Juno News - Covering Up WE

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

00:00:06.600 This is the Andrew Lawton Show, brought to you by True North.

00:00:12.720 Coming up, the We Scam cover-up continues.

00:00:15.600 The Liberals try to turn the page on their own mismanagement

00:00:18.480 and is the United States heading towards a post-election civil war?

00:00:24.440 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.

00:00:30.800 Welcome to the Andrew Lawton Show.

00:00:32.800 This is Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show here on True North.

00:00:36.540 It is Monday, October 19, 2020.

00:00:40.020 Just a couple of months to go until the end of the year 2020.

00:00:43.820 The cursed year, if that's your goal, to get through it and get to 2021

00:00:47.080 and hope things are going to be better on the other side of it.

00:00:50.040 Or if your big comparison to 2020 is going to be the U.S. election,

00:00:54.520 well, we've got you covered there too.

00:00:56.340 We'll be talking about that a little bit later on in the show.

00:00:58.880 We try not to do too much in the realm of U.S. politics exclusively

00:01:03.720 because I know that a lot of Canadian media outlets are so focused on the U.S.

00:01:07.840 that they don't even care about their own country.

00:01:09.760 But we like to have a little bit of a balance.

00:01:11.700 So we're going to be talking about that a little bit later on

00:01:14.240 with a good friend of this show, Dennis Lennox.

00:01:17.300 But in the meantime, I want to talk about the We Cover-Up,

00:01:20.620 the We Scam that is not going away despite the Liberals' best efforts

00:01:25.320 to make it go exactly in that direction, which is to say nowhere.

00:01:30.420 When Justin Trudeau prorogued Parliament earlier in the summer,

00:01:34.060 he had said, it's just a little bit of a reset.

00:01:36.600 Just a reset.

00:01:37.320 We just want to hit the reset button and get back

00:01:40.120 and talk about all the ways we're going to make Canada a better place

00:01:42.940 as we get through the coronavirus pandemic.

00:01:45.840 That was the goal.

00:01:46.640 And he said, no, no, no, it has nothing to do with we.

00:01:49.640 Now, we, with not a capital E, all knew that that was not true.

00:01:55.740 We all knew that the Liberals were trying to turn the page on the We Scandal

00:02:00.040 that at that very time when Parliament was prorogued

00:02:02.620 was actually dogging the Finance Committee.

00:02:05.700 And the Liberals said, no, no, no, we're going to give you everything.

00:02:08.340 They handed over thousands of pages of documents,

00:02:10.960 except they were redacted.

00:02:13.380 And redacted in a way that was not consistent

00:02:16.420 with what was permitted under that.

00:02:19.860 And we spoke about this with Pierre Polyev.

00:02:21.880 We also spoke about it on the show with Michael Barrett.

00:02:24.840 Now, Michael Barrett is the ethics critic for the Conservatives.

00:02:28.360 And they both said the work is going to continue.

00:02:30.160 They're going to go through the documents.

00:02:31.840 And they actually did something very smart,

00:02:33.500 which was posting them online and allowing everyone else.

00:02:37.520 They basically crowdsourced the investigation

00:02:40.600 and opposition research.

00:02:41.900 And people could go through them.

00:02:43.460 And we learned a lot from this.

00:02:44.940 We learned a lot from those documents.

00:02:46.900 Like, for example, the Prime Minister's office

00:02:48.820 was highly involved in the development of the program,

00:02:53.240 the 900 and some odd million dollar program

00:02:55.940 that was given to We without going through an open bidding process.

00:02:59.840 They were actually steering it along.

00:03:02.400 A number of emails that show very significant

00:03:04.880 and very clear ties between the Prime Minister's office

00:03:07.760 and we and the Prime Minister's office and the civil service,

00:03:11.480 despite Justin Trudeau's claim that,

00:03:13.100 oh, no, no, no, this was all just the bureaucracy.

00:03:15.280 The strong independent public service of Canada

00:03:18.060 was the one that was steering this ship.

00:03:19.840 We just, I just learned about it later on.

00:03:22.020 And, oh, no, I actually said, no,

00:03:23.740 I said, you need to give me some better information here.

00:03:26.220 So we learned that was not actually consistent with what happened.

00:03:30.500 So this is going back to earlier in the summer.

00:03:34.700 Now, what's in the unredacted documents?

00:03:36.820 What is in the other documents?

00:03:38.300 We don't yet know.

00:03:39.560 One of the details that the committee has been obfuscating on

00:03:42.460 that the Conservatives and I'd say opposition parties in general

00:03:45.660 are trying to get insight on

00:03:47.680 is how much the Liberal family members were paid,

00:03:52.260 how much Trudeau's relatives were paid

00:03:54.280 when they spoke at WE events.

00:03:56.460 We've heard WE's side of things,

00:03:58.020 but there are some questions there given that they at first said

00:04:01.060 they weren't paid anything and then they were

00:04:03.720 and then they were paid a bit.

00:04:05.320 And, well, it's all very complicated, you see.

00:04:08.060 And when the committee was looking at this last week,

00:04:11.100 a House of Commons committee,

00:04:12.800 they actually were filibustering the Liberals.

00:04:15.880 This is what they were doing.

00:04:16.780 They were trying to just go through endless lengths

00:04:19.220 so as to not deal with the motions.

00:04:22.640 And at the end of the day, I mean,

00:04:23.980 they're hoping that Canadians are gonna just get tired of this

00:04:26.520 and move on.

00:04:27.960 And to some extent, I think people have,

00:04:30.560 but there is also a contingent of people

00:04:32.920 that are paying attention to this still.

00:04:35.320 But I wanna talk in a little bit more detail

00:04:37.960 about what's happening here

00:04:39.180 because we've seen now the Conservatives especially

00:04:43.560 beat the drum and try to say,

00:04:45.220 listen, I mean, we're not going away.

00:04:46.820 We're gonna continue to talk about this.

00:04:48.920 Just for context, here was from earlier today,

00:04:52.520 a joint press conference by Pierre Polyev and Michael Barrett.

00:04:56.160 And here are a couple of the takeaways from this event.

00:04:58.560 As my colleague, Mr. Barrett and I will share with you today,

00:05:03.600 Justin Trudeau carried out a massive cover-up again last week.

00:05:08.000 His MPs engaged in dozens of hours of filibusters,

00:05:13.580 preventing the ethics and finance committees

00:05:15.800 from getting at the truth.

00:05:17.960 We're in a pandemic.

00:05:19.140 And here is Justin Trudeau blocking the work

00:05:22.280 of our parliamentary committees,

00:05:24.460 preventing the finance committee from addressing the fact

00:05:26.580 that we have the highest deficit in the G20

00:05:29.040 and the highest unemployment in the G7.

00:05:32.460 Our MPs in the finance committee should be working on that.

00:05:35.420 But instead, Trudeau is blocking that work,

00:05:39.000 preventing it from happening in the first place

00:05:41.920 so that he can continue a filibuster

00:05:44.400 to cover up we scandal documents.

00:05:48.540 It's time for Justin Trudeau to allow parliamentarians

00:05:52.120 to do the work that we've been sent here to do.

00:05:54.960 Particularly in the context of a pandemic,

00:05:57.460 the standing committees that are dealing with

00:05:59.400 these issues of corruption

00:06:01.040 need to be able to give that work,

00:06:03.440 hand it off to an anti-corruption committee.

00:06:07.240 And then the work, the important work,

00:06:09.560 of committees like government operations

00:06:11.800 and official languages, finance, and ethics

00:06:14.700 can continue to do their work

00:06:16.920 and address Canadians' concerns

00:06:18.400 as they relate to the pandemic.

00:06:19.720 Yeah, so it's pretty simple right now.

00:06:21.500 And if you look at what's been happening

00:06:22.660 on the committee,

00:06:23.360 the Conservatives want to make

00:06:24.580 an anti-corruption committee

00:06:26.080 of 15 MPs to delve into the WE scandal

00:06:29.400 and other conflicts of interest.

00:06:31.500 And they're going to get their debate on this

00:06:33.600 this coming week.

00:06:34.800 But the whole point is the Liberals

00:06:36.500 keep blocking and blocking and blocking

00:06:38.620 even so much as a vote on this.

00:06:41.240 I mean, the number of issues

00:06:42.260 that they were supposed to go through

00:06:43.580 when the committee met last week

00:06:45.320 or a week and a half ago,

00:06:46.400 but didn't, was astonishing.

00:06:49.720 They didn't get anywhere.

00:06:50.900 And the Liberals were just using

00:06:52.300 parliamentary tricks,

00:06:53.620 which, hey, look,

00:06:54.460 parliamentary theater is great.

00:06:56.960 It's part of the process.

00:06:57.880 But the Liberals were using

00:06:59.280 parliamentary tricks to avoid

00:07:00.940 actually having Justin Trudeau's

00:07:03.860 ethical lapses and ethical breaches

00:07:06.380 put under the microscope,

00:07:07.800 despite the Liberal promise

00:07:09.500 that the prorogation was never meant

00:07:12.460 to make all of that go away.

00:07:14.020 All this has done is proved

00:07:15.280 what the cynical types like myself

00:07:17.520 kind of saw coming

00:07:18.800 all the way down the road.

00:07:21.640 But here's where things get tricky

00:07:24.600 because if the Conservatives

00:07:26.500 continue to keep the pressure up,

00:07:28.260 which they are doing,

00:07:29.200 if they continue to keep the pressure up,

00:07:31.080 they continue to put motion

00:07:32.360 after motion after motion forward,

00:07:34.240 then there's a good chance

00:07:35.460 that we get the answer here.

00:07:36.940 But a lot of it comes down to the NDP.

00:07:39.420 And we know the NDP has already decided

00:07:43.040 basically that it's going to prop up

00:07:44.820 the Liberal government.

00:07:45.820 We know that it propped up

00:07:46.720 the throne speech.

00:07:48.340 We know there was that one

00:07:49.800 Huffington Post story,

00:07:51.080 the podcast interview with Jagmeet Singh,

00:07:53.220 in which Singh said he may keep

00:07:54.960 the Liberals propped up

00:07:55.920 for another three years.

00:07:57.060 So when push comes to shove,

00:07:58.280 the NDP will surely keep up

00:08:01.060 the pressure in the committee

00:08:02.340 and saying, yeah,

00:08:03.260 we need to have more data

00:08:04.940 and more documents and all of that.

00:08:06.260 But when it matters,

00:08:07.700 if a confidence motion comes up,

00:08:09.880 the NDP will still be like,

00:08:11.320 all right, well,

00:08:11.880 despite all of this,

00:08:12.980 I guess, yeah,

00:08:13.740 we have confidence

00:08:14.580 in the Liberals right now.

00:08:16.820 And that's why a lot of this,

00:08:18.640 I think, is important

00:08:19.360 to bring into the realm

00:08:20.280 of the PR debates

00:08:21.580 and the PR discussions,

00:08:22.860 as in litigating this

00:08:24.320 in the open,

00:08:25.440 in media and in the public,

00:08:26.960 because I don't have faith

00:08:28.900 that when push comes to shove,

00:08:30.780 there will be a satisfactory resolution

00:08:33.100 to people that want accountability

00:08:34.720 throughout the parliamentary chambers.

00:08:36.980 Because at a certain point,

00:08:38.420 you're going to have to,

00:08:39.340 if you want to translate this

00:08:40.540 beyond just a slap on the wrist,

00:08:42.620 which the ethics commissioner

00:08:43.680 can already put on their own,

00:08:45.080 you're going to have to get

00:08:46.060 a party in the NDP

00:08:48.000 and in all the opposition

00:08:49.540 that is willing to step up

00:08:51.120 and say, no,

00:08:52.380 this is not acceptable.

00:08:54.140 And right now,

00:08:54.920 I don't foresee that happening.

00:08:57.300 Now, Chris Selle

00:08:57.960 had a fantastic column on this.

00:08:59.980 He said,

00:09:00.760 nobody should tolerate

00:09:01.960 the Liberals' hideous tricks

00:09:03.240 to hide WE documents.

00:09:04.720 And he quoted Andrew McDougal,

00:09:06.860 who was formerly

00:09:07.660 a communications director

00:09:08.880 to Stephen Harper,

00:09:10.240 saying,

00:09:10.880 there probably isn't

00:09:11.960 a smoking gun in these docks,

00:09:13.560 but the Liberals on committee

00:09:15.160 are certainly acting

00:09:17.280 like there's one.

00:09:18.900 And this is so key

00:09:20.240 because even if there's nothing there,

00:09:22.580 by saying no, no, no,

00:09:24.980 the Liberals are actually

00:09:26.460 making people

00:09:27.260 more and more interested

00:09:28.380 in seeing what might be

00:09:29.620 in these documents.

00:09:30.860 The Liberals are now

00:09:32.180 effectively saying,

00:09:33.260 we don't want you

00:09:33.820 to look at these so much

00:09:34.760 that even people

00:09:35.340 that weren't interested

00:09:36.080 are like,

00:09:36.740 oh, you know,

00:09:37.200 now I'm kind of curious

00:09:38.540 about what's in those documents.

00:09:40.040 Let's hand them over.

00:09:41.000 Whereas if they had done

00:09:41.940 the early release

00:09:43.840 like they were supposed to

00:09:45.720 without the redactions,

00:09:47.620 I mean,

00:09:47.940 unless there is genuinely

00:09:49.120 something there,

00:09:49.820 but if they had done

00:09:50.500 the unadapted document

00:09:51.960 release early on

00:09:53.000 and said,

00:09:54.040 all right, here you go,

00:09:54.740 have fun,

00:09:56.160 then they would have

00:09:56.940 called the bluff

00:09:58.080 of the Conservatives mainly,

00:10:00.340 but of other opposition

00:10:01.660 members as well

00:10:02.440 by saying,

00:10:03.220 yeah, we've got nothing

00:10:04.020 to hide, here you go.

00:10:05.620 But they've not acted

00:10:06.740 like this.

00:10:07.260 In fact, at every stage

00:10:08.220 of this journey,

00:10:08.840 they've acted

00:10:09.380 the complete opposite,

00:10:10.360 which is to say

00:10:11.300 they have a great deal

00:10:12.800 to hide.

00:10:13.720 And the fact that

00:10:14.680 every single chapter

00:10:16.400 of the We scandal

00:10:17.880 has brought

00:10:18.880 a different explanation

00:10:20.700 from the Liberals

00:10:22.260 or from We,

00:10:23.160 every single stage

00:10:24.420 of this has brought

00:10:25.200 a different excuse

00:10:27.940 and a different rationale.

00:10:30.140 Many of them

00:10:30.780 are incredibly contradictory

00:10:32.500 to one another.

00:10:33.800 That in and of itself

00:10:34.740 is telling us

00:10:35.580 that where there's smoke,

00:10:36.480 there is probably fire.

00:10:38.400 And it was funny,

00:10:39.200 the Liberals were saying

00:10:40.380 on the committee meeting

00:10:42.120 that, oh, well,

00:10:42.800 you know,

00:10:43.020 we just think

00:10:43.620 there's more important

00:10:45.080 things to deal with.

00:10:45.920 We got to go

00:10:46.400 with the pandemic.

00:10:47.400 That's what they're using.

00:10:48.560 The pandemic is now

00:10:49.460 the political cover

00:10:50.320 to avoid accountability

00:10:51.940 and oversight

00:10:52.660 for the We scandal.

00:10:54.140 But it's kind of hilarious

00:10:55.660 if you look at,

00:10:56.580 and not in a good way,

00:10:58.240 but hilarious

00:10:58.720 in a very shameful way.

00:11:00.340 If you look at the state

00:11:01.880 of the federal government's

00:11:03.160 pandemic response,

00:11:04.580 for them to say,

00:11:05.600 oh, well,

00:11:06.140 we have no time

00:11:06.740 to deal with We 1.00

00:11:07.360 because we're dealing

00:11:08.080 with the pandemic,

00:11:09.940 I would ask,

00:11:10.700 and I think a lot

00:11:11.200 of other people would ask,

00:11:12.300 well, what do you have

00:11:13.140 to show for that exactly?

00:11:15.520 What do you have

00:11:16.180 to show for that?

00:11:17.220 In fact,

00:11:17.780 the Conservatives

00:11:18.540 are saying that the Liberals

00:11:19.520 are botching the second wave

00:11:21.200 with case counts

00:11:22.120 nearing 200,000.

00:11:24.280 Michelle Rempel-Garner,

00:11:25.380 the Conservative MP,

00:11:26.580 and health critic

00:11:27.740 had a press conference

00:11:29.060 on the weekend,

00:11:29.580 and she had called out

00:11:31.360 the Liberals on this.

00:11:32.940 Here's a clip from that.

00:11:34.420 Today,

00:11:35.280 as businesses are closed

00:11:36.500 in another series

00:11:37.920 of COVID-related

00:11:38.900 economic shutdowns,

00:11:40.160 we are looking for answers

00:11:41.680 as to why the federal government

00:11:43.360 left Canadians unprepared

00:11:44.800 to deal with this second wave.

00:11:46.800 Canadians deserve

00:11:47.740 an explanation

00:11:48.560 about why the federal government

00:11:50.160 only has an economic shutdown

00:11:51.880 to rely upon

00:11:52.760 after months

00:11:53.780 and billions of dollars

00:11:55.200 being spent.

00:11:56.480 Canadians have sacrificed 0.98

00:11:57.620 their businesses

00:11:58.420 and their children's education

00:12:00.040 and more

00:12:00.680 to give Trudeau time

00:12:02.240 to prepare,

00:12:03.080 and he's failed to do so.

00:12:04.400 So the question she raises

00:12:05.700 is a valid one

00:12:06.600 and actually gets to a topic

00:12:07.880 that I was speaking about,

00:12:09.060 I think it was on the last show

00:12:10.160 or two shows ago,

00:12:11.260 which is that if this was seen,

00:12:13.000 if this was seen in advance,

00:12:14.800 if everyone knew this was coming,

00:12:16.060 if all the lawmakers

00:12:16.840 who have been talking

00:12:18.140 about the second wave

00:12:19.080 since before the first wave

00:12:20.400 ended,

00:12:21.280 if all of them

00:12:22.180 knew this was coming,

00:12:23.820 why are businesses

00:12:24.980 now facing shutdowns again

00:12:26.980 and the federal government

00:12:28.340 still seems like

00:12:29.340 it was caught off guard

00:12:30.260 and has no idea

00:12:31.200 what's going on?

00:12:32.060 And I'm using their terminology.

00:12:34.200 It was Justin Trudeau

00:12:35.120 that got out there

00:12:35.800 in front of Canadians

00:12:36.620 hours after the speech

00:12:38.180 from the throne

00:12:38.660 and said that we are

00:12:39.460 in the midst

00:12:40.120 of a second wave.

00:12:41.400 Well, you were warning

00:12:42.460 about a second wave,

00:12:43.380 so if in fact

00:12:44.180 this is the case,

00:12:45.480 how were you not prepared?

00:12:48.240 Because we know

00:12:48.960 the federal government

00:12:49.900 wasn't really prepared

00:12:50.920 for the first wave

00:12:52.200 of things.

00:12:53.140 Pandemic response

00:12:53.980 was terrible,

00:12:55.080 yet Justin Trudeau

00:12:56.180 still blamed Stephen Harper.

00:12:59.940 Yeah, I'm sure

00:13:00.520 you heard this last week.

00:13:01.460 Justin Trudeau

00:13:02.080 blamed Stephen Harper

00:13:03.460 who was there

00:13:04.100 more than five years ago

00:13:05.620 or almost five years ago

00:13:06.920 for being the reason

00:13:08.820 that the liberal government

00:13:11.340 was not prepared

00:13:12.220 to deal with

00:13:13.200 the coronavirus pandemic

00:13:14.420 in 2020.

00:13:16.140 And this is now

00:13:16.680 Stephen Harper's fault.

00:13:17.700 And as I remarked

00:13:18.400 on Twitter,

00:13:19.180 you don't get to blame

00:13:20.340 the last guy

00:13:21.260 who was there

00:13:21.740 five years ago

00:13:22.780 when in the interceding

00:13:24.460 five years

00:13:25.040 you've done precisely

00:13:26.020 nothing to correct

00:13:27.060 what they did

00:13:28.060 that you thought

00:13:28.640 was so wrong

00:13:29.540 or so negligent.

00:13:30.780 So the blame Harper thing

00:13:32.640 may have been cute

00:13:33.280 for the first couple of months.

00:13:34.480 Maybe I'll give him

00:13:35.280 a year on it.

00:13:36.220 But five years later

00:13:37.120 when you're blaming

00:13:37.640 the last guy

00:13:38.300 it's just plain sad.

00:13:40.120 I'm sorry.

00:13:40.700 But like he might as well

00:13:41.900 be blaming Wilfred Laurier

00:13:43.180 at this point

00:13:43.980 for a pandemic response.

00:13:45.720 Not that Laurier

00:13:46.360 fell short in that area.

00:13:47.620 It's just, you know,

00:13:48.480 plucking up. 0.96

00:13:49.100 Let's pick Charles Tupper.

00:13:50.220 We'll pick on Charles Tupper today.

00:13:51.860 Trudeau might as well

00:13:53.020 be blaming Charles Tupper

00:13:54.140 for a pandemic preparedness.

00:13:56.340 But that's where we are.

00:13:57.640 But the interesting thing

00:13:59.020 is that the liberals again

00:13:59.980 say that, oh no,

00:14:00.800 they can't focus on we

00:14:02.500 because they're focusing

00:14:03.340 on pandemic.

00:14:04.320 But it doesn't even look

00:14:05.800 like they're doing

00:14:06.600 all that well

00:14:07.960 in that area as well.

00:14:10.100 And that's not all

00:14:10.920 the liberals aren't doing.

00:14:11.940 Well, they claim

00:14:12.440 that they're focusing

00:14:13.080 on the real important work.

00:14:14.580 They also aren't

00:14:15.620 putting forward a budget.

00:14:17.820 Yeah, this was interesting

00:14:18.980 and good on David Aiken

00:14:20.100 from Global News

00:14:21.020 for keeping track on this.

00:14:22.600 On October 16th,

00:14:24.560 so that would have been

00:14:25.580 Friday, I believe,

00:14:26.460 he said today is the day

00:14:27.740 a record has been set.

00:14:29.880 No parliament

00:14:30.520 has ever existed longer

00:14:31.980 without a budget

00:14:32.820 being presented to it

00:14:33.960 than the current

00:14:34.840 43rd parliament.

00:14:37.120 Justin Trudeau

00:14:37.780 eclipsed the record

00:14:38.540 previously held

00:14:39.500 by Jean Chrétien

00:14:40.940 in the 37th parliament

00:14:42.460 of 2001.

00:14:43.980 Now, this is actually good.

00:14:45.220 Justin Trudeau

00:14:45.700 already made history

00:14:46.520 for the ethical breaches

00:14:48.760 and the conflict

00:14:49.440 of interest violations.

00:14:50.980 Now he's making history

00:14:52.200 as being the prime minister

00:14:53.200 overseeing the longest period

00:14:54.980 in a parliament

00:14:56.040 without a federal budget

00:14:57.840 being tabled.

00:14:58.940 Now that's bad enough.

00:15:00.500 The big problem

00:15:01.260 is that it doesn't seem

00:15:02.380 like there's ever one

00:15:03.660 in sight.

00:15:04.880 If you look at

00:15:05.660 the finance minister

00:15:06.820 Chrystia Freeland's

00:15:08.180 pledges here.

00:15:09.220 So what David Aiken writes

00:15:10.400 in an accompanying column

00:15:11.460 is that

00:15:11.920 she was asked

00:15:12.980 just after the speech

00:15:13.840 from the throne

00:15:14.340 to provide her thinking

00:15:15.360 about the value

00:15:16.480 of a budget

00:15:17.200 and whether she was

00:15:18.240 committed to tabling one

00:15:19.400 before the fiscal year ends.

00:15:20.840 She curtly dismissed

00:15:22.620 the question.

00:15:24.300 She said

00:15:25.040 the throne speech

00:15:26.200 was clear

00:15:26.820 that in the fall

00:15:27.820 we will be presenting

00:15:28.980 a fiscal update.

00:15:30.720 Freeland said

00:15:31.400 apparently oblivious

00:15:32.480 to the fact

00:15:33.000 that one cannot

00:15:33.880 update something

00:15:34.780 the 2020 to 2021 budget

00:15:37.040 that does not exist.

00:15:39.380 Unquote.

00:15:40.020 That's from

00:15:40.640 David Aiken

00:15:41.420 in Global News

00:15:42.140 and his point

00:15:43.000 is quite valid

00:15:43.900 that yeah

00:15:44.260 the fiscal update

00:15:45.300 is actually not

00:15:46.700 particularly relevant

00:15:47.940 because we now

00:15:49.020 don't have

00:15:49.760 a budget technically

00:15:50.940 and I get that

00:15:52.140 a lot of things

00:15:52.760 are in flux

00:15:53.360 and I get there

00:15:53.880 are a lot of questions

00:15:54.660 and quite frankly

00:15:55.940 this reinforces

00:15:56.880 the question

00:15:57.860 that I've had

00:15:58.440 about why Trudeau

00:15:59.360 decided to do

00:16:00.640 the prorogation

00:16:01.520 and the parliamentary

00:16:02.200 reset in the first place

00:16:03.620 if they did not feel

00:16:05.120 they had the ability

00:16:06.060 to put together

00:16:06.780 an accurate

00:16:07.560 and comprehensive budget.

00:16:09.500 It's one thing

00:16:10.040 to roll out

00:16:10.620 the list of pledges

00:16:11.680 and promises

00:16:12.340 in campaign style

00:16:13.960 like they did

00:16:14.580 during the throne speech.

00:16:15.920 It's quite another

00:16:16.820 to say

00:16:17.380 all right

00:16:17.700 here are the numbers

00:16:18.480 here are what

00:16:18.940 we are going to deal with

00:16:20.140 because the liberals

00:16:21.360 don't want to admit

00:16:22.420 just how big

00:16:23.620 the deficit's going to be.

00:16:25.920 They don't want to admit

00:16:26.820 in many regards

00:16:27.760 they probably don't know

00:16:28.720 but when truth

00:16:29.740 when you look at this

00:16:30.960 truthfully

00:16:31.520 the liberals

00:16:32.340 do not want to admit

00:16:33.360 just how bad things are

00:16:35.500 and if you look

00:16:36.560 at some of the numbers

00:16:37.600 the Canada pandemic spending

00:16:40.120 is actually outpacing

00:16:42.540 even other similar countries

00:16:45.080 and this was a really

00:16:46.900 really interesting story

00:16:48.180 that I came across

00:16:49.140 Canada's budget deficit

00:16:51.240 has grown

00:16:51.820 by more than any

00:16:53.060 other G20 country

00:16:54.820 amid pandemic.

00:16:56.280 Now this is according

00:16:57.040 to an analysis

00:16:57.780 at National Bank Financial

00:16:59.760 well ahead of UK

00:17:01.760 which is in the second place

00:17:03.140 on track for a deficit

00:17:04.620 equal to 14.6%

00:17:06.400 of its economy

00:17:07.180 but in Canada's case

00:17:09.500 one-fifth of the country's

00:17:11.340 economic output

00:17:12.200 is likely to be

00:17:13.700 the deficit this year

00:17:14.680 19.6%

00:17:16.260 so let's just say

00:17:17.560 comfortably

00:17:17.980 20% of our country's

00:17:19.540 economic output

00:17:20.340 is going to be

00:17:21.680 the deficit

00:17:22.540 and there is

00:17:23.780 no end in sight

00:17:24.980 and again

00:17:25.340 we go back to that

00:17:26.180 whole second wave idea

00:17:27.440 if this is coming

00:17:28.980 well the spending

00:17:29.920 continues to ramp up

00:17:31.360 well new promises

00:17:32.580 new pledges

00:17:33.420 new programs

00:17:34.180 are being rolled out

00:17:35.200 then we are

00:17:36.520 in we are going

00:17:37.520 to be very quickly in

00:17:38.680 if we're not already

00:17:39.500 a situation in which

00:17:41.020 nothing is sustainable

00:17:42.620 and this is

00:17:44.840 historic levels

00:17:46.160 of spending

00:17:46.920 there's no doubt

00:17:47.680 about that

00:17:48.160 and I actually feel

00:17:48.920 quite bad

00:17:49.620 for whomever

00:17:50.880 is in office next

00:17:52.460 whether it's Aaron O'Toole

00:17:53.480 or someone else

00:17:54.280 because there is

00:17:55.340 no way they are

00:17:56.500 going to be able

00:17:57.160 to achieve

00:17:57.840 any fiscal vision

00:17:59.660 that they would

00:18:00.780 at all want to run on

00:18:01.960 with what they're

00:18:03.520 going to inherit

00:18:04.440 and again

00:18:04.940 I give Trudeau

00:18:06.220 credit

00:18:06.720 not credit

00:18:07.640 I defend him

00:18:08.740 to some extent

00:18:09.540 because it was

00:18:10.100 going to be messy

00:18:10.980 no matter what

00:18:11.800 even the most

00:18:12.940 fiscally responsible

00:18:14.140 governments in the world

00:18:15.180 have had to spend

00:18:16.960 outside of their means

00:18:18.060 for this

00:18:18.540 but it's about

00:18:19.820 how measured

00:18:21.000 you are

00:18:21.560 in your response

00:18:22.420 to it

00:18:22.880 and rather than

00:18:24.240 actually saying

00:18:25.020 alright

00:18:25.240 here are the

00:18:25.820 non-negotiables

00:18:26.760 and here are the

00:18:28.620 things that we can

00:18:29.420 kind of figure out

00:18:30.220 a way through

00:18:30.840 Trudeau just

00:18:31.900 whipped out the

00:18:32.760 checkbook

00:18:33.180 for anything

00:18:33.700 and everything

00:18:34.220 and even when

00:18:35.040 programs weren't

00:18:35.820 working

00:18:36.140 he was starting

00:18:36.740 new programs

00:18:37.520 signing new checks

00:18:38.440 writing new

00:18:39.080 checks

00:18:39.860 and doing this

00:18:40.920 right up until

00:18:41.820 even just a few

00:18:42.820 weeks ago

00:18:43.400 and I mean

00:18:44.040 CERB was

00:18:44.640 constantly evolving

00:18:45.620 and some of the

00:18:46.740 business relief

00:18:47.340 programs were as

00:18:48.240 well

00:18:48.460 but missing the

00:18:49.820 point

00:18:50.180 is exactly what

00:18:51.780 these things were

00:18:52.460 doing

00:18:52.740 because businesses

00:18:54.020 simply wanted to

00:18:55.400 be able to open

00:18:56.280 and operate

00:18:56.960 and function

00:18:57.620 and I know

00:18:59.340 that a lot of

00:18:59.900 the lockdowns

00:19:00.620 came provincially

00:19:01.380 but it was the

00:19:01.980 federal government

00:19:02.720 federal advice

00:19:03.580 that was driving

00:19:04.900 much of this

00:19:05.960 dialogue

00:19:06.440 throughout the

00:19:07.080 earlier days

00:19:07.760 and earlier

00:19:08.280 months

00:19:08.660 of the

00:19:09.260 pandemic

00:19:09.700 so for the

00:19:10.800 liberals now

00:19:11.500 to be in

00:19:12.080 this situation

00:19:12.780 where billions

00:19:14.000 and billions

00:19:14.540 of dollars

00:19:15.080 a deficit

00:19:15.620 that might

00:19:16.000 be nearing

00:19:16.560 400 billion

00:19:17.840 and the

00:19:18.960 number is

00:19:19.540 not at all

00:19:20.020 set in stone

00:19:20.580 I think it's

00:19:21.320 pretty darn

00:19:21.780 important for

00:19:22.380 there to be

00:19:22.760 a budget

00:19:23.180 so we know

00:19:23.820 exactly what

00:19:24.580 we're dealing

00:19:25.060 with

00:19:25.340 but in order

00:19:26.100 for that

00:19:26.540 the liberals

00:19:27.020 would have

00:19:27.540 to know

00:19:27.960 as well

00:19:28.460 we've got

00:19:29.680 to take a

00:19:30.040 break

00:19:30.200 when we

00:19:30.460 come back

00:19:30.880 more of

00:19:31.620 the Andrew

00:19:31.940 Lawton show

00:19:32.420 here on

00:19:32.900 True North

00:19:33.380 stay tuned

00:19:34.060 welcome back

00:19:41.020 to the

00:19:41.660 Andrew Lawton

00:19:42.220 show

00:19:42.400 this was

00:19:42.860 a bit

00:19:43.220 of an

00:19:43.400 interesting

00:19:43.780 sidebar

00:19:44.480 to the

00:19:44.940 weekend's

00:19:45.720 united

00:19:46.260 conservative

00:19:46.840 party

00:19:47.360 AGM

00:19:47.940 if you

00:19:48.360 were tuning

00:19:48.760 into that

00:19:49.380 the media

00:19:50.260 got crazy

00:19:51.260 over

00:19:51.840 Aaron O'Toole

00:19:52.740 and Jason

00:19:53.580 Kenny

00:19:53.880 sitting down

00:19:54.500 beside each

00:19:55.060 other

00:19:55.300 to participate

00:19:56.360 in a live

00:19:57.340 stream

00:19:57.700 now this

00:19:58.140 is a

00:19:58.800 virtual

00:19:59.260 AGM

00:19:59.760 it's all

00:20:00.160 virtual

00:20:00.540 so the

00:20:01.260 only people

00:20:01.720 that are

00:20:01.980 actually at

00:20:02.560 the convention

00:20:03.140 location

00:20:03.720 are the

00:20:04.920 staff

00:20:05.420 that are

00:20:05.660 making it

00:20:06.060 run

00:20:06.340 and some

00:20:06.680 of the

00:20:06.860 politicians

00:20:07.360 who are

00:20:07.740 speaking

00:20:08.120 and for

00:20:09.200 10 minutes

00:20:10.160 Jason

00:20:11.640 Kenny

00:20:11.940 the premier

00:20:12.400 of Alberta

00:20:12.940 and Aaron

00:20:13.680 O'Toole

00:20:13.940 the leader

00:20:14.360 of the

00:20:14.620 conservative

00:20:15.020 sat down

00:20:15.760 and were

00:20:16.720 chit-chatting

00:20:17.440 about all

00:20:18.440 sorts of

00:20:18.840 things

00:20:19.140 and Jason

00:20:19.900 Kenny

00:20:20.200 wished Aaron

00:20:20.740 O'Toole

00:20:21.000 well in

00:20:21.520 his recovery

00:20:22.040 from COVID-19

00:20:22.960 and then

00:20:23.940 this is the

00:20:24.780 story that

00:20:25.500 was put out

00:20:26.000 by the

00:20:26.260 Canadian

00:20:26.580 press

00:20:26.960 O'Toole

00:20:27.580 and Kenny

00:20:28.020 sit side

00:20:28.640 by side

00:20:29.160 for live

00:20:29.680 stream

00:20:29.960 without wearing

00:20:30.500 masks

00:20:31.100 and they

00:20:32.180 get an

00:20:32.520 Alberta

00:20:32.900 health

00:20:33.260 spokesperson

00:20:33.700 who says

00:20:34.320 yes the

00:20:34.700 province

00:20:35.040 still advises

00:20:35.820 everyone to

00:20:36.320 wear masks

00:20:36.880 when physical

00:20:37.700 distancing

00:20:38.140 isn't possible

00:20:39.020 but here's

00:20:40.280 the thing

00:20:40.980 they tried to

00:20:41.820 like push 0.89

00:20:42.180 this out

00:20:42.620 missing kind

00:20:43.460 of one

00:20:43.760 key point

00:20:44.600 Aaron O'Toole

00:20:45.800 has already

00:20:46.380 got COVID-19

00:20:47.940 he's at no

00:20:49.640 risk of

00:20:50.340 receiving it

00:20:51.280 or transmitting

00:20:52.800 it based on

00:20:53.580 the best

00:20:54.020 available evidence

00:20:54.940 but then

00:20:55.400 the health

00:20:56.300 officials go

00:20:56.840 back to

00:20:57.160 well we

00:20:57.580 don't really

00:20:58.420 know

00:20:59.060 about

00:20:59.940 reinfection

00:21:00.740 and I

00:21:00.960 remember

00:21:01.160 early on

00:21:01.920 when there

00:21:02.560 were stories

00:21:03.080 about

00:21:03.480 reinfection

00:21:04.600 and there

00:21:04.820 was one

00:21:05.140 in particular

00:21:05.640 I think

00:21:05.960 it was in

00:21:06.280 South Korea

00:21:06.840 or something

00:21:07.340 where they

00:21:07.740 had said

00:21:08.020 well you

00:21:08.740 know 20

00:21:09.120 people were

00:21:10.040 reinfected

00:21:10.660 with COVID-19

00:21:11.440 after they'd

00:21:12.480 had it

00:21:12.740 previously

00:21:13.180 and I got

00:21:14.640 actually quite

00:21:15.140 startled by

00:21:15.660 that I'm

00:21:15.920 like oh

00:21:16.120 that's not

00:21:16.500 good

00:21:16.720 and then I

00:21:17.620 read a

00:21:18.440 follow-up story

00:21:19.160 a few weeks

00:21:19.600 later it's like

00:21:20.180 you know

00:21:20.360 scratch that

00:21:20.960 they just

00:21:21.440 still had it

00:21:21.960 the first

00:21:22.280 time

00:21:22.540 they didn't

00:21:22.920 get

00:21:23.100 reinfected

00:21:23.760 they just

00:21:24.100 it never

00:21:24.680 went away

00:21:25.120 from them

00:21:25.440 so even

00:21:26.520 if we

00:21:27.000 don't have

00:21:27.480 the definitive

00:21:28.080 proof that

00:21:29.580 okay you

00:21:30.480 cannot be

00:21:31.960 reinfected

00:21:32.980 we also

00:21:33.820 don't have

00:21:34.620 any significant

00:21:35.620 reason to

00:21:36.440 believe you

00:21:37.200 can be

00:21:37.880 reinfected

00:21:38.640 and if you

00:21:39.040 compound that

00:21:40.040 with the fact

00:21:41.120 that we're

00:21:41.380 talking about

00:21:41.960 again two

00:21:42.380 people that

00:21:42.900 are on

00:21:43.260 camera here

00:21:44.020 they're still

00:21:45.180 generally

00:21:45.900 distanced

00:21:46.540 in other

00:21:47.140 ways and

00:21:47.680 everyone's

00:21:48.020 wearing their

00:21:48.380 masks off

00:21:49.000 camera

00:21:49.320 it's now

00:21:50.500 this reinforcement

00:21:51.820 of the snitch

00:21:52.760 culture dilemma

00:21:53.600 where

00:21:53.960 people are

00:21:54.700 going to

00:21:55.220 just want

00:21:55.920 to snitch

00:21:56.660 on and

00:21:57.200 rat out

00:21:57.660 anyone that

00:21:58.160 they feel

00:21:58.600 is breaking

00:21:59.140 the rules

00:21:59.660 and I

00:22:00.360 kind of

00:22:00.740 had hoped

00:22:01.220 we had

00:22:01.600 moved beyond

00:22:02.300 this because

00:22:02.900 earlier on

00:22:03.740 this was the

00:22:04.240 issue of oh

00:22:04.840 if you see

00:22:05.540 your neighbor

00:22:05.920 having people

00:22:06.580 over in the

00:22:07.100 backyard or

00:22:07.780 oh you see

00:22:08.240 someone at

00:22:08.760 the town's

00:22:10.320 baseball diamond

00:22:11.060 you have to

00:22:11.720 rat them out

00:22:12.360 to bylaw

00:22:12.920 enforcement

00:22:13.380 I kind of

00:22:14.240 thought we

00:22:14.520 all realized

00:22:15.100 that wasn't

00:22:15.680 where we

00:22:16.020 wanted to

00:22:16.480 live but

00:22:16.820 apparently

00:22:17.160 not if

00:22:17.620 you're

00:22:17.760 Aaron O'Toole

00:22:18.280 and Jason

00:22:19.180 Kenny and

00:22:19.700 you dare sit

00:22:20.340 down and

00:22:20.840 talk to each

00:22:21.480 other on

00:22:21.840 camera you're

00:22:23.000 going to get

00:22:23.320 the media

00:22:24.120 on your

00:22:24.680 back about

00:22:25.320 oh well

00:22:25.840 you're not

00:22:26.280 wearing masks

00:22:27.040 and you're

00:22:27.300 not socially

00:22:27.820 distancing

00:22:28.320 and it is

00:22:30.260 interesting

00:22:30.720 because I

00:22:31.800 mean you can

00:22:32.420 see in the

00:22:33.320 picture here

00:22:33.920 it's difficult

00:22:35.220 to tell exactly

00:22:36.240 how far they

00:22:37.060 are like

00:22:37.400 they're probably

00:22:38.100 not six feet

00:22:38.880 but you know

00:22:39.520 I'd say maybe

00:22:40.040 their faces

00:22:40.860 are four to

00:22:41.600 five feet

00:22:42.400 away from

00:22:42.780 each other

00:22:43.220 I've met

00:22:44.440 Jason Kenny

00:22:45.260 and Aaron O'Toole

00:22:45.960 a number of

00:22:46.560 times

00:22:46.860 neither one

00:22:47.800 has ever

00:22:48.240 done what

00:22:48.920 Justin Trudeau

00:22:49.480 would call

00:22:49.960 spoken moistly

00:22:51.540 on me

00:22:51.820 neither has

00:22:52.280 ever done

00:22:53.060 that

00:22:53.280 so I

00:22:53.960 when push

00:22:54.800 comes to

00:22:55.340 shove 0.95

00:22:55.700 I am not

00:22:56.460 going to get

00:22:56.980 outraged about

00:22:57.720 this

00:22:57.980 but it is

00:22:58.880 this theater

00:22:59.900 this theater

00:23:00.900 of it

00:23:01.200 everyone has

00:23:01.720 to be in

00:23:02.360 a very

00:23:02.740 performative

00:23:03.440 manner

00:23:03.820 proving like

00:23:04.980 they are

00:23:05.660 the most

00:23:06.360 adherent

00:23:07.120 to the

00:23:07.800 COVID-19

00:23:08.480 rules

00:23:08.920 and if you

00:23:09.320 aren't the

00:23:09.580 most adherent

00:23:10.140 to the

00:23:10.340 COVID-19

00:23:10.900 rules

00:23:11.340 well well

00:23:12.220 well do

00:23:12.660 we have

00:23:13.080 the the

00:23:13.560 mob remedy

00:23:14.160 for you

00:23:14.680 just circulate

00:23:16.080 the picture

00:23:16.440 on Twitter

00:23:16.840 and it's

00:23:17.720 funny I

00:23:18.020 mean a lot

00:23:18.520 of on

00:23:18.880 for example

00:23:19.800 I watch

00:23:20.220 Big Brother

00:23:20.640 every now and

00:23:21.220 then when there's

00:23:21.620 nothing else

00:23:22.100 on in the

00:23:22.520 summer and

00:23:22.900 this season

00:23:23.320 I was just

00:23:23.760 curious to

00:23:24.280 see how

00:23:25.120 they would

00:23:25.740 navigate the

00:23:26.540 COVID-19

00:23:27.180 issue and

00:23:28.620 they had like

00:23:29.120 all of the

00:23:29.560 people who

00:23:30.240 were contestants

00:23:30.820 in isolation

00:23:32.140 and tested

00:23:33.320 numerous times

00:23:34.200 before the

00:23:34.800 show began

00:23:35.480 and once

00:23:36.760 they leave

00:23:37.440 the house

00:23:37.880 after they're

00:23:38.420 eliminated they 0.98

00:23:39.120 have to put

00:23:39.600 their mask on

00:23:40.360 to do their

00:23:41.000 you know exit

00:23:41.900 interview and

00:23:42.880 I'm like they've

00:23:43.840 been in a

00:23:44.540 house in a

00:23:45.340 literal bubble

00:23:46.180 for I don't

00:23:47.600 know how long

00:23:47.980 the show's been

00:23:48.480 on now weeks

00:23:49.160 or a couple of

00:23:49.820 months they are

00:23:51.200 not at risk

00:23:51.860 of anything

00:23:52.320 but they have

00:23:52.920 to be seen

00:23:53.900 wearing the

00:23:54.900 mask that's

00:23:55.540 the issue is

00:23:56.100 that it's it's

00:23:56.900 not about even

00:23:57.480 people buying

00:23:58.160 into this they

00:23:58.760 just have to be

00:23:59.440 seen to be

00:24:00.780 buying into it

00:24:01.740 and that's where

00:24:02.980 society is putting

00:24:04.400 its efforts

00:24:05.060 forward now

00:24:06.020 we have to take

00:24:07.340 one quick break

00:24:07.980 again we will be

00:24:08.840 back talking about

00:24:09.520 U.S. politics

00:24:10.240 momentarily here on

00:24:11.520 the Andrew Lawton

00:24:12.260 show stay tuned

00:24:13.260 you're tuned in to

00:24:18.540 the Andrew Lawton

00:24:19.540 show

00:24:20.000 welcome back to

00:24:25.020 thank you

00:24:34.120 we're

00:24:36.620 we're

00:24:37.680 we're

00:24:38.940 you

00:24:42.720 we're

00:24:43.800 you

00:24:48.660 you

Juno News - October 19, 2020

Covering Up WE

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