Canadians for language
00:49:03.040 fairness we actually believe
00:49:05.120 that Quebec as a province
00:49:06.380 has it right they are a
00:49:09.340 French culture with a
00:49:11.020 French language and they
00:49:12.420 want to preserve it that's
00:49:13.420 great we don't agree with
00:49:15.840 language laws but the point
00:49:18.320 of the matter is Quebec's
00:49:19.480 French it it always has been
00:49:22.140 and it probably always will be
00:49:24.200 unfortunately the rest of
00:49:26.840 Canada's English always has
00:49:29.860 been but will it be with the
00:49:32.500 amount of money that's spent by
00:49:33.760 the federal government and all
00:49:35.040 of these linguistic activist
00:49:37.660 groups that are trying to make the
00:49:40.160 rest of the country officially
00:49:42.520 bilingual province by province
00:49:44.320 well fortunately it'll never
00:49:45.480 happen at west but Ontario is in
00:49:47.800 dangerous position and if you look
00:49:49.640 recently the federal government
00:49:52.540 well let's put it this way
00:49:55.480 education is a provincial
00:49:58.940 responsibility under the British
00:50:00.460 North America Act in Ontario
00:50:03.140 uh Doug Ford uh said we're not
00:50:06.680 going to go ahead with this
00:50:08.080 ridiculous expense in this French
00:50:09.760 university in Toronto and then all
00:50:12.360 of a sudden the federal government
00:50:13.460 comes in with money and buys them
00:50:15.080 off well you know that that's a huge
00:50:17.660 problem because first of all the
00:50:19.100 federal government shouldn't be
00:50:20.480 involved in education and and and
00:50:22.960 second of all uh Doug Ford
00:50:25.000 essentially capitulated and said
00:50:28.020 okay well you know he'll go ahead with
00:50:29.540 you know go ahead with it now uh not
00:50:32.060 to mention with bills 135 and 137 to
00:50:35.220 make Ontario you know totally uh
00:50:38.180 francophone bilingual etc uh he was
00:50:42.140 basically silent on those things now
00:50:44.060 yes they didn't pass the you know this
00:50:46.360 the second read for the second
00:50:48.140 reading but nevertheless uh he he was
00:50:52.360 he was invisible and we really need to
00:50:55.760 start speaking up because as far as I'm
00:50:58.680 concerned I I have complete respect for
00:51:00.800 any francophone living in Ontario
00:51:02.760 uh I I think they should be able to be
00:51:05.780 addressed in their language at the
00:51:07.480 interface of the federal government
00:51:09.700 uh I would say though the Ontario
00:51:12.420 government uh in communities where
00:51:15.300 numbers warrant by all means but
00:51:17.040 there's no way we should be bilingual
00:51:19.060 across the province in that regard
00:51:21.080 because we just shouldn't be spending
00:51:22.740 money on that we're broke to begin with
00:51:25.100 yeah very well said and we're talking
00:51:28.060 about a bit about the budget early on so
00:51:30.160 you know you can have all these things
00:51:31.620 on the wish list but it doesn't mean
00:51:33.280 you have the ability to pay for them
00:51:35.100 Gordon Miller from Canadians for
00:51:36.860 Language Fairness joins me on the line
00:51:38.600 now thanks very much for your time
00:51:39.780 Gord
00:51:40.000 well thank you Andrew and thank you for
00:51:42.840 discussing the issues
00:51:44.140 you know that story in Montreal it was
00:51:46.660 very true I was trying to get a parking
00:51:48.640 permit and there was only one person in
00:51:51.560 the city of Montreal Bureau d'Access they
00:51:53.740 call it that could help she was on
00:51:55.400 lunch when she got back from lunch she
00:51:57.060 didn't speak English and I try I really
00:51:59.880 tried my best but at a certain point
00:52:01.580 you're dealing with technical
00:52:02.600 terminology where I don't have it in
00:52:05.320 French she had very little English she
00:52:07.120 had less English than I had French and
00:52:09.660 the greatest part where if I were to
00:52:12.980 script it in a movie you wouldn't
00:52:14.680 believe it happened was when a
00:52:16.920 Vietnamese guy was the savior for whom
00:52:19.720 English and French were his second and
00:52:22.580 third languages in some order and he
00:52:24.860 comes out and greets us with hola in
00:52:27.140 Spanish so we just what we needed
00:52:28.820 another language into the mix here but
00:52:30.600 eventually I got the parking permit so
00:52:32.300 all was good in paradise or Montreal
00:52:34.340 anyway that does it for us today my
00:52:37.200 thanks to all of you for tuning into
00:52:39.280 the show and supporting the program
00:52:40.680 we'll be back next week with more of
00:52:42.940 Canada's most irreverent talk show the
00:52:45.520 Andrew Lawton show on true north thank
00:52:47.260 you God bless and good day Canada
00:52:48.960 thanks for listening to the Andrew
00:52:50.740 Lawton show support the program by
00:52:52.600 donating to true north at www.tnc.news
00:52:56.780 you